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The Almanac Rugby league Crew<\/p>\n
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A mini rave<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with the Broncos\u2019 B-side who were mightily impressive in their win over (it has to be said) a very disappointing Bulldogs side on Friday night. One for the books alright! With the cool head of Reynolds guiding them around and a commitment to defence that wins games 9 times out of 10, this group of almost \u2018Nevilles\u2019 played with energy, flair and true grit. Those two points, together with their unexpected win over the Wests Tigers the previous week, will be like a gold, 4-point deposit in the bank vault of competition points as the season wears on. Well done, Broncos, and well done, Madge. I\u2019ve seldom been happier to get a tip wrong!<\/p>\n
But I\u2019d be remiss if I didn\u2019t also give kudos to Kieran Foran and his Sea Eagles who have now won four out of four under Foran and gone quite some way to showing that it\u2019s not necessarily a case of \u2018no Turbo, no Manly\u2019. The transformation has been remarkable.<\/p>\n
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Women\u2019s State of Origin, Game 1<\/p>\n
State of Origin returns tomorrow night when the women\u2019s reigning champs, the NSW Blues, meet the Queensland Maroons at Newcastle in Game 1 of their 2026 series. The Blues will start as very hot favourites after naming an imposing, experienced side. The start of a period of dominance? By contrast, Queensland have a new look side due to a host of retirements and injury. A transitional period up north? But any side with Tamika Upton and Lauren Brown in it has to be taken seriously. Nevertheless the spread and depth of talent in the NSW team should see them home comfortably. To see the respective teams click here.<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Round 8<\/p>\n Wests Tigers got back on the winning list with a solid win over the Raiders. I\u2019m not yet convinced that the Tigers are the real deal but I am getting to the point where I think the Raiders will not feature in finals footy this year. They lack discipline, cohesion and spirit at times, so \u2018Sticky\u2019 really has his work cut out to drag them out of this sorry start to the season. The Cowboys and Sharks played touch footy to rack up a combined 80 points before the Cows emerged with a win, but not one to convince anyone of anything. The Sharks? It\u2019s getting to the stage where Cronulla is spelt \u2018i-n-c-o-n-s-i-s-t-e-n-t\u2019. The Broncos were the big story of the weekend but among the \u2018bad news\u2019 items was the sorry effort by the Doggies. Again, they lost focus once they fell behind and seemed more interested in trying to assert strong-arm tactics than playing with their latent flair and strength. Focus, lads, focus! The traditional Anzac Day clash between the Roosters and the Dragons was a fizzer, as probably expected by most. The Dragons did cop a few dud decisions in the first half but you can\u2019t deny that the final scoreline was an accurate reflection of the run of play. The Warriors and Dolphins put on a thriller over the ditch with the game decided by a \u00a0single defensive lapse late on in the second half. Have the Warriors learnt how to win the close ones? Or is it a case of the Dolphins not knowing how to ice a game when they\u2019re in front? The very public humiliation of the Storm continued with their first loss to the Rabbitohs in Melbourne this century. Never was it truer to say, \u2018how the mighty have fallen\u2019! How good were the Rabbitohs? Pretty good but let\u2019s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. But, boy, can that Tallis Duncan play! The Panthers, with Dylan Edwards leading from the rear, were clinical against the fading Knights. The latter were very ordinary and seem destined to the lower levels of the ladder this year. And then the Sea Eagles wrapped up the weekend with their first home win this year in front of an \u2018eagle rocking\u2019 Brookie crowd. The Eels were competitive at times but lacked the full team effort of the hosts.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Round 9<\/p>\n This weekend features a series of \u2018hard to call\u2019 match-ups which will test the tippers! We start with the Bulldogs up against the Cowboys. Yes, the Cowboys won last week but are they convincing? Not if you leak 34 points! But at least they did win. The Bulldogs have fallen away of late and look like being without Kikau for a while. Jacob Preston is a bit of a one-man effort recently. But the Cowboys are away from home and the Doggies will,. have massive support at home. So I\u2019ll tip inversely and go for the Bulldogs.\u00a0The late game has the \u2018competitive but can\u2019t quite get over the line\u2019 Dolphins taking on the sorry Storm, a game where form says the Dolphins but you\u2019re left with a nagging doubt about the possibility of Melbourne losing 7 games in a row. I don\u2019t even know how to analyse this one to try to find a decisive argument to tip either way. Toss of the coin: Dolphins. (Both sides have cost me many tipping points this year!)<\/p>\n Saturday afternoon footy kicks off with the Titans at home to the Raiders, another case of two underwhelming teams trying to find relevance. The Titans are fresh off a bye while Canberra is reeling after another mediocre effort. Yet again I have to ask if you are convinced about either outfit? I don\u2019t know why but I\u2019ll go for the\u00a0Titans. Then the Eels meet the Warriors. On paper this is probably the clearest outcome of the weekend with the Warriors coping with most challenges thrown their way while the Eels have flashes of form but can\u2019t put it all together enough to seriously compete. I\u2019ll be on the Warriors. The late game is the clash of the round with the Roosters meeting the Broncos in Sydney. The Roosters looked great against the Dragons but that\u2019s the problem \u2013 it was just the Dragons. Can Brisbane repeat last week\u2019s effort? They get Carrigan and Walsh back but both are short of a run against a side that does just that \u2013 run \u2013 very well. I think the Roosters are running into some decent form while Brisbane are still a bit of a week to week proposition. I\u2019ll go with the\u00a0Roosters.<\/p>\n The first of three games on Sunday is Newcastle v South Sydney with recent form suggesting that the Bunnies will continue on their winning way. It\u2019s hard to mount an argument against that perception. And yet I\u2019m still not on the Bunnies bandwagon even though I can see that they have the potential. But Newcastle have bigger problems although the return of Ponga and Best should provide something of a boost. Nevertheless I\u2019ll tip the Rabbitohs. The Sharks host the Wests Tigers in yet another game where form says the Tigers but the Sharks are a much better team at home and are due for one of their better performances. I must be in a stubborn frame of mind because I can\u2019t get on the Benji bandwagon yet either, but they\u2019re getting better, more consistent results than their opponent this week, so I\u2019ll have to go with the Wests Tigers. Finally, the Panthers meet the Sea Eagles in the other contender for match of the round. Can Foran get even more out of his lads against the almost invincible Panthers? I don\u2019t think so. Panthers.<\/p>\n The demoralised Dragons have the bye.<\/p>\n In other news, Luai and AJ will sign with the PNG Chiefs to get their squad of players off to a good start. Just watch the coverage of these two signings: one will be portrayed as \u2018the revered son of the nation coming home to honour his heritage in his final contribution to the code\u2019; the other may well cop it for being seen to trash his current contract to chase the tax free dollars on offer with the promise of being the inaugural captain thrown in as further inducement. Would either designation be far off the mark?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Tipping<\/p>\n A creditable 6\/8 last week \u2013 but then who didn\u2019t do well? No progress up that ladder for me. Top marks to Peter Fuller (8\/8) who merely dabbles in the NRL as a \u2018resigned to non-success\u2019 supporter of Carlton. I suppose you have to take a win wherever you can get it, Peter!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Round\u00a0<\/p>\n To see the who, when and where of Round 9 click here.<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Competition<\/p>\n Entries close this week as our search for a generic Almanac rugby league logo<\/a> continues. Forward entries to\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n To read our library of rugby league stories click HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n To return to our Footy Almanac home page click HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n To see the full 2026 season draw for the NRL click HERE<\/a>.<\/a><\/p>\n To see the full 2026 season draw for the NRLW click HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0To see the details for State of Origin in 2026 click HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.<\/p>\n Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?<\/p>\n And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help things keep ticking over please consider making your own contribution.<\/p>\n Become an Almanac (annual) member \u2013 CLICK HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777413491_491_almanac-1.jpg\")
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