Week 1 of the NRL finals have come and gone, and it means two more sides have joined the bottom nine who missed on knockout action altogether, now likely en route to Bali.
It might be easy, and obvious to focus on the sides remaining in the competition, but today we're looking to the nine forgotten sides who didn't feature in Week 1 of the finals.
More specifically what went wrong for each of the nine sides now out of contention.
Below is where each team wrong.
5. New Zealand Warriors: Second year syndrome
The Warriors were everyone's second favourite team in 2023. They rode a wave of momentum that saw them contest a Prelim.
Much was expected for the 'Wahs' in 2024. To say they did not deliver is an understatement.
Yes they suffered injuries, but no worse than teams that finished ahead of them.
They just couldn't rise to expectations set by a ridiculous 2023 season.
It's hard to pinpoint what went wrong but losing five games (as well as having a draw) at home certainly hurt. One of their 'home' wins came at Suncorp too as an aside.
Typically the trans Tasman trip is amongst the hardest in the NRL. Not this season.
