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Message: [QUOTE="Big Pete, post: 2752082, member: 1899"] The rest of the round kicks off on Friday when Wests hosts Souths at ANZ Stadium. If you're getting an acute sense of deja vu, that's because these two played at the exact same venue in Round 9, April 28th to be exact) where Wests went over 30-22. The key to the result was the Tigers performance in the opening twenty when they raced in four tries (Tedesco, Rankin, Brooks & Naiqama). With both sides backing up from losses and sitting on 5 wins a piece (Souths 5-7; Wests 5-8) it's an important game in the context of both seasons. The Warriors produced their best performance of the season when they defeated the Brisbane Broncos 36-18. They have another opportunity to improve their 5-7 record when they play the bottom of the ladder Newcastle Knights. A win will put them in the running for a finals berth after their season looked over after a horrid performance against the Canberra Raiders at Plymouth. These two sides met earlier this year in Round 4 where the Warriors put aside a rough start and raced away to a 40-18 victory. I expect to see more of the same here which will give the Warriors fans some hope heading into the second half of the season. That's followed by the Parramatta Eels playing host to the Gold Coast Titans. The Gold Coast are beginning to turn heads, especially after their dramatic 29-28 victory over the Bunnies in OT. They're currently 6-6 and will come up against a Parramatta Eels side that is struggling to deal with the fall-out from the salary cap scandal. They're 1-2 since the news broke, with the one win coming against the last placed Knights who they only beat by 2 points. If the Titans are going to make a finals bid, they'll need to beat a weakened Eels outfit. In a boost for the Titans, Konrad Hurrell is expected to make his debut in place of Nathan Davis at right centre. Even though Hurrell fell out of favour at the Warriors, you can expect him to be an instant hit at the Gold Coast Titans. If I could liken the signing to a past Gold Coast player, it would be Clinton Toopi who proved a handy addition in 2010. The 7:30 game sees Sydney take on Melbourne at Allianz Stadium. Melbourne haven't lost since Round 6 (18-12 to Canterbury) and have named the 17 that defeated Penrith 24-6 in a comfortable victory. Sydney have named Latrell Mitchell despite suffering an ankle injury in the shadows of half-time. His selection appears to be a case of cloak and daggers from Trent Robinson with word that Ferguson will go to fullback for the Roosters. The Roosters have to win 9 of their remaining 12 games to be in with a shot but on the surface the hill appears to be too high against the Melbourne Storm. Never the less, expect a fierce forward battle between Bromwich and Warea-Hargreaves. The two have a competitive rivalry with JWH making it a mission to step up whenever he comes across the New Zealand captain. On Sunday, the wounded Manly Sea Eagles play host to the new-look Penrith Panthers outfit. The Panthers struggled down in Melbourne, with their sole try coming off a Vunivalu mistake. Coach Griffin has had enough, backing Australian Schoolboy Nathan Cleary to get the job done. Cleary had a trial by fire down in Melbourne where he was asked to make 30+ tackles. The talented half survived and appears to have a big future infront of him. He comes up against a Manly Sea Eagles outfit that hasn't won a match since Round 8 (against Newcastle 26-10) and will go into the game without their chief playmaker Daly Cherry-Evans and skipper Jamie Lyon. It's tough to get a read on either side, my only confident prediction is that it will be close. Penrith's biggest win so far was their 30-18 victory against the Warriors. Even so, the Panthers only extended their lead in the final seven minutes. With Koroisau doing an admirable job as a fill-in I expect another nail-biter. Then on Monday we have the 6-6 Dragons taking on the 7-6 Bulldogs. St George have been very streaky since their horrible Round 6 performance against the Broncos. Since then they've had wins against the Gold Coast Titans (19-14), Sydney Roosters (20-18), Canberra Raiders (16-12) and North Queensland Cowboys (14-10) but they haven't been without their share of controversy and they suffered some ugly losses to the Warriors (26-10) and Rabbitohs (34-24). Canterbury are beginning to show signs of exhaustion and while they've had their moments against the Raiders (led until the 65th minute) and the Sharks (led until the 79th minute) they just haven't come up with the big play at the right time. These type of losing streaks aren't too uncommon for the Dogs or Des Hasler. Since Des has been apart of the Bulldogs, they've at least suffered one 3-game losing each season. Whether 2016 will be added to the pile will be anyone's guess. Last year these two teams traded wins (Dragons 31-6; Bulldogs 29-16) during the regular season before Canterbury produced a dramatic 11-10 Golden Point victory in the Qualifying Final. With both teams employing the same brand of rugged Rugby League I expect another ugly game between the two. The final game of the round may just be the best game. The Cronulla Sharks defend their impressive nine game winning streak against the defending premiers in North Queensland Cowboys. The two teams met in Townsville in the opening round of the season in a game where North Queensland managed to squeak out a 20-14 win. Since then, it's fair to say the Sharks have made the most improvement with the combinations really coming together. It sets up a gripping contest that may just inform us where both teams are at. At home the North Queensland Cowboys have been unstoppable winning 7/7 so far in 2016. On the road it's been a different story with losses to Parramatta (20-16), Brisbane (21-20) and Melbourne (15-14). They also lost to the Dragons in Round 12 at WIN Stadium (14-10) but it's worth mentioning that they were without six Origin players while the Dragons were close to full strength (with only Dugan missing). At this point in time, I expect that trend to continue and for the Sharks to reach double digits but wouldn't be overly surprised to see a team as good as North Queensland end the streak. Either way it's a big game at this point of the year. While a lot of people expected the Sharks to be amongst it, I don't think anyone expected them to be so dominant and go on this run. They've got to be careful and ensure that there is more to this season than a winning streak and with Barba, Townsend, Fifita and Ennis I must admit I'm not totally convinced. [/QUOTE]

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