Round 8 looks like tossing up five lopsided matches with three closes ones with the Rabbitohs-Sea Eagles, Warriors-Raiders and Dragons-Tigers the hardest to predict.
The resurgence of the Tigers – it’s not a streak until they win at least three games in a row – has taken the heat momentarily off Wests coach Michael Maguire while his counterpart in Sunday’s Wollongong clash, Anthony Griffin is also breathing a little easier after back-to-back triumphs.
A few weeks ago that match looked like it could be an early pointer as to who will collect the wooden spoon but fans of both teams are now daring to dream about rising to the dizzying heights of the middle of the table. But don’t mention the playoffs, they’re still a long way away in every sense.
Brisbane’s Kevin Walters had the dubious honour of getting the full support of the board this week and while club director Darren Lockyer didn’t use that time-honoured phrasing, it won’t help the coach sleep any easier as the glamour club impatiently awaits a return to the finals.
Here are the burning questions for each of the 16 clubs heading into the eight games that make up Round 8 of the season.
Thursday
Broncos v Sharks at Suncorp Stadium, 7.50pm
Should Kevin Walters be nervous? Broncos board member Darren Lockyer says the executives are “100% behind” Walters. Often when those words are uttered it means are 100% behind the coach with knives ready to be lodged in the back. After finishing 14th in Walters’ first year, Brisbane are 3-4. Take out their four wins over Canterbury during his tenure and their record is 7-21. Despite being a club legend, mediocrity will not be tolerated too much longer unless results start turning around.
Wade Graham. (AAP Image/Craig Golding)
Will Sharks face a difficult decision on Wade Graham’s future? The veteran forward is set to make his first appearance for 2022 after injuring his ankle in the pre-season. The skipper is a free agent at season’s end and the Sharks are already struggling to keep fellow second-rower Briton Nikora and in-form wrecking ball Siosifa Talakai’s contract runs until next year but he will command a sizeable upgrade. After a run of bad luck with concussions and ankle surgery, hopefully Graham can get back to his best and finish his career on his own terms.
Friday
Titans v Panthers at Cbus Super Stadium, 6pm
Can Gold Coast’s pack live up to their reputations? The Titans, on paper, have an imposing pack but they’re not dominating in 2022, one of the team’s many problems. They are 12th for post-contact metres at 520.5 per game, more than 100 shy of league-leaders Penrith. Tino Fa’asuamaleaui (34th at 52.9 per game) is the only Titans forward in the NRL’s top 50 for this stat.
Will Panthers slip up on the road? Much has been made of their amazing run of 21 straight wins at Penrith but the Panthers are also racking up a phenomenal away record. In matches away from BlueBet Stadium since the start of 2020, they have tasted defeat just four times with one draw while notching 32 victories. Some of those matches were at neutral venues due to the COVID relocations but still, that’s a remarkable strike rate. No team has ever won its first eight matches in successive seasons so the Panthers could be tossing another record on their growing pile. Good luck, Titans.
Rabbitohs v Sea Eagles at Central Coast Stadium, 7.55pm
Are star duo making too many tackles? Damien Cook (342) and Cameron Murray (327) are ranked one and two on the list for most tackles this year, well clear of third-placed Knights hooker Chris Randall (292). Murray averages 71 minutes while Cook has played all but 11 minutes of South Sydney’s seven games so they’re going to log plenty of tackles but if coach Jason Demetriou can reduce their defensive output a fraction it should give them that extra bit of petrol in the tank when the Bunnies have the ball.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Should Josh Schuster get the five-eighth jersey? Manly are facing an interesting conundrum with Schuster’s agent agitating for his client to get a crack at his preferred five-eighth role rather than playing as an edge forward. Schuster, who is in the squad and may play his first match of the season after ankle surgery, has been a revelation in the second row and he seems to have outgrown, literally, his junior position. The Sea Eagles have got decent value out of veteran Kieran Foran at a cheap cost this season and last but Schuster clearly has a much longer future. Manly coach Des Hasler doesn’t like being dictated about how he runs his team by anyone so this has the potential to be more than a broken promise from a former CEO.
Saturday
Warriors v Raiders at Moreton Daily Stadium, 3pm
Have you seen worse defence than the Warriors on Monday night? Some of the tries they conceded in the second half of their 70-10 capitulation to the Storm were softer than margarine that had been left out in the hot sun. In the desert. Jesse Bromwich appeared to be going at half rat pace when he lumbered over the line and defenders were bouncing off him. Conceding 54 points in a half is unforgivable – their performance in Round 8 will tell us a lot about this team’s fortitude, or lack thereof.
Can Canberra’s right edge muscle up? Granted, the Panthers’ left edge is white hot, producing more points than any team’s left or right groupings this year. They made a mess of Canberra’s trio of rookie halfback Brad Scheider, centre Semi Valemei and winger Nick Cotric on Sunday at Penrith. Jarrod Croker has been in the squad the past couple of weeks without getting a run so he could be worth a shot to see if he can again help shore up an edge.
Bulldogs v Roosters at Accor Stadium, 5.30pm
Why not play The Foxx at fullback? Canterbury have struggled to get the ball out to Josh Addo-Carr on the left wing and his supreme attacking skills are going to waste. Why not give him a run at fullback? Matt Dufty has not set the world on fire in the No.1 jersey and the fact they signed him to a one-year deal means Canterbury don’t necessarily have faith in him to be the long-term solution. Let the Foxx trot.
Can Luke Keary watch the 2018 grand final replay? Roosters skipper James Tedesco said the team has discussed Keary’s role and have called on him to be more of an organiser in attack because the two of them, as well as Joey Manu and Sam Walker, are all playing off-the-cuff footy without a clear on-field general. Keary only needs to call up his Clive Churchill Medal-winning performance from the win over Melbourne, in which he called the shots while a severely injured Cooper Cronk was riding side saddle, to see what he needs to do to get the Roosters’ attack back into gear.
Eels v Cowboys at TIO Stadium, 7.05pm (AEST)
Can Eels be chased down? Parramatta are fine frontrunners – they’ve won their past 16 games when leading at the break. The last time they were run down was in their 2020 semi-final loss to Souths when they leaked 30 points in the second stanza as they watched an 18-8 half-time advantage turn into a 38-24 loss.
Are Cowboys being fed raw meat? North Queensland have found their defensive intensity after being woeful last year when they coughed up a league-worst 31.2 points per game, nearly triple that of premiers Penrith (11.6). Only the Panthers (12) are better than their 13.3 average in 2022 and they rank first when it comes to the fewest ineffective tackles per game (9.9).
Sunday
Knights v Storm at McDonald Jones Stadium, 2pm
Where will Knights’ points come from? They have just three players who have scored more than two tries this year and two of them are out this week – Dane Gagai and Dominic Young. They’ve crossed the stripe just four times in the past four matches, all losses, with three of those in the one game against St George Illawarra. And they’re up against the team with the third-best defence in the NRL.
Can Ryan Papenhuyzen beat El Magic’s record? The Storm fullback has opened the season with 10 tries, 30 goals and a field goal for 101 points in seven appearances. Manly’s Reuben Garrick, when he scored 334 last year, went close to breaking Hazem El Masri’s all-time record of 342 set in Canterbury’s 2004 premiership-winning campaign. If he keeps up his current rate of 14.43 per game, Papenhuyzen would break the record if he played every match of the regular season without needing the playoffs to boost his tally.
Dragons v Tigers at WIN Stadium, 4.05pm
Should the Dragons let Tariq Sims go early? They have said they won’t let him join the Storm mid-season despite the veteran forward inking a deal with Melbourne for 2023. While the Dragons have a hope of making the finals they should probably keep Sims on deck, particularly with Jaydn Su’A out indefinitely with an ankle injury, but if it gets closer to the August 1 deadline and St George Illawara aren’t in the finals equation, they might as well cut him loose to give a younger forward more game time.
Tariq Sims (Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)
Can Tigers break four-year hat-trick hoodoo? Wests have not won three matches on the trot since Round 6 in 2018. Different times back then – Ivan Cleary was driving the bus, Malcolm Turnbull was prime minister and Luke Brooks was the Tigers’ much-maligned playmaker criticised for not justifying his hefty salary. Well, maybe not so different after all. Apart from Brooks, only winger David Nofoaluma, forward Alex Twal and hooker Jacob Liddle are still in the team.