2024 NRL Season

Sharks competed with Melbourne for a while and are way better than the Cowboys who had all the ball and still almost lost to the shitty Knights. Manly were woeful, their two skinny wingers get dominated at the start of every set so they never go anywhere, Roosters will roll right over them, they'll only lose through self-sabotage which of course is always possible with them but I doubt it.

 

Sharks didn't really have the right players to expose Melbourne's often shite defence through the middle but Roosters do in Watson/Tedesco.. having no Brandon Smith probably works in their favour there, Watson's been better than him anyways. But on the converse Munster/Hughes love attacking the edges where Roosters' tiny halves are a big liability. Roosters would have to conjure some epic scrambling defence to win.. which is more possible now that the refs are more reluctant in the finals to blow 6 agains or penalties.

And Sharks are probably better equipped to beat Penrith than the Roosters are. Both Penrith/Sharks like to grind and Sharks love to bomb for the corners where Penrith are weak and luck could favour them. But they'd need a lot of luck, Penrith are obviously a clear step above them.

 

Nelson's a huge loss considering he's one of the few players who can cause Penrith's defence to fall apart.

 

Very surprised that Storm are the favourites. Penrith are vastly more experienced, superior forward pack combined with Cleary's kicking game, solid defence versus Storm's uncertain defence. Aside from the weather I see nothing in Melbourne's favour.

 

Penrith definitely know how to step up a gear and their style suits big games so I'm not putting too much account into their regular season games. Obviously the doubt over Cleary is a concern but he seems fully able so long as he doesn't take a wrong hit.

Not really any different to Melbourne's games. The Roosters defence was shocking, as soon as Melbourne got down there they just walked over the tryline. Stiffen that defence up just a bit and the Roosters would've seriously troubled them. Sharks imo competed with Melbourne more equally for a period, the only reason it appears different is simply cause of the way Penrith plays, they grind it down and are happy with a 6 point win. At no point were the Sharks equal to Penrith or could manage anything threatening, they had to rely solely on luck to score which they didn't get.

The way to beat Penrith is how Brisbane almost did it last year, being able to effectively attack from anywhere. Melbourne are quite good at that too, but not as good as Brisbane were, and Brisbane had the pack to match Penrith's. Melbourne don't. Like I said, Nelson's a huge loss, enough for me to pretty much write them off.