NRL FINALS PREDICTIONS - THE TOP 8
1.
MELBOUNRE STORM (44
points)
Notable
Statistics:
·
Season record of 20 wins and 4 losses
·
Most potent attack (633 points scored),
including most tries scored (112)
·
Best defence (336 points conceded)
·
Average 39 sets per game
·
Top player for tries scored (Suliasi
Vunivalu – 23) and line-break assists (Cameron Munster - 1.1 per game)
·
Rank 1st for ball movement and
team cohesion with 98 line-break assists
Ø WFC
FINALS PREDICTION – Champions
2.
SYDNEY ROOSTERS (38
points)
Notable
Statistics:
·
Season record of 17 wins and 7 losses
·
Top tackling team in the NRL (8053 total
for 335 per game)
·
Worst error rate in the league (12.6 per
game)
·
Equal second best kicking game over the
course of the season
·
Luke Keary (20) and Mitchell Pearce (18)
inside top 5 for season line-break assists
Ø WFC
FINALS PREDICTION – Semis-final loss
3.
BRISBANE BRONCOS (36
points)
Notable
Statistics:
·
Season record of 16 wins and 8 losses
·
Second in total points – 597 (103 tries,
91 goals)
·
Second in total run metres gained
(average 1657 per game)
·
Second best points differential (164)
·
James Roberts grabbed 16 tries, 5 try
assists and 4.2 tackle breaks (per game) in 23 games
·
316.4 tackles per game (8th
least) – Ball retention lowered this number (53% possession)
Ø WFC
FINALS PREDICTION – Runners-up
4.
PARRAMATTA EELS (36
points)
Notable
Statistics:
·
Season record of 16 wins and 8 losses
·
Record of 6 wins and 3 losses against
other top 8 teams this season
·
Average of 10 errors per game
·
Semi Radradra scored 20 regular season
tries (4th most, four tries in R25 and 3 tries in R26)
·
Nathan Brown averages 17.2 runs per game
(6th most)
·
Clinton Gutherson and Bevan French
injured
·
9 wins and 1 loss from last 10 games
played
Ø WFC
FINALS PREDICTIONS – Preliminary Finals Loss
5.
CRONULLA SHARKS (34
points)
Notable
Statistics:
·
Season record of 15 wins and 9 losses
·
Outside the top 8 for both total points
scored (476) and tries (78)
·
Rank 3rd for successful
offloads (11.5 per game)
·
Second highest error rate amongst all
teams (266 total/11 per game)
·
Paul Gallen leads all forwards in the
league for runs per game (19.4) for an average of 182.8 metres gained (ranked 3nd)
· Both Gallen (2.1) and forward compatriot
Andrew Fifita (2.4) rank in top 10 for offloads per game
Ø WFC
FINALS PREDICTIONS – Semi-finals Loss
6.
MANLY SEA EAGLES (32
points)
Notable
Statistics:
·
Season record of 14 wins and 10 losses
·
3 golden point wins over the course of
the season and no losses
·
Rank 3rd for tries scored (99)
·
3rd most line-breaks (115)
and equal 3rd most line-break assists (84)
·
2nd only to the Storm for try
assists (81). Daly Cherry-Evans with 19 (1st), Tom Trbojevic 18 (=2nd)
·
Comfortably atop the rankings for 40/20’s
in the regular season with 8 – Blake Green (5) and Daly Cherry-Evans (3)
·
Although sitting in 6th spot
for team offloads (255), Martin Taupau averages 3.4 offloads per game (71 total
= 1st)
Ø WFC
FINALS PREDICTION – Preliminary Finals Loss
7.
PENRITH PANTHERS (30 points)
Notable
Statistics:
·
Season record of 13 wins and 11 losses
·
Most missed tackles in the league (872),
equating to 36.3 per game
·
Nathan Cleary led total points (216),
total kick metres (7355) and conversion percentage (86%) statistics throughout
the season
·
Have only beaten a top 8 side twice
throughout the season with 7 losses
·
3rd most amount of errors
(263 total/10.9per game)
·
11 wins from last 15 games. However, are
coming into the finals on a 2 game losing streak (R25 Dragons, R26 Manly)
Ø WFC
FINALS PREDICTION – Quarter-finals Loss
8.
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS
(30 points)
Notable
Statistics:
·
Season record of 13 wins and 11 losses
·
Ranked 4th worst for tries
scored (78)
·
2nd for total completed runs
as a team with Jason Taumalolo averaging 18.7 per game (4th highest)
·
Taumalolo is the only player to average
over 200 run metres per game in the league (203.1), while averaging 5.2
tackle-breaks per game.
·
Without Johnathon Thurston the Cowboys
sit outside the top 8 for both try assists (9th) and line-break
assists (15th), although Michael Morgan has picked up 18 try assists
and 10 line-break assists this season.
ØWFC
FINALS PREDICTION – Quarter-finals Loss
The Finals Win/Loss Breakdown
WFC is tipping that the
Storm will go all the way this season, with a last day grand final win to
cement the ‘Big 3’ legacy, before splitting up. As the best and far most superior team all season long, it is hard to argue, after only 4 losses during
the campaign, 2 of which occurred during the State of Origin period where a
host of players were on rep duty.
As for the other teams
attempting to derail Melbourne’s fairy-tale – the Brisbane based side has the
best chance at doing so. After nearly slipping to 4th position after
a dominate season, the Broncos will look to utilise their lively creativity in
the halves and pace in the backline to over-run the Roosters in their week one
matchup, to earn a week’s rest and sit one win away from the final.
The Roosters however, will
bounce back in the Prelims, as their far superior squad will get over an up and
down Manly, who themselves will advance from the bottom half of the draw after
defeating the Penrith Panthers in back-to-back weeks. Mental psychology in this
game will play a big factor, as in round 26 Manly jumped out to a big lead. The
Panthers will put up a bigger fight this time but it won’t be enough.
We at WFC also believe
that the experience of Cronulla’s premiership campaign from a season ago will
see them comfortably get past a gallant North Queensland side in week 1, while
using that finals experience in week 2 to defeat a hot Parramatta Eels outfit,
before just falling short of another grand final – losing to the Broncos.
As for the Storm who
are tipped to win the premiership, their semi-final match-up against the
Roosters will be a hard fought effort – possibly even heading into an overtime
finish.
With WFC predicting a repeat
of the 2006 premiership grand final between the Storm and the Broncos, the
result will see a reverse of that day with the Melbourne side successfully avenging
last year’s narrow defeat. This victory will see the end of an era of Melbourne
mastery in typical classy style.
So, with that all being
said – Here is WFC’s NRL Finals brackets
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