NRLWeekly Blog Post - 15th February

The Week it's Been...
This week the NRL became an independant commission, which is being talked about as a great moment in rugby league history. But what does it actually mean for the NRL? Firstly, it means David Gallop will no longer have to answer to News Ltd and ARL whinging about their seperate needs and wants, but instead Gallop and the commissions can all make a decision together. It also means that better broadcasting deals will probably be in place, which in turn means more money for clubs and possibly a higher salary cap. NRL clubs have already been told their salary cap could increase to $5 million next year and then $6.6 million in the future. That may not seem like a big deal, but it should draw more overseas players to the NRL and keep our superstars in the NRL to finish out their career, instead of playing overseas in England and France.

Apart from that, there have been several trial matches this week as well. Here are the results:

• Cowboys 18 - Dragons 12
• Rabbitohs 14 - Warriors 22
• Raiders 27 - Storm 18
• Titans 18 - Broncos 16
• Tigers 20 - Eels 12
• Panthers 18 - Knights 18
• Bulldogs 16 - Roosters 28

Last week I tipped the cowboys, Knights and Bulldogs, which means I got 1 (and a half, I guess) out of 3.



Big Games Coming Up...

• Leeds v Manly
• Storm v Broncos
• Tigers v Roosters

The Leeds v Manly game is part of the World Club Challenge, which is between the winning Super League team of 2011 and the winning NRL team of 2011. This week my tips go to Manly, Storm and the Tigers.



Team of the Week...
This week's team of the week is the Sydney Roosters. The Roosters won comfortably in the end against the Bulldogs, in front of a passionate Canterbury crowd at Belmore.

Mitch Aubusson may have a great year in 2012

After a terrible year in 2011, the Roosters may bounce back in 2012 after a great pre-season and trial. The roosters have dynamic second row/centre Mitch Aubusson back in the red, white and blue again this year after he suffered a season ending injury in 2011. The Roosters have also signed young talent Daniel Mortimer. The five-eighth/fullback is playing with his childhood hero Braith Anasta and may prove critics wrong by having a great year with the Roosters.



Dream Team News...
After much speculation about who I should get in my team, I have come up with three golden rules:

1. Forget last year - last years duds are not necessarily going to be duds this year and great buys last year are not necessarily going to be great buys this year. Terry Campese and Mitch Aubusson, for example, are relatively cheap this year because injury ruined their 2011 season. Cameron Smith, on the other end of the scale, was a great buy last year, but this year he is very expensive, and although he will score consistently well, Robbie Farah or Danny Buderus could be a better option.
2. Don't stack up players from one team - Melbourne Storm or the Newcastle Knights have many great dream team players so it can be tempting to select many players from those teams. However, a bye or a couple of bad games could disrupt the whole team's dream team scoring and therefore your dream team scores as well.
3. Plan ahead - This relates mainly to the bye aspect of dream team. If you are going for overall scoring, byes are a nuisance and crucial to work your way around. Planning ahead  will allow you to pass through the bye weeks without too much loss, which could easily mean the difference between a few ranks at the end of the competition.

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