Game 1: Nomads v Swans
What a difference have the 4 games been since these two clubs played in round 1. The Nomads have been undefeated since then and the Swans have managed to scrape over the line against the Bulldogs. The Nomads showed with their win over the Saints last round that they are definitely a premiership threat. Coach Tom Granleese has taken a hard working team, coached by Brendo Meehan last year, and turned them into a well oiled machine. That said they have played, in a quirk of the draw, the last 4 games at home and now this one so we will have to wait and see whether they can take their show on the road. The Swans have been an interesting side this year. By all reports they are getting their best numbers ever to training but not getting them to travel. But for a 2 point loss to the Cats they would sit on equal wins with their old rivals the Kangaroos.
Tip: The Swans loss to the Saints is strong in my mind and with the Nomads king of their own dung hill, the Nomads will win by 76 points.
Game 2: Kangaroos v Saints
This, quite easily, is the match of the round and the one the Kangaroos have been waiting for since the Saints toweled them up in the opening round. The Saints' fitness regime in the preseason has contributed greatly to their great start to the season, but now is when the rest of the teams should start to catch up a little. The Kangaroos were awesome last week against the Cats and that will give them confidence for this week. My thoughts go back to the week before though, when they went to the Kennel, and even though they won they did let 101 points leak through their defence. And in the words of a well known Kangaroos legend, you can't win premiership conceding 100 points in a game. This they have done on 3 occasions this year. The Saints reality check against the Nomads came at time when they were probably just starting to think about their unbeaten 2007.
Tip: Now that that possibility is over I think it will be a blessing and the Saints will win here by 27 points.
Game 3: Bulldogs v Cats
If the Bulldogs wish to play finals this year then a win here is a must. They haven't been as bad as their 0 win bottom of ladder position suggests. They only lost by 16 points to the Cats in round 1, a 1 point loss to the Swans and kicked over 100 points against the Kangaroos so that is encouraging. The big disappointment is the forfeit to the Nomads and the 100 point thumping by the Saints at the Kennel. I feel I have been saying for years that the Bulldogs just need a little luck to be powerful in this competition, but they now need to start stepping up to the mark and stop treading water. Now that the Cats have had their brush with fame (the Aker thing) they can get back to normality and concentrate on the real point of playing footy - winning. I think Aker was a big distraction for them last week as they should have been a lot closer to the Kangaroos. The Cats are in their best position to play finals for the first time since 2007 and that means a lot to them but they have struggled to put a 100 point score on the board this year and that is always going to hurt them.
Tip: I think the Bulldogs will be too strong at home and will win by 48 points.
Last Modified on 24/05/2012 23:15