Some great games last weekend with 3 games decided in either golden point or the last 5 minutes of play.
The Grand Final replay and local derby between the Eels and Panfers was probably the match of the round and match of the season to date. Parramatta needed a win to avoid starting the year 0 – 4 and to do it against Penrith would have seemed a big ask. The 17 – 16 victory was well deserved – their completion rate for the match was 95% (41/43). They led the premiers twice by 8 points only to have Penrith come back and equalise. But it was the flurry of points, penalties, sinbins, field goals towards the end of the match that thrilled the 16K crowd and who knows how many TV viewers. Some Cleary magic, nailing a 2 point field goal to equalise the scores with just seconds to play was amazing. Moses match winning field goal in golden point put the icing on the cake for the Eels (and their supporters).
Manly suffered their first loss of the season in golden point to Bunnies 13 – 12. They led 12 – 6 at the break and didn’t score again. Souths Cody Walker scored the 2nd of his 2 tries in the 49th minute and scores were levelled with a penalty to Mitchell in the 67th minute. Again, it was a frantic final few minutes of the match that thrilled the crowd – both Mitchell and DCE had field goal attempts in the final MINUTE of play but both were unsuccessful. It wasn’t until an error by Manly in Golden point at allowed Ilias to slot the game winning field goal.
The highly touted “Battle of Brisbane also didn’t disappoint spectators. Their first clash in the NRL saw an amazing 51K crowd in attendance – a massive number for a club game (and quite the cash cow for the NRL). It had the atmosphere of a State of Origin clash. Both teams went into the match undefeated. It turned out to be a tough game too, with plenty of heavy defence and long range tries. I personally didn’t care too much for the game and wasn’t particularly concerned with who would win, but I must say it as worth the watch. As we all know the Broncos prevailed with 4 tries to 2 (Final score 18 – 12) but the Dolphins can hold their heads high. Injuries to key players didn’t assist and may cause them problems in the coming weeks.
Here are all the results from round 3 ;
Main Competition
Guru2810 still holds the lead on 24 points, and he has been joined by Big Baba also on 24. They are separated by a slim 12 differential points. We then have a logjam of 6 players on 22 – PabloW (up 17places) I Miss Benji (up 8 places) being the big movers this week.
The Standout
Slightly better for most tippers this week ;
- Standouts correct – 51
- Standouts wrong – 11
- The average score – 5.34
- Our round high – 9 was achieved only by 3 punters
- Our round low was – Minus 1
Footy Tipper Weekly Jackpot
The fullcard continues to defy tippers. Our prize pool increases to a mouth-watering $50.00 for round 5.
Good luck with your tips this week.
Paul
