Could there be a semi at home? - St George & Sutherland Shire Leader

[Sutherland Pride]

Who Do You Want

With only 2 rounds to go and the 4-8 spots still up in the air, who do you want to play in the first week of the finals??

I personally think the draGOONS finish 6th (if we finish 3rd:cheers). Nice local derby for first week.

 

[the_prawn]

NO.
i don't want the dragons!
as much fun as it would be to beat them, due to the local rivalry, they are a massive chance to beat us.

i would rather we exact revenge on the warriors, this time in our back yard!
this would build more confidence in the boys and wind us up for an actual tilt at the finals this year.

Although... with the second bite at the cherry, a chance to knock the dragons off in the first week of the finals would be pretty sweet.

 

[teflon77]

I'm almost certain we will play the raiders. Not a bad thing considering we have owned them in recent times.

 

[Jigsaw]

Raiders. i have wanted it ever since they made it into the top 8. I want us to vs the Raiders

 

[sharkie_09]

sh** no not the raiders they have put on about 4000 points in the last few weeks if anyne will breach our defense its them

i think roosters would be loveley

for them to be 6 or 7th, they would have to lose their next 2, therefore they would be waaaay out of form

 

[andyshark]

Lets think positive, if we win our next 2 along with Melb, and then manly loose one in an upset, we will finish 2nd and therefore I hope we play an injury plaged Canberra, and move straight into week 3 of the finals.

 

[sharktastic]

i hope we play broncos. Dont wanna play em the second week of the finals. First week of finals isnt really a must win game. top 8 system we have is pathetic. No advantage really in finishing 3rd or 4th.Only home semi. Would love to play the raiders week 2 of the semis.

 

[Megashark]

St George. How sweet would it be to put paid to their premiership chances for yet another season in front of a full house at Toyota?

 

[bris_shark]

Broncos - would be ok, we have a pretty good record against them in finals footy

Raiders - bit worried bout them cause they are playing so good, still think we would be good enough to beat them though

Dragons - hmm I think we would beat them but they would have a lot of support there too

Knights - would be good to get revenge for 2001 but im a bit worried playing them for some reason

Warriors - once again we could get revenge for 2002 and they are hopeless away from home

Roosters - would definitely be the best option cause as sharkie_08 said they would have to lose their last 2 games so they would have no confidence left, however that would mean they are on a 5 game losing streak and we might take it too lightly

I think we will most likely play Broncos or Raiders. I dont think we will make the Top 2 so it looks like will be playing team number 6.

 

[Sharkiiies]

DRAGONS!!. i know some might say no but nothing beats a local derby final match at toyota park sold out cold spectacular, close game come on dragons vs sharks, if we play raiders it will be tough because we will be trying to stopping them score points on us so yeah go sharks!! i believe i the team and in the defence we will WIN!

 

[tjb1986]

i dont think it matters who we play! i dont care
we will face all the tough teams in our road through to October!! we have to play them one week or the next.
i dont think dragons will even make the eight!
lets go sharkies! our time..... our year..
SHARKS SHARKS FOREVER.

 

[san29]

I don't care who we play as long as we play." Forever a shark."

 

[sharkarm]

All of the teams in the running for positions 4-8 are in awesome form except the rorters. Regardless of who we meet we must win so that in week 2 of the finals we go in confident.
I think that manly are a real chance of being beaten by team 7 or 8 ( if they finish 2nd ) Now if that is the case a win would put us straight into the prelim final, playing 1 less game means less chance of injuries this would be the ideal scenario.
After week 1 of the finals i think that this will be the top 6
1. Storm
2. Sharks

3. Manly
4. Broncos
5. Stg/Illawarra
6. Raiders

 

[IronShark]

Man, I think definitely the Raiders, they will have no players left the way they are going with injury! Personally, I would love to see the Sharks beat the Dragons at Shark Park in front of all their moron supporters and end their season like they did to us in 99 but, to be honest with you, they are looking strong lately and without Bird I have to admit, I'd be worried.

Ultimately, I guess it doesn't matter 'cos you've got to be able to beat 'em all to win the title.

 

[sharks195]

Anyone, I just don't want to play against the Tigers.

 

[Capital_Shark]

I suppose the dusted doggies isn't an option?

I'm not fussed. We have to be able to beat anyone we come up against. We won't get a better opportunity than first week on our home turf. If we can't send someone packing then, we're wasting our time and just putting off an embarrassing exit from the 2008 season.

 

[Smile Ricky...]

we'll get the raiders. im easy. it's not that bad - itd rather play a team that isnt likely to step up for a big game e.g. broncos, roosters. in the end though, it wont matter if we win or lose that game, it'll be the game after that really matters.

 

[bort]

raiders will be ok because they arent usually as good away and are steadily losing players

 

[sharks195]

On second thought I wouldn't mind playing the Broncos, because then we have a chance to beat them in the first round, and maybe eliminate them.

 

[Wibble]

In the early edition on Monday, before they started crucifying Bird without evidence, the geniuses at the Daily Telegraph worked out the "predicted" top eight with Broncos 4th, Roosters 5th, Raiders 6th, and Sharks 3rd. This would mean the Sharks play Raiders.

However, with the Roosters on 30, Broncos 29 and Raiders 28 premiership points, a minor miracle or two is needed for the Telegraph to be correct. The Broncos would need to win (at least) one more game than the Roosters (either two wins or one, with the Roosters winning one or none). This is quite possible. But then for the Raiders to finish behind the Roosters, they would have to lose one or both of their remaining games against the two worst teams in the comp (and/or have a 50 point turn around in differentials).

If the Roosters win both of their remaining games (v Souths and Dragons), which seems unlikely at the moment, then the Raiders will probably be 6th (or the Broncos if they lose one and the Raiders overtake them).

There is a good chance the Roosters will finish 6th or even 7th (with Dragons 6th), if they lose either of their games.

So, it really comes down to the Dragons v Roosters game. If the Dragons win, probably- Melbourne v Warriors, Manly v Roosters, Sharks v Dragons, Broncos v Raiders (played in the reverse of that order.).

If the Roosters win- Melbourne v Warriors, Manly v Dragons, Sharks v Raiders, Roosters v Broncos.
If I had to bet I'd say Sharks v Dragons.

I think they are all very winnable at home, but in terms of "recovery" to play the next week I'd rather avoid Warriors (not likely for the Sharks to face), and Broncos. Raiders, Dragons and Roosters (these days) can all play well enough, but aren't tough (as in punishing).