Who's Playing Who?

Megatips time for this week, and what a weekend of sport we have ahead of us! With Thurston-gate now behind us in the NRL, we enter Round 16, with Origin spots for the decider and top 8 spots up for grabs in the Women in League Round. In the AFL, there is a similar congestion at the bottom of the eight, and with our Match of the Round including two sides in that logjam on 22 points it is a big round. In the Super Rugby, its finals time, and the new system gets tested out as the injury-riddled Waratahs travel to Auckland to face the Blues and the Sharks make the long trip from Durban to face the Crusaders. So for all your expert tips and previews read on!

Standings

Match of the Round Previews

NRL

Dragons vs Eagles

Matt says…”Again the Dragons feature in the Match of the Round, which sees the second placed Eagles take on the third placed Dragons. Just as Manly coach Des Hasler likes it, the Eagles are the underdogs here, flying ‘under the radar’ to put themselves into premiership contention. Last week’s struggle against the Eels may just have been a blimp on that radar, but with the form of the spine of the Eagles (B Stewart, Foran, Cherry-Evans and Ballin) and their talented back-row of G Stewart and Watmough, the Eagles are a very dangerous side. Despite this, the Dragons need a victory here to return the momentum they have lost since beating the Tigers a month ago. They are without Beau Scott and Matt Cooper here, and may lose skipper Ben Hornby who is struggling with an ankle injury, but with all their other Origin stars firing, the Dragons should be too good, particularly at the graveyard of Wollongong. Expect some early nights for the selected Origin players if the result is under no doubt with 10-15 mins remaining. It seems  the rest of the experts, minus Adrian, agree with me!”

AFL

Richmond vs Melbourne

The Phantom says…“This is an interesting one. Both teams have improved greatly on their performances from last season. Richmond have claimed some decent scalps, and Melbourne haven’t been fairing too badly either. The last few rounds however, have been a bit disappointing for both sides. They both sit just outside the Top 8 on percentage however, so if Essendon go down to the Hawks, then the victor here could very much be part of the finals mix heading into the back end of the season. It’s going to be a good contest on Saturday afternoon at the MCG, and I’m backing Melbourne to get to the job done.”

Super Rugby

Blues v Waratahs

David Shipton says… “Both teams come into this game with a bit of momentum on their side. The Waratahs have had the better of the recent form, winning crucial games against the Highlanders and the Brumbies after a disastrous South African tour. The Blues looked in really good shape until four consecutive losses derailed their ambitions to be the conference winners. The rediscovered their form against the Highlanders last week though.    The Waratahs have had a terrible time in Auckland over the years, winning just one game in the past 80 years or so. In fact they have not travelled overseas well this year, losing all four games outside of Australia. Their defence has been outstanding recently, and their attack seems to be getting going well. The Blues have played much better the last few weeks, and have also started to get their attack into motion.  The Waratahs will be under strength for this one, missing Tatafu Polota-Nau and Berrick Barnes. It is for this reason, and the fact that they are playing their bogey team away from home that makes me think that the Blues will take this one. I don’t think there will be much in it though, thus I’m going for the 12 points and under option.”

Crusaders v Sharks

David Shipton says… “In the weekends other semi final play-off, the Crusaders will battle the Sharks in Nelson. Much like the game up in Auckland, home advantage will be huge, especially as the Sharks have had to travel all the way from the republic to play this game. History is against the Sharks, who have never beaten the Crusaders in New Zealand, who are aiming to become the first South African side to win a playoff away from South Africa. The Crusaders are coming off some hard fought victories over the Blues and Hurricanes. They were not convincing, but we all know how good they can be in big games like this one. The Sharks have also come off a big game against the defending champions, the Bulls. In the two games preceding that, they made a habit of almost losing games before performing miracle recoveries. They are going to be tired though, with the massive trip and the game against the Bulls taking a lot out of them. An away semi final is not an optimal outcome, but this Sharks side will not give up. However, I think that the Crusaders will have far too much in them and will be able to withstand the Shark attack. Again, like the Blues/Waratahs game, this one will be tight, thus I’ll opt for the 12 points and under option.”

————————–

Matt

NRL

Tigers vs Bulldogs

Souths vs Broncos

Titans vs Sharks

Raiders vs Eels

Warriors vs Storm

Panthers vs Cowboys

Knights vs Roosters

Dragons vs Eagles

AFL

Hawthorn vs Essendon

Gold Coast vs Western Bulldogs

Richmond vs Melbourne

Sydney vs Collingwood

Fremantle vs Brisbane

Geelong vs Adelaide

Carlton vs West Coast

Port Adelaide vs North Melbourne

Super Rugby

Blues vs Waratahs

Crusaders vs Sharks

————————–

Adrian

NRL

Tigers vs Bulldogs

Souths vs Broncos

Titans vs Sharks

Raiders vs Eels

Warriors vs Storm

Panthers vs Cowboys

Knights vs Roosters

Dragons vs Eagles

AFL

Hawthorn vs Essendon

Gold Coast vs Western Bulldogs

Richmond vs Melbourne

Sydney vs Collingwood

Fremantle vs Brisbane

Geelong vs Adelaide

Carlton vs West Coast

Port Adelaide vs North Melbourne

Super Rugby

Blues vs Waratahs

Crusaders vs Sharks

————————–

The Phantom

NRL

Tigers vs Bulldogs

Souths vs Broncos

Titans vs Sharks

Raiders vs Eels

Warriors vs Storm

Panthers vs Cowboys

Knights vs Roosters

Dragons vs Eagles

AFL

Hawthorn vs Essendon

Gold Coast vs Western Bulldogs

Richmond vs Melbourne

Sydney vs Collingwood

Fremantle vs Brisbane

Geelong vs Adelaide

Carlton vs West Coast

Port Adelaide vs North Melbourne

Super Rugby

Blues vs Waratahs

Crusaders vs Sharks

————————–

Tomo

NRL

Tigers vs Bulldogs

Souths vs Broncos

Titans vs Sharks

Raiders vs Eels

Warriors vs Storm

Panthers vs Cowboys

Knights vs Roosters

Dragons vs Eagles

AFL

Hawthorn vs Essendon

Gold Coast vs Western Bulldogs

Richmond vs Melbourne

Sydney vs Collingwood

Fremantle vs Brisbane

Geelong vs Adelaide

Carlton vs West Coast

Port Adelaide vs North Melbourne

Super Rugby

Blues vs Waratahs

Crusaders vs Sharks

————————–

David

NRL

Tigers vs Bulldogs

Souths vs Broncos

Titans vs Sharks

Raiders vs Eels

Warriors vs Storm

Panthers vs Cowboys

Knights vs Roosters

Dragons vs Eagles

AFL

Hawthorn vs Essendon

Gold Coast vs Western Bulldogs

Richmond vs Melbourne

Sydney vs Collingwood

Fremantle vs Brisbane

Geelong vs Adelaide

Carlton vs West Coast

Port Adelaide vs North Melbourne

Super Rugby

Blues vs Waratahs

Crusaders vs Sharks

————————–