Now that the storylines have been written, player recruits and transfers have been finalised, the pre-season trials are done and the banter has commenced, experts are publishing their ladder predictions for the 2020 season.
And it has caused much debate, on-line blow-ups and in some cases, offence.
Iโve been reading and listening to a lot of ladder predictions over the past week, and as a proud North Queensland Cowboys supporter, Iโve been quite flattered at the amount of experts who have the mighty Cows finishing in the top eight.
But then Iโve seen some predictions from experts who believe my team will struggle again this year and miss out on finals football for the third-straight season.
Like, seriously? Who do these experts think they are?
If I donโt see my team in your top eight, I will let out a Greta Thunberg-like, โhow dare youโ. I mean, come on. Not only did we win the Nines tournament, but we also recruited Valentine Holmes.
That automatically means weโll finish at least six places higher on the ladder, didnโt you know?
A friend of mine is a diehard Canberra Raiders fan. He is filthy at the amount of so-called โexpertsโ who think the Raiders wonโt finish in the top four and heโs sure to text me and tell me all about it. I mean, come on.
Not only did the Raiders finish top four and qualify for last yearโs grand final, they were robbed of the premiership by the infamous โsix againโ call, didnโt you know?
Iโve seen many Newcastle Knights, Cronulla Sharks and Wests Tigers supporters offended by experts predicting the Brisbane Broncos making the top eight ahead their teams. I mean, come on.
Although, they have a talented forward pack, they lack experience. Brodie Croft has over a million Bronx supporters counting on him to lead this team. Pressure much?
Andrew McCullough is past his best, Anthony Milford is a shadow of his former-self, Jack Bird canโt stay on the park and Darius Boyd isโฆ actually, Iโm just going to leave it there.
I get it though, theyโre the NRLโs glamour club and they have the luxury of a seven-day turn around every week. They are your Friday night delights, didnโt you know?
There have been a few predictions that have the Penrith Panthers in the top eight. I mean, come on. They were the biggest underachievers of the past decade. Gusโs five-year plan flopped five years ago and James Maloney bolted for the exit, didnโt you know?
I even saw a few predictions that had back-to-back premiers, the Sydney Roosters, finishing outside of the top four. I mean, come on. Thatโs next-level trolling of Chooks supporters. They may have lost Cooper Cronk, but they still have a plethora of marquee talent under their sombrero, didnโt you know?
Perhaps we should be like Gold Coast Titans supporters and just hide under the desk in the foetal position when the expert ladder predictions are published. Theyโre not even offended by every prediction having them finishing last. For them, itโs a feeling of hopelessness.
And to that, I say this. โGet offended Titans fansโ!
Your club will march up that ladder. They might not march very far up said ladder, but theyโll improve. I mean, come on.
Ash Taylor will finally fulfil his unlimited potential, Jai Arrow will lead from the front, Tyrone Peachy is returning to his dazzling best, AJ Brimson is a future superstar and your club has recruited the English Super Leagueโs current premiership-winning coach, didnโt you know?
Here is my own self-proclaimed expert crystal-ball musings, which are sure to cause offence.
Iโm going to start with offending Roosters, Raiders and Storm supporters by predicting the South Sydney Rabbitohs will claim the minor premiership and apologise for the offence caused to New Zealand Warriors supporters by predicting your team will finish with the spoon.
1) Rabbitohs
2) Raiders
3) Roosters
4) Eels
5) Storm
6) Sea Eagles
7) Cowboys
8) Knights
9) Broncos
10) Tigers
11) Sharks
12) Bulldogs
13) Titans
14) Panthers
15) Dragons
16) Warriors
There are so many variables that makes predictions damn near impossible.
Thereโs always a top eight team that will fall head first down the ladder; I predict will be the Sharks, and a bottom eight team who will improve out of sight which, in my unbiased opinion, will be the Cowboys.
Thereโs the premiership dark horse, which I believe is the Manly Sea Eagles.
We might get a team โ most likely the St George Illawarra Dragons โ whoโll start the season off really well, before catastrophically falling by the wayside at the backend of the season.
We could see teams written off due to a poor start to the season, but deliver a late-season surge to scrape into the finals โ which is how I see the Newcastle Knights season panning out, much to the chagrin of Broncos and Tigers supporters who I predict will finish on equal points as eighth, but will miss the finals on for and against
Injuries to key players could derail a teamโs season. Major upsets will undoubtedly occur and the usual refereeing controversies will likely decide a few results.
I predict the Raiders and the Parramatta Eels will contest this yearโs grand final โ and to offend Eels supporters, I believe the Raiders will be your 2020 NRL premiers.
Souths Sombreros should undoubtably win the comp this year after paying overs for so many stars
Failure will be a complete embarrassment for this group after 2 chokes in a row
Welcome home back to back Champs
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Do people get offended because the experts donโt have there side in 8 ? Or is more than fact that someone suggest there an expert ? Cause experts never get the 8 right!
Raiders fans are quick to quote the six again error that cost them in the GF but fail to mention that they wouldn’t have been there in the first place if it hadn’t been for a catalogue of errors in their favour in round 1 of the finals.
As a storm fan, I am not offended by your prediction that my team won’t make the top 4. People have been making similar predictions for over a decade and that smug grin is now a permanent feature. However Canberra v Eels GF – what are you smoking ?
Its not that the Raiders and Eels are bad teams, they aren’t. Its just that there are some seriously good teams in their way. Canberra will not make the top 4. They are a team that has held steady or slightly lost out in the recruitment stakes but definitely not gone forward. They had a lot of luck at crucial times last year which is due for a reversal plus they won’t be flying under the radar in 2020. Sorry Canberra fans, you will just have to be offended.
As for the Eels, they are a possible for scraping in at no4 but I definitely see them as top of the pack rather than bottom of the elite.
My none expert opinions but then I am often proven just as right.
Adam…on behalf of the Gold Coast Titans fanbase, I would like to thank you for your belief in us to improve this season. Your views on these issues are the main reason Zero Tackle is one of my preferred sites to vist.
NRLfan
I think your Titans will surprise many this season. Holebrook is a decent coach and he will get your boys giving their best. You probably need a couple of seasons before you can challenge for the finals but I reckon you could get as high as 10th this year.
ZT suxs
I donโt think people are too offended by experts giving opinions , on where in the table they expect clubs to finish in the next season. As when you see each so called experts opinions, the positioning they have for each club is quite different.
I didnโt see anything too special about the Raiders in their final trial game.
Or from Parramatta in theirs.
Yet you have both in the top 4 & both in the Grand Final.
Although they were just trial games.
Maybe that will prove to be correct? Still, the experts arenโt often correct.
Kev sux lol.
Luv ya kevvy
I typed in a long list of who would and wouldn’t make the finals without swearing or insults.
ZT wouldn’t post it and I couldn’t figure out why so I typed ZT suxs and it posted that.
I guess ZT knows best.
Kev March 4, 2020 at 8:10 am
I typed in a long list of who would and wouldnโt make the finals without swearing or insults.
ZT wouldnโt post it and I couldnโt figure out why so I typed ZT suxs and it posted that.
I guess ZT knows best.
LOL go Kev
Yeah, I once typed a list of teams, too and got done on the moderation.
It’s barely worth contributing any time to this site in terms of commenting because it’s a completely lottery draw as to whether the comment will make it through.
I think if you mention any team apart from souffs you will be moderated here.
ZT has always been a pro Souths website
Shadow can say anything and gets away with it
I severely doubt that you could say ZT is a Pro-Souths Website as many of my own Pro-Souths comments rarely get published at all which makes me think that why on hell should I even bother?
As far as Souths at Number 1?
I doubt that any fair-minded Rabbitohs Members such as myself really believes that.
Everything depends on whether our young forwards can stand up and be counted.
We do have plenty of good young forwards but we all know it takes time for forwards to become dominant in successive games.
I say Top 4…
Roosters and Sharks will be the teams to head South…
Not keen on the Eels either.
Let us see if this is published?