mcatt link said:
I can't believe everyone has written off Melbourne after a 3 point loss. No one was interested in anyone other then Melbourne before Sundays loss and now all of a sudden no one wants to touch them. I definately think we can win it, but am not going to write the storm off just yet.
I'm not exactly jumping off the storm here, but I will say that I think it will be a lot more difficult to win the comp now that they've got to play sudden death footy from now on.
Manly/Sharks are in the box seat because the week off is a massive, massive bonus.
Four weeks of finals games is a tough ask, and it takes a massive toll on the bodies. And especially when you couple it with the teams that they will face....Melbourne are in for a tough road from here on in. They got physically bashed by the Warriors, and a few little niggles to Lima and suddenly their pack looks far from threatening. The Broncos will bash them as well - another physical and draining match no matter what the result (although I will back the Storm at this stage).
And the Sharks are no different. Very physical, love the wrestling, it's a physically-draining clash. They'll be buggered by the time the GF rolls around. No freshen up weeks. No time to rest guys like Hoffman, Lima, Johnson from their week to week injuries, because if you rest a bloke like Lima and Johnson then your pack goes to sh*t and they might not have a chance at coming back the next week.
In my eyes Melbourne are still favs to win the comp because they're still the best team left out of the six, but they have been brought back to the pack a long, long way. And it's great for Manly.