Seen heaps of this talk lately.
When the draw was released Manly was a top 4 team and Knights were a top 8 team though.
Plus that 4 games before this “soft last 5” we played 1st, 2nd, 4th and the red hot bunnies walking away with 3/4 wins.
We have won when we needed to win. Not our fault teams like Roosters lost to the “soft” Knights round 1
Exactly if those teams like Manly, Knights ect lived up to the expectations we would be having a 'tough' draw to close out the regular season
We didn't get to play the Roosters at start of year when they were at their worst and most vulnerable - plenty of ways you can slice and dice how the draw played out
Technically you could possibly go an entire season never playing a
current top 8 side depending on the timing of when you meet particular teams on any given weekend. You could do that but still be the best team in the comp