Then There Were Four
Posted on | September 24, 2009 | No Comments
We are in the penultimate week of the NRL. There are only four teams left and two great preliminary finals await. NRL betting has no idea which way to look. Parramatta were the distant underdogs but after defeating top placed St George and third-placed Gold Coast, they are the team that no-one wants to play.
Even though the Bulldogs have had the benefit of the week off, they will be nervous against the Eels. The Eels have nothing to lose and will play accordingly.
This week a lot has been made regarding the traditional rivalry between the two teams. They met in the 1984 and 1986 Grand Finals and both times only two points separated the sides. Only one try was scored in the two matches and 16 points altogether. It is doubtful it will be this tight and low-scoring this week. Both sides like to throw the ball around and score tries.
The Eels are full of confidence and just may have the game to go all the way.
As for the other preliminary final, the Storm are hosting the Broncos. These two are building a rivalry of their own. The Broncos was a controversial Grand Final in 2006 and then the Storm eliminated the Broncos from the 2008 finals with the last play of the game. These two sides know each other very well and would love nothing better than to knock the other out of the finals.
Both of last week’s losers eliminated the finals in straight sets which would have been upsetting for them. When you earn the double chance and fail to win a final it is very upsetting and disappointing. What that means is that you have played well over 26 weeks and then saved your worst football for when it counts most.
Did St George choke or did they just face a Parramatta and Broncos side that were better? As for the Titans, they were unlucky in losing to the Broncos and then had to travel Sydney to take on a fired-up Eels outfit.
Rugby league has experienced somewhat of resurgence during this finals series. The football has been exhilarating and that has contributed to a lot of interest and record crowds. Apparently the Eels-Bulldogs game will be the biggest Sydney crowd for a non-Grand Final. They are expecting something in the area of 70,000 and maybe even more. For a sport which has had a pretty tough year, this is a happy ending.
David Wiseman is looking forward to the NRL Grand Final as well as the Melbourne Cup.
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