Big League Weekly Edition – August 01, 2019

T H E WAY

I SEE IT!

MICHAELENNIS

2016 PREMIERSHIP-WINNER

& FOX SPORTS ANALYST

10 BIGLEAGUE 2019 Round 16

It’s a long race to

the finish line

I

LOVEthistimeoftheyear.We’rethrough

theOriginperiod,allclubshavehadtheir

byesandnowwegeta goodlookatthe

teamsmakingtheirruntoSeptember.

Withhowit standsatthemoment,it’shard

tosayMelbournewon’tfinishfirstgiven

whatthey’vedeliveredthroughouttheyear.

SouthSydney,theRoostersandRaidershave

beeninsidethetopfournearlyallseasonand

I imaginethey’llremainthereuntilseason’send.

Historyshowsit’simportanttobeplaying

welldefensivelyatthistimeoftheyearand

that’swhattheRaidersaredoing.They’re

rankedsecondindefenceandhavebeen

exceptionalallyear.They’vegotindividuals

wholovea battleandrisetotheoccasion.

They’vegota toughfinishtotheseason–

playingtheRoosters,StormandSeaEagles

tonamea few– butI thinkthat’sanadvantage.

ThebiggameswillhelptheGreenMachine

testthemselvesandbuildsomeconfidence

headingtowardsthefinals.

Outsideofthecurrenttopfour,Manlylook

liketheonlyteamthatcouldunsettlethetop

sidesatthemoment.WhatcoachDesHasler

hasbeenabletoachievethisyearhasbeen

quiteincredibleandhe’sextremelyefficient

whensemi-finaltimecomesaround.Heputs

a realemphasisondefensivebeliefintheteam,

andthefacttheywenttoMelbourneanddid

whattheydidfornearly 90 minutesshowed

theyaren’tundertheradaranymore,which

Desprefers– they’renowinthespotlight.

Haslerhasbuiltsomestrongpillarsin

termsoftheirconsistencyandattitude,and

it’sgoingtomakethema toughteamtobeat

attheback-endoftheyear.

Thebottomhalfofthetopeightis

quiteincredibleconsideringPenrithand

Brisbanearetheredespitepoorstarts

totheseason.Atonestage,thePanthers

foundthemselveslastontheladderbut

thenwentona seven-gamewinningstreak.

GiventheBroncos’starttotheseason

andthechoppingandchangingofsenior

playersintheirteam,theylooktohave

finallyfoundsomerhythmunderAnthony

Seibold.Withtheirupcomingfixtures

meaningtheydon’tleaveQueenslanduntil

Round25,theyhavea hugeadvantage– but

theyfacesomequalityoppositionandI don’t

thinkthey’llplayfinalsthisseason.If there’s

a topeightteamthat’svulnerable,it’sthem.

I haven’tseenenoughthisseasontothink

they’regoingtobeconsistentenoughover

the last six weeks to remain there.

Inthenextfivegamestheyplayfourtop

eightteams,aswellasa toughderbyagainst

NorthQueenslandinTownsville.It’sbeen

a greatefforttoriseintothetopeightbut

I don’tseethemfinishingtherethisseason.

JustoutsidethetopeightareNewcastle

andCronulla. TheKnightslooktiredand

haveseeminglylosttheirdefensivemindset,

whichwassogoodforthemearlierthisyear.

FortheSharks,it’sbeena yearofunfortunate

injuriestotheirheadlineacts.Whentheygot

WadeGrahambacktheylookedliketheycould

contendforthetitleorattheveryleasta place

inthetopfour– butthentheyhittheskidsand

lostfive-in-a-row.I getthesensethatofallthe

sidesoutsideofthetopeight,theSharksare

stillbest-equippedtofindformtowards the end

of the year and make the finals.

WiththeKnights,SharksandWestsTigers

justonepointoutsidethetopeight,they’re

allstillchancesconsideringwehaven’tseen

greatconsistencyfromthePanthersand

Broncos.TosomedegreetheEelshavealso

hadtheirinconsistentperiodsthroughout

theyear,buttheyalsohavethebenefitof

beingfourpointsawayfromninthposition.

Unfortunatelythere’snochancethe

Titans,BulldogsandDragonscanmake

thetopeight,whiletheCowboysaregoing

tostruggleaftertheirlosstotheSharks.

Andthenthere’stheWarriors, whoare

justhangingon.They’veshownglimpses

ofhopein2019,butI don’thavetheminmy

finaleight.

Withsixweeksremaininguntilthefinals,

it’s going to be a thrilling finish to the season. PHOTO:

Scott Davis/NRLPhotos

TOUGHROADAHEAD:

A slowstartcouldultimately

cost the Broncos a finals spot.

Mytopeight

1.Storm

2.Roosters

3.Raiders

4.Rabbitohs

5.SeaEagles

6.Eels

7. S h a r k s


8. Panthers