Well it doesn’t seem to get any easier for tippers. Saturday was the day most of us want to forget with upset wins to the Titans (38 – 34) over the Storm, and the Warriors (26 – 12) over the Cowboys.
The match of the round however was probably Fridays nights game – Manly and Parra. In a high scoring match, we were treated to 12 tries in total – 8 of which were scored in the 2nd half – and 5 of those in the frantic last 12 minutes of the match. The win to Manly 34 – 30 actually sees them drop to 3rd on the ladder (and still undefeated), while the Eels languish in 16th place with a 0 – 3 start to the season. Brad Arthur is still not concerned ?!? With a grand final replay set for next Friday night, can the Eels finally break the win-drought ? I think not (but what would I know – I am running 48th and haven’t got my standout right yet).
The Dolphins continue on their winning ways with a strong 36 – 20 victory over the Knights. I’m not a gambling man, but the bookies are paying $26 on the Dolphins to win the competition. Even I could afford to lay a loose $5 on that. I think the logic is that they have minimal depth in their ranks to cover any potential injuries. (NB – The Eels are still paying $31 despite their woeful start to the season).
The Titans and Storm also entertained the 15K strong fans in Robina with another 12 try feast. The downside – 30 errors in total. Without taking away the glory from the Titans, it seemed to be a lack of discipline and massive error rate from the Storm (particularly in the 2nd half) that cost the Storm. They are now 13th and only 1 from 3 (NB – they are still paying $9.50)
The Broncos now head the NRL ladder after their big win over the Dragons 40 -18. The Big Red V started strong taking a 16 – 8 lead into the sheds at half-time. Scores were actually level at 18 all in the 70th minute when Saints seemingly gave up (call me biased).
The Raiders finally broke their duck in 2023 hanging on to beat the Sharks 24 -20 at home. That’s a good thing too for 62 of us tippers – Not so good for Runner – he was the only live full card. Alas he was on the Sharkies. Jackpot ……. missed it by that much.
So undefeated Broncos and Dolphins sees them in 1st and 2nd places respectively. Expect a sell out on Friday night at Suncorp when they meet for the first time. (Good luck tippers – I will be flipping a coin).
And remember – Gamble responsibly. Know when to stop. Don’t go over the top.
Here are all the results from round 3 ;
Main Competition
Guru2810 has taken the lead with a score of just 7. He leads from BillyB and Big Baba (who is probably benefitting from the good form of his beloved Bulldogs) who are only 1 point behind. Again, the good news is, no one has actually broken from the pack !! I know its only early days, but to have a leader on just 17 points means that there is still hope for all of us. We just need to string a few good rounds together.
The Standout
For the 3rd week in a row the numbers improved slightly. Frankly its still awful though.
- Standouts correct – 34
- Standouts wrong – 29 (Warriors beating the Cows was costly for 18 tippers)
- The average score – 4.37
- Our round high – 9 achieved only by Runner
- Our round low was – Zero
The Curse of the Standout continues. Current tally ;
- 37 correct Standouts selected.
- 147 selections have been WRONG.
Footy Tipper Weekly Jackpot
Runner came closest to taking the cash last weekend but the Sharks let him down in the last match. So the prize pool increases to $40.00 for round 4.
Good luck with your tips this week.
Paul
