**<big>Warriors and Tigers charge into top four calculations</big>
Greg Prichard
August 15, 2011\
\
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/warriors-and-tigers-charge-into-top-four-calculations-20110814-1it32.html**
**The stage is set for either the Warriors or Wests Tigers to burst into the top four next weekend.**
Late-season stumbling by fourth-placed North Queensland (two losses in a row) and fifth-placed St George Illawarra (four straight losses) have given the fast-finishing Warriors (five wins from their past six games) and Tigers (five straight wins) an enormous amount to play for over the final three rounds.
Before the weekend's round began, the Warriors were sixth and the Tigers eighth, both four points behind the Cowboys and three behind the Dragons. A realistic ambition at that stage looked to be to try to finish as high as possible in the bottom half of the top eight. But all that has changed.
As a result of the Cowboys losing to the Broncos, the struggling Sydney Roosters registering the biggest upset of the season by knocking over the Dragons, and the Warriors and Tigers beating Newcastle and Penrith respectively, it is game on for the last available spot in the top four and the opportunity to launch a finals campaign with a home game in the first week.
The Warriors and Tigers, sixth and seventh respectively, are just two points behind the Cowboys and one behind the Dragons, and will be watching with enormous interest on Friday night when the Cowboys are away to a surging South Sydney, and the Dragons are away to a competition-leading Melbourne side that has won 11 games in a row.
If the Cowboys and Dragons lose and the Warriors beat struggling Penrith at Centrebet Stadium on Saturday night, the Warriors will jump to fourth. If the Cowboys, Dragons and Warriors all lose, and the Tigers beat Parramatta at the SFS on Sunday and there is enough of a turnaround between them and the Cowboys in the points differential, they will be fourth.
The Tigers are the team that have the bookmakers worried. They were being kept safe in the betting already before this round, at $7.50 to win the premiership with TAB Sportsbet, but after weekend results they have firmed to $6\. The Storm remain favourites at $3.25, followed by Manly at $5\. The Broncos and Dragons are also at $6\. There is then a big gap to the Warriors, at $13, and the Cowboys, at $17.
TAB Sportsbet media manager Glenn Munsie said last night: ''It's because the Tigers have the X-factor. Everyone knows that with a player like Benji Marshall in their side they have the ability to turn it on at any given time. **There is a great opportunity for both the Tigers and Warriors to make a run at the top four**, the way next weekend's games look. Melbourne, even without Cooper Cronk, will still start favourites over the Dragons, and I wouldn't be surprised if South Sydney start favourites over the Cowboys, even though the Rabbitohs are ninth and the Cowboys fourth.''
Munsie said Melbourne had eased slightly, from $3, mainly because of the foot injury sustained by star halfback Cronk in their win over Gold Coast on Saturday. He is likely to miss two games.
Canterbury will try to stay in the finals race when they play Cronulla at Toyota Stadium tonight. A win would keep them in 10th place, but only two points behind eighth-placed Newcastle. Ninth-placed Souths stayed alive by belting Canberra yesterday.
Greg Prichard
August 15, 2011\
\
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/warriors-and-tigers-charge-into-top-four-calculations-20110814-1it32.html**
**The stage is set for either the Warriors or Wests Tigers to burst into the top four next weekend.**
Late-season stumbling by fourth-placed North Queensland (two losses in a row) and fifth-placed St George Illawarra (four straight losses) have given the fast-finishing Warriors (five wins from their past six games) and Tigers (five straight wins) an enormous amount to play for over the final three rounds.
Before the weekend's round began, the Warriors were sixth and the Tigers eighth, both four points behind the Cowboys and three behind the Dragons. A realistic ambition at that stage looked to be to try to finish as high as possible in the bottom half of the top eight. But all that has changed.
As a result of the Cowboys losing to the Broncos, the struggling Sydney Roosters registering the biggest upset of the season by knocking over the Dragons, and the Warriors and Tigers beating Newcastle and Penrith respectively, it is game on for the last available spot in the top four and the opportunity to launch a finals campaign with a home game in the first week.
The Warriors and Tigers, sixth and seventh respectively, are just two points behind the Cowboys and one behind the Dragons, and will be watching with enormous interest on Friday night when the Cowboys are away to a surging South Sydney, and the Dragons are away to a competition-leading Melbourne side that has won 11 games in a row.
If the Cowboys and Dragons lose and the Warriors beat struggling Penrith at Centrebet Stadium on Saturday night, the Warriors will jump to fourth. If the Cowboys, Dragons and Warriors all lose, and the Tigers beat Parramatta at the SFS on Sunday and there is enough of a turnaround between them and the Cowboys in the points differential, they will be fourth.
The Tigers are the team that have the bookmakers worried. They were being kept safe in the betting already before this round, at $7.50 to win the premiership with TAB Sportsbet, but after weekend results they have firmed to $6\. The Storm remain favourites at $3.25, followed by Manly at $5\. The Broncos and Dragons are also at $6\. There is then a big gap to the Warriors, at $13, and the Cowboys, at $17.
TAB Sportsbet media manager Glenn Munsie said last night: ''It's because the Tigers have the X-factor. Everyone knows that with a player like Benji Marshall in their side they have the ability to turn it on at any given time. **There is a great opportunity for both the Tigers and Warriors to make a run at the top four**, the way next weekend's games look. Melbourne, even without Cooper Cronk, will still start favourites over the Dragons, and I wouldn't be surprised if South Sydney start favourites over the Cowboys, even though the Rabbitohs are ninth and the Cowboys fourth.''
Munsie said Melbourne had eased slightly, from $3, mainly because of the foot injury sustained by star halfback Cronk in their win over Gold Coast on Saturday. He is likely to miss two games.
Canterbury will try to stay in the finals race when they play Cronulla at Toyota Stadium tonight. A win would keep them in 10th place, but only two points behind eighth-placed Newcastle. Ninth-placed Souths stayed alive by belting Canberra yesterday.
