What a difficult draw!!!

[Great White Shark]

What does everyone think of the first 5 week....
Manly, Storm, Titans, Dragins and Rabbits all AWAY. Why would we agree to this draw and not request an amednment. In all my 25 years of following league I have never seen such a start.
We could be 0 and 5....what do you all think??

 

[brad]

well it does get a few of the hard games out of the road. if we win a few of these it leaves us in good shape for the next part of the season

 

[peachey]

well where away because of construction on our ground

and we get probably 2 of the hardest games of the year out of the way in the first 2 rounds..

i think we got a good draw

 

[bort]

i see no reason why we shouldnt be able to win titans, rabbits and dragons games
manly is do-able
storm will be tough but
we agreed to it because we requested it to get construction done, how can you not know about this?

 

[gavin07]

we always tend to lift when we play the tough teams. coming up against the top 2 from last year in the opening rounds will be no different. ricky and the boys know what lays ahead in the first two weeks and im sure theyre gonna get ready to rip in. im thinking it might also be good to get into them before theyve built up any momentum from the 2008 season, and hopefully are rusty (or as rusty as they are gonna get anyway)

 

[Capital_Shark]

We've gotta play everyone at one time or another. A few more would of been at home but that simply can't be due to the construction works going on. Not that I believe home ground plays a great deal of advantage in modern day rugby league anyhow.

I don't see Manly be anything too special this year. There is no reason we can't win against them in round 1. It should be close either way.

Storm will be tough. They're the competition yard stick.

Titans will also be tough. Without contradicting myself too much, I think home ground will play an advantage for them. 2nd season, brand new and fan-f_cking-tastic stadium that'll be SOLD OUT with ease. Defensively they're not much, but they've got plenty of point in 'em. We're not so strong in attack so won't capitalise on their defensive weaknesses like most teams can, which is where the Titans will be taken care of most of the time. Our defense might be good, but I dunno if we can score enough to even up the numbers.

Dragons is the same old thing. If they rock up with their heads screwed on they'll give us a run. If they rock up sloppy we'll give 'em a lesson in football. Lets hope for the latter.

Finally to Souths, well they're looking good IMO. They've been playing footy for a while now so won't be as rusty as some. Whether that effects them at the back end we'll have to wait and see, but I reckon the first 10 or so rounds will be good for Bunnies fans. If they come outta the gates good we might be in for a long night. If we can quickly turn the game into a grind we'll most likely take it as the attention span of the Rabbits isn't there. They're all confidence players who go ape sh!t with ball in hand provided they're on a roll. Working and grinding persistently for field position is not their strong suit.

 

[sharkiesfreak]

i will be at the titans game and if im the only sharkies fan there i will try to make as much as their stadium....,but i dnt think it will be sold out the build up will be for game one of the season when the titans play the cowboys and if they get flogged or struggle to even get near anyone in the first couple of rounds it will be dead....Gold coast ppl are like that(sorry if any sharks fans live on the GC but most of them are just sufie bums who dont know a good team if it hit them in the face..)......I like our squad this year more than ever and i have always loved our squads but with ricky on his 2nd year and things finally getting sorted out it will be better for the team, the club and the supporters

 

[brad]

hopefully ill get to the titans game. just gotta find out whether i have to play on that night. so keen on going but

 

[sharks195]

i am sick of everyone saying how good melbourne is, they have decent players, but they just have great discipline, add to the fact that we almost beat them last year, i think all the matches this year are winnable, it just depends on the team's overall attitude, stop giving all this crap about how melbourne are impossible to defeat, because after all there are humans playing for them, as there are for us and humans aren't perfect (BUZ and I are the only exceptions to this rule as we are technically sith and jedi, respectively)

 

[Capital_Shark]

i am sick of everyone saying how good melbourne is

Melbourne Storm were leaps and bounds ahead of any other team in the NRL in 2007. I don't see a great deal changing in 2008 unless they suffer some key injuries.

they have decent players, but they just have great discipline

These are some of the reasons they were the best team in the comp, and probably will be again.

we almost beat them last year

We almost beat a lot of teams last year. Storm DID beat a lot of teams last year.

stop giving all this crap about how melbourne are impossible to defeat

They're not impossible to defeat. It is quiet difficult though. They play persistent, mistake free football and are extremely well drilled. And if all that fails they got freaks like Smith, Slater and Inglis who can pick up the slack.

 

[zakspiders]

i dont care if we have to play 26 games away.
i dont care in what order we play teams.

if we are serious about winning a comp we've got to be able to beat anyone at anytime

 

[peachey]

Titans will also be tough. Without contradicting myself too much, I think home ground will play an advantage for them. 2nd season, brand new and fan-f_cking-tastic stadium that'll be SOLD OUT with ease. Defensively they're not much, but they've got plenty of point in 'em. We're not so strong in attack so won't capitalise on their defensive weaknesses like most teams can, which is where the Titans will be taken care of most of the time. Our defense might be good, but I dunno if we can score enough to even up the numbers.

just as long as they dont score a try with there bloody backside ill be just that little bit happier..looking forward to seeing us in there stadium..

 

[Sharkii Fr3ak]

I think we will loose first game against the Eagles but from there on i think we will be on fire!!, im only saying that with what i heard of whom we will be missing, Bird, Covell, Brown, Thompson (for a long time), i reckon eagles game will show us what we will do in this year i know it's first game but we need to start on a high, i think we will have it tough against Titans and Rabbits, people don't rate them in particular the titans. Sharks have a point to prove to rabbits that we are better then the 40-0 loss we copped in trials. Team i would love to beat this year is Eels only becuase when i go to parra stadium they grow heads and think there the best and think this year is their's pffftttt please!!! GO YA SHARKIES 08

 

[bort]

birdy is a 50/50, if he plays i recon we will take it, if he doesnt, still in with a shot
orford isnt confident and is saying manly fans should expect a slow start while they get used to no monaghan

 

[zakspiders]

monaghan was one of their best last year-they'll miss him the most

 

[tjb1986]

didn't cronulla request it anyway.. the away games?
we always go well beginning of season! so might be a good thing.

Anyone heading up for the Gold Coast Game????

 

[BUZ]

If the Sharks play 80%+ to their potential in the first five I see Melbourne as the only real tough game.

The chickenhawks may well make the eight again this year, but without Monaghan it could very well be a slow start
to '08 for them.

If the Sharks plan to shutdown Stewarts' opportunities (I assume they have a plan) is successful, they're a quarter
of the way there.

If Bird is there, and both he and Gallen fire, they're half way there.

If Kearney and De Gois fire, they're three quarters of the way there.

If the rest of the lads put in a solid work ethic then I'll be walking from Brookie Oval to Brookie Pub knowing that my wallet
will be staying firmly in my pocket for the rest of the evening .

 

[bort]

you have touched on the same topic twice there without realising. you say if bird (and gallen) fire we are half way, and earlier you suggest we have (or at least, need) a plan to deal with stewart

bird has a plan to deal with everyone
if its good enough for thurston, its good enough for stewart

 

[NikkiShark]

What do I think?
We won't be 0 and 5.
The first five weeks will be tough, but I'd rather have the two hardest games of the year first up.

Monaghan is going to be a big loss for Manly.

 

[bort]

as far as im concerned losing monaghan sees manly drop from a top 4 finisher to a team at the back end of the top 8, maybe even just missing out
they have dropped from a strong 1,7,9 to a strong 1,7 with no real depth in the halves, formerly provided by burns, and im still not convinced by lyons, he was ok, but hes not the reason for them getting in the gf, he certainly wasnt as important as the other 3, and any loss of him was easily covered by including burns,
the loss of the good service from 9 could see their attacking opportunities limited and they could find themselves in cronullas boat with a strong, defensively sound, forward pack and difficulty scoring tries, relying mostly on stewart (who will be their top try scorer, daylight second, and will be NSW fullback) to get their points, and the unreliable boot of lyon will decided wether they win or lose a lot by 4 points or less
matai will probably only play about 14 games due to suspension and injury too, and hes pretty decent

im really interested to know what you guys reckon of my appraisal there