NRL Wk Five

[Anders]

Game One) Sydney Roosters v Newcastle Knights, Aussie Stadium
Roosters +10.5/12.5

Probably a sucker bet, but I'll bite. I think the Roostes have shown commendable spirit in the face of injury adversity so far but it was a step too far last weekend when they ran out of numbers against the Eagles.
Their injury/unavailable list is horrific - Fittler, Cross, Hegarty, Morley, Green, Crocker, Fitzgibbon, Flannery all out ....and doubts also over the fitness of Fletcher, Phillips and Wing.
Not the spot you'd like to be in up against the defending champs who have started the new season at a million miles an hour. The Knights will be without Ben Kennedy and the very impressive Josh Perry in the pack but reserve forwards Daniel Abraham and Clint Newton have been great off the bench and the Knights pack shouldn't miss a beat. That will allow Joey Johns, Buderus and Rudder to open up the game for the likes of Tahu, O'Davis and McDougall.
The Roosters reserve graders will know doubt be out to prove everyone wrong but this should really be a mis-match, with an ultra-complacent Knights the chief danger to the spread.

PLAY KNIGHTS -10.5

Also adding a futures play: Top tryscorer in the comp - Timana Tahu (Knights) 9-1 (1 unit)

GLTA

 

[Anders]

Game Two) Storm v Bulldogs, Olympic Pk
Storm +5.5/6.5

Going to pass here; line looks pretty accurate. Storm will be pumped after their staggering comeback win v the Eels and should be emotionally motivated to play for halfback Marty Turner, who was lucky to survive a horrific car smash earlier this week. Matt Orford was due to play at halback this weekend and he adds an extra dimension to the Storm, who have relished the return to Olympic Pk and covered easily v the Cowboys.
The Bulldogs were impressive over the Rabbitohs and have proved the first-up loss to the Tigers was an indication of a) a rare poor display, and b) a sign of what the 3-1 ATS Tigers can achieve. They look to be a relatively complete side that can muscle up or run it wide and punch holes. They should have skipper Steve Price back along with Willie Talau.

NO PLAY

Game Three) Cowboys v Rabbitohs, Townsville
Cwoboys ML pk/+2.5

The limitations of the Rabbitohs have been exposed already by the Roosters and Bulldogs. But they may still be good enough to see off the real strugglers and did so to the Eagles. You'd be hard put to make a case for the Cowboys being better than the Eagles too.
Graham Murray must have had nitemares after the 50-20 drubbing on debut by the Warriors - the Cowboys have no defence whatsoever and little to get excited about on attack. Hard to see him turning things around immediately, although he does have George Gatis and Tim Maddison back in the pack to add a little more reliability. But he's without the quality of John Doyle and Paul Bowman.
Exciting fullback Wade McKinnon should be fit for Souths but captain Adam Muir will miss a few weeks with a broken thumb. Rabbitohs bounced back well from the embarassing loss to the Roosters and have a great chance to do the same here after the Vagana demolition show.

PLAY RABBITOHS -1.5

Game Four) Raiders v Broncos, Bruce Stadium
Raiders +6.5/9.5

Raiders will be pleased to get home after playing three of the first four on the road - and covering twice while losing SU at home to Souths! They actually hung tough for 50 mins against the Knights and if a couple of breaks had gone there way may have been down by just four until the Knights exploded. They will be notably bolstered by the likes of ex-Bronco Luke Davico, Todd Payten and Mark McLinden returning to make a much better looking 13.
The Broncos aren't quite in Roosters territory yet with their injuries but it ain't pretty and Wayne Bennett will soon have no hair left given last season's injury list. Lockyer, Harrison and Walker have been ruled out after the gutsy win over the Sharks with their roles filled by Lote Tuqiri, Phil Lee and Michael Ryan. Their form has been patchy and with the home side getting a good start they should be hard-pushed to cover here.

PLAY RAIDERS +9.5

 

[Anders]

Sorry, no write-ups with these...knackered after a helluva day...but we won our soccer

Playing these:

Warriors -12.5
Eels -5.5

(1 unit each)

GLTA