Top marks for Souths and Storm in Paul Crawley’s NRL mid-season report card
The opening State of Origin has been put to bed and now it’s time to take a closer look at where your club sits at the halfway point. PAUL CRAWLEY delivers his mid-season report card — and be warned, he does not hold back …
Opinion
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The opening State of Origin has been put to bed and now it’s time to take a closer look at where your club sits at the halfway point of the comp. PAUL CRAWLEY delivers his mid-season report card — and be warned, he does not hold back …
1st: STORM
Grade: A+
Prediction: 2nd
Record: 9 wins, 2 losses. Points differential: 136
This was supposed to be Craig Bellamy’s biggest challenge since the salary cap scandal after the retirement of Billy Slater on the back of losing Cooper Cronk. Well, here we are at the halfway point of another season and the Storm have not missed a beat, on top having scored the most points and conceded the fewest. The two Camerons, Smith and Munster, have been outstanding. But Bellamy deserves most credit. This could end up being his greatest achievement.
2nd: RABBITOHS
Grade: A+
Prediction: 3rd
Record: 10 wins, 2 losses. Points differential: 105
There was a smear campaign last year that had poor old Wayne Bennett falling asleep in Brisbane team meetings and failing to remember names of current players. Several clubs
turned up their noses at the seven-time premiership-winning coach. Not Souths. Similar to Bellamy losing Slater, Souths are equal-first despite Greg Inglis’s retirement. James Roberts’ arrival is huge but Sam Burgess’s pending shoulder surgery will be a massive worry if complications arise.
3rd: ROOSTERS
Grade: A
Prediction: 1st
Record: 8 wins 3 losses. Points differential: 74
I still reckon the reigning champs are the team to beat given the Roosters have hardly had their best team together all season. But losing Luke Keary for six weeks on the back of Jake
Friend’s long-term injury is massive blow to their minor premiership hopes. Puts plenty of pressure on Cooper Cronk, not that he’s not up to it. A big test coming up in round 15
against the Storm in Adelaide. They have the best ratio of tries scored inside opposition 20m, but they’ve made the second-most errors of any team.
4th: KNIGHTS
Grade: B+
Prediction: 5th
Record: 6 wins, 5 losses. Points differential: 67
Nathan Brown was a dead man walking six weeks ago and then all of a sudden Mitchell Pearce and Kalyn Ponga caught fire. On the back of the spanking the Knights handed the
Roosters, you’d say they are genuine contenders if Pearce, Ponga and David Klemmer stay fit. Plenty underestimate the strength and depth of Newcastle’s pack, with Klemmer, Daniel
Saifiti, Tim Glasby, Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Mitch Barnett, James Gavet, Herman Ese’ese and Sione Mata’utia.
5th: RAIDERS
Grade: B+
Prediction: 6th
Record: 7 wins, 5 losses. Points differential: 57
Canberra is this season’s big surprise along with Manly for mine. I certainly didn’t have the Raiders in my top eight. Now, if they have their best on deck for the finals, anything’s
possible. John Bateman has been a revelation while Jack Wighton’s shift to five-eighth unleashed something special in Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad at fullback. Josh Papalii has also been enormous upfront but losing Josh Hodgson until possibly round 20 will likely cost Canberra a top-four finish.
6th: SHARKS
Grade: B+
Prediction: 4th
Record: 6 wins, 5 losses. Points differential: 2
It’s a credit to rookie coach John Morris that the Sharks are sixth at the halfway point given all their injuries to key players. When Shane Flanagan was punted, I thought the joint would implode given some of the volatile and complex personalities in this squad. Looking forward to seeing what Cronulla can do when Wade Graham and Shaun Johnson get a few games under their belts. Could be the real smoky in the run home to the finals.
7th: SEA EAGLES
Grade: A
Prediction: 7th
Record: 6 wins, 6 losses. Points differential 4
When Manly chairman Scott Penn came out last October and said he’d be happy to work with Des Hasler, providing Hasler could fulfil the club’s goal of a top-four finish every season, it
seemed a ludicrous statement. Especially on the back of Trent Barrett’s controversial departure. But what Hasler has done, mostly without Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic,
is extraordinary. Have won four of five games against teams currently in the top eight, the best record of any team.
8th: EELS
Grade: C+
Prediction: 12th
Record: 6 wins, 6 losses. Points differential: -3
Have shown what they are capable of, now they need to produce it consistently. Parra’s forwards were impressive against the big Souths pack last week. I’d like to see them
back it up against the Sharks this Saturday. I don’t think the Eels will hold their place in the eight. Still, it’s been a fair fightback after last year’s wooden spoon. They are making the second-most run metres and conceding fewest penalties, but against them they’re missing most tackles and making most errors.
9th: BRONCOS
Grade: D-
Prediction: 8th
Record: 5 wins, 6 losses. Points differential: -16
I can’t believe some of the spin coming out of Brisbane this year. Make no mistake, Anthony Seibold chose the Broncos over the Rabbitohs because he obviously believed he had a better chance to win a comp with the roster Wayne Bennett built. Not in 2023, but 2019. Also remember Bennett didn’t have Matt Gillett or Jack Bird for most of last season and still
finished one win off equal top spot. This is a top-four roster right now, providing Seibold doesn’t send any more players packing.
10th: WESTS TIGERS
Grade: C
Prediction: 14th
Record: 5 wins, 6 losses. Points differential: -18
I get how Michael Maguire gets so frustrated because the difference between the Tigers’ best and worst is just too big for them to be considered a top-eight team. They are conceding just nine points per game in their wins this season, but then are conceding 30 points per game in their losses. In fairness, they don’t have the overall talent or depth of many clubs below them on the ladder. I think their current position is a pass, but I still can’t see the Tigers playing finals this year.
11th: COWBOYS
Grade: C-
Prediction: 10th
Record: 6 wins, 6 losses. Points differential: -49
After a slow start, the Cowboys have won five of seven since round six. If you listen to some of the rumours that were circulating, that may well have saved Paul Green from having a serious conversation with Cowboys chairman Laurence Lancini. Johnathan Thurston’s retirement was always going to leave a huge hole and having Ben Barba sacked at the end of
pre-season was a massive blow. Would need to get Val Holmes before June 30 to make a charge.
12th: WARRIORS
Grade: D
Prediction: 11th
Record: 4 wins, 7 losses. Points differential: -20
I said at the start of the year they wouldn’t make the eight after losing Shaun Johnson, but following Kodi Nikorima’s arrival I now give the Warriors an outside chance. Significantly, have lost all four matches against current top-eight teams. I actually think the Warriors are playing too conservatively despite making the most line-breaks of any team. They have a roster capable of anything, which only makes their inconsistency more frustrating.
13th: DRAGONS
Grade: C-
Prediction: 13th
Record: 4 wins, 7 losses. Points differential: -66
If losing Jack de Belin wasn’t bad enough, watching Gareth Widdop go down in round three just about put a red pen through the Dragons for me. To top it off, they lost Corey Norman with a fractured cheekbone in round eight and haven’t won a game since. Norman’s back this week but I still fear the Dragons might be in for a long finish, especially now after losing James Graham to a fractured leg that will keep the tough Pom out for two months.
14th: PANTHERS
Grade: F
Prediction: 9th
Record: 4 wins, 8 losses. Points differential: -104
This time last year, Anthony Griffin had the Panthers on top after 12 rounds. Now they are 14th and have scored the fewest tries, conceded the most penalties and have the comp’s worst completion rate. That’s not mentioning the disasters off the field, from the sex tape scandal to the strange exit of Phil Gould. Not that there’s a sniff of sympathy coming from outside the foot of the mountains, given the way Penrith snaked Wests Tigers to get Ivan Cleary.
15th: TITANS
Grade: E
Prediction: 15th
Record: 3 wins, 9 losses. Points differential: -57
Excuses are too easily found at the Titans, so it’s no wonder Ash Taylor is their pin-up boy. How on earth Garth Brennan didn’t drop his million-dollar playmaker after Taylor refused to take that shot last weekend against the Cowboys that could have levelled the game beggars belief. Brennan might not see this, but if Taylor continues to run his own race, it will be the end of Brennan’s head-coaching career. The absence of the injured Ryan James has also left Brennan without a strong on-field leader.
16th: BULLDOGS
Grade: C
Prediction: 16th
Record: 3 wins, 9 losses. Points differential: -112
Yes, I’ve given the Bulldogs a “C” because you can’t ask for the impossible. I feared Dean Pay was being incredibly ambitious when he said late last year this squad was capable
of playing finals. And I don’t blame Pay or the players for the mess. They bust their gut every week but don’t have the overall class or experience to cut it. Peter “Bullfrog” Moore
used to say “winning is in the woodwork” at Canterbury. Sadly, management is where it has now all fallen down.