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Cut-off Times for this week…

Thursday 4^th June 2020

Broncos v Roosters 7:50pm AEST

Tips will not be accepted after this time.

The season reopener between the Broncos and Eels augured to be a great curtain raiser for the NRL. Both teams went into the match undefeated and were the guinea pigs for the new six again restarts for ruck infringements. After 80 minutes, we were treated to a fast flowing and open game with 7 tries. The Eels clearly benefited from (and took advantage of) the new rule scoring 6 of those 7 tries. A glut of possession saw them romp in 34 – 6. In their last two encounters the Eels now dominate with a score-line of 92 – 6.

The Raiders reinforced their claim for being considered being real premiership contenders with a convincing win over the Storm 22 – 6 at AAMI Park. They clearly enjoy the trip to Melbourne and notched up their third straight win there. Getting home is another story – their flight was set to be diverted to Sydney, with a three-hour bus journey to follow to Canberra as fog closed in on the capital.

Paul McGregor’s future with the Dragons is now iffy at best after the Warriors totally out classed them with a 18 – 0 shutout in Gosford. (Who was it who let the Warriors stay in Australia anyway ??). Personal bias aside, the Warriors were almost faultless.  We saw for the first time in NRL history a team complete more than 40 consecutive sets – their first mistake coming in their 45th set.

With 15 minutes to go in the match, unprecedented scenes emerged of 20 St George/Illawarra cardboard cut-out fans seen leaving the stadium in disgust. One individual (highlighted in the photo) was escorted from the ground by security guards after he endeavoured to incite the crowd to sing “Saints Can’t Play” (ala Alan Langer in 1993). This naturally broke protocols around the new “canned crowd noises”. He was later taken to Visy Paper processing plant, shredded and recycled.

 In other matches ;

• The Cowboys had the bye, beating the Titans 36 – 6. Most punters are happy to see the Titans go around each week – it makes picking your standout easy.
• The Roosters notched their first win for the season over the Rabbitohs in the local derby 28 – 12.
• Benji played a big role in the West Tiger 28 – 16 win over the Sharks. The Sharks looked flat – possibly due to mandatory blood transfusions that were imposed by the club during the lead up to the match.  
• Stinky Manly romped in 7 tries to 1 as the Bulldogs played dead in their match. Canterbury were apparently still observing “social distancing” rules. Interestingly there were no Manly cardboard fans at the match – seems they don’t travel either ?!?  
• The Knights hung on to force a 14 all draw in their encounter with the Panthers. With seemingly more players on the bench than on the field at some times, they managed to endure the onslaught with only 41% of the possession and 5 failed field goal attempts  

The Standout

60 – got it right.

13 – got it wrong. 

Shock losses to the Storm and Dragons were the main contributors here costing 10 tippers the -2 point penalty.   

The weekly average score was an awful 5.2.

Ladder Leaders

Big Papi Productions continues to lead the field with a 2 point buffer. Runner and Mary McGregor jump into the top 5. StuartS and ILuvGal also did well, making their way into the top 10.

Historical leaders

Aaron C and Chur_moi (Round 1)

Footy Tipper Weekly Jackpot*

Had the Panthers/Knights match NOT ended in a draw (and the Panthers won), we would have had 1 winner. Alas that was not to be, so the Round 4 now stands at $60.

*Note:

– To be eligible to win this prize you must be the sole person to select the full card with a Standout.

Good luck with your tipping this week.

Pablo