Who are the teams to beat this year

B

Brisbane_Tiger

New member
All speculation I know but with this years signings who do you see as hard to beat.

After last years disappointment Newcastle will be really hard to beat at home in round one.

The storm, sea eagles and broncos are always a given.

Dogs, sharks and rabbits will be very strong.

Unfortunately that leaves a possible 2 spots left in the 8.

I think the knights might grab one and the cows will be in the mix.

Eels, dragons, panthers, warriors all look a bit weak but I Spode we look weak to them so we shall see.

Thoughts?

Will we ever beat the roosters again?
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Hard to know with the Broncos - they look okay on paper but that halves combo is getting old. Cows will be a massive challenger this year if they keep their best team on the field. They were rorted last season in the semis. I'd go as far as saying I'd put them 2nd pick after Melbourne and ahead of the Dogs and Eagles. Souths I'm not so keen on. Teo for Taylor is a bad trade IMO.
 
The Storm always turn up and will be damn hard to roll again. Bulldogs will be up there, Souths look very tough on paper, Cronulla should go well and Manly are never easy.
 
I think Souths got the better of the teo - Taylor swap, DTs defense is pretty average while teos is very good, Taylor also has bad hands, while Teo isnt too far behind DT in attack

Melb, Sharks, Manly, NQ, Souths, Dogs all very tough

Panthers recruited well….Raiders could be a smokey....Titans finished strong

Long year for us im afraid
 
I'm disagreeing with most. I think souths won't make the 8\. Too many injury prone players and Isaac Luke is always good for 8 weeks suspension. Storm have had their redemption last year, their desire to win won't be as strong as it was. Sharks won't do anything, carney is dying for a drink and controversy is just around the corner for them again.
Tigers will go well. Potter coach of the year.
Parra will make the 8.
Saints bottom 4
Penrith to get the spoon. Gus Gould to be sacked by round 15.
If the refs get things right this year, who knows. It might our year.
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Injuries as usual will be crucial to all teams

The 4-5 standouts in my opinion will be Melbourne ,Manly ,Dogs,Souths and Sharks

The key for the Tigers will be Woods and Keefy If we can keep them on the paddock for a minimum of 20 rounds we will be in the mix Getting the mix in our back row right will also be important
 
Yeah, I dont rate the Sharks either… The only player they have bought that will improve them is Michael Gordon, and I think they will have a tired Forward Pack in 2013\. While Lewis is a good player [another tired and old forward], I dont think he will improve the Sharks.

Manly is in a similar boat, plus I dont rate there coach… 2012 was on the back of Dessie. Lets see how they go with a full 12 months of Toothache!

Broncos wernt good enough last year, and only scrapped into the 8... They havnt improved there playing stock, but simply picked up Scott Prince who will give them a little more direction. Petro will be a BIG loss and while I rate Dodds, he isnt going to replace what Petro bought to the team just yet.

Canberra are another team with a few old Props... As we know, Props are the hardest to get on the pitch week after week. Until Canberra can find a Hooker/Dummy Half to take those big men forward, I see them lingering around the bottom of the Top 8.

As a few have mentioned, if we keep our stock on the field better than others, the Tigers will be in the lottery of 5th to 8th!
 
If they keep their troops on the field, it's cowboys for me
They're running out of time with thurston, Bowen and Tate.
Add sims, tamou and Scott, taumolola.

Storm as per usual
Dogs will drop down a couple of spots; around 4/5.
Rabbitohs should be in top 4.
Sharks- I feel are overhyped like we were last year (7-10 finish)
Eagles finish anywhere in 8

For myn we will finish in top 6 or bottom 4
No 9th/10th spot for us this year.
 
We need as many wins as we can get, so will be tough when we will be without farah and woods for 3 games this year (IMO), if tedesco is at 1 that means we will have basically rookies at 1 and 7… Backrow of Blair anasta Fulton probably won't dominate other packs (could e wrong)..
With those things in mind I think it will be very tough and we will do well to finish anywhere in the top 8
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I think:
Storm, Dogs, Sharks, Cowboys and Rabbits are morals,
Eagles, Panthers, Raiders and Broncos will be there abouts,
Knights, Roosters and Warriors to claim a stake at some point but fall just short,

…and Dragons, Eels, Titans and Tigers to fight it out for the spoon.

All I can see is that most sides will be stronger - either through great off season buys or the fact their young guns are a bit more experienced. Our squad is weaker than previous years, we have lost 2 blokes who the playing group love training and playing alongside, we have lost our forward leader in Ellis, we have not settled on a proven halfback or fullback, our backup props are considerably weaker than our starters and on 2012 form, our stars are declining with the exception of Robbie.

Unfortunately, at this point in time I dont see us ending up any better than 13th.

So to answer the question, I think they are all are as most will fare better than us this year.
 
@Brisbane Tiger said:
All speculation I know but with this years signings who do you see as hard to beat.

After last years disappointment Newcastle will be really hard to beat at home in round one.

The storm, sea eagles and broncos are always a given.

Dogs, sharks and rabbits will be very strong.

Unfortunately that leaves a possible 2 spots left in the 8.

I think the knights might grab one and the cows will be in the mix.

Eels, dragons, panthers, warriors all look a bit weak but I Spode we look weak to them so we shall see.

Thoughts?

Will we ever beat the roosters again?
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_
Click to expand...

since 2003, about half the teams from the 8 in any given year make the 8 the following year
so although right now it seems a number of teams are guaranteed to make the 8, by the time September comes round it will no doubt be different
 
I think the Tigers are looking stronger all over the park this year in the forwards and the backs, particularly with a new coach. I think last year the forwards kept the Tigers in the game but it was the backs who really let things down through poor form ( when your 2 best backs are Beau Ryan and Matt Utai,things are going strange). The forwards will be stronger this year with the addition of Thompson, Pettybourne and Gavet etc. I am expecting the attitude in Defence,depth and style of play to be much better this year.

I think that Manly will struggle more this year and that the Roosters will be a smoky for the 8\. The top 3 should be the storm,dogs and cowboys with the other 5 spots up for grabs,
 
2013 could see a changing of the guard,I think the storm may slip slightly and finish out of the top four.The Cowboys will be a real chance,Souths will be better for the run last year.The dogs will go okay but lack the class in the halves and heaven help them if Barba gets hurt.Manly should lift on last year,but depth could bite them.The Sharks will be a very hard team to beat but still lack class to win the big games.Raiders,will be a top eight team,Chooks could be the real improvers,SBW,Maloney and a few other signings could make a big difference and of course noBrian Smithh to p.ss the players off.Titans also may surprise,Penrith will be harder to beat but will lack the experience to make the eight.Warriors,Eels , will go better but still be off the pace.Dragons will struggle the most. Forgot the Bronks,no chance to win it but always a chance of the eight,they always get the best of the draw due tv rights

As for our mob,my heart can see a big year but my brain see them off the pace.If Potter can actually get them playing at high standard most weeks anything is possible.I just think it will take 18months and some good recruitment before we are up with the big boys.Hope Iam wrong
 
Pretty straight forward question…

Bulldogs, Manly & Melbourne.

Sharks, surprise package - top 4 for sure, good recruitment.
Souths - also will be up there.
 
All good points…

Getting excited, i'm excited to see how the other teams perform also but obviously mostly us.
Round 1 is going to be super tough i reckon and we wont know until about round 10 where we are.

Remember last year though? granted a 1 point victory then 5 losses in a row, not to hard to improve on that.
 
I really think Newcastle will be team to beat, will be very good defensivly and if backs can stay fit they could be in for a productive 2013 season
 
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