As the Wests Tigers decide to implode once again, and the NRLW season, which was given a standalone season once again, suffers the unfortunate coincidence of starting on the same weekend as the FIFA Women’s World Cup, I bring you the most important piece of news from Round 20….

I FINALLY GOT A PERFECT TIPPING ROUND IN 2023.

Yes, it came down to the last game as the Eels smuggled out a win by the narrowest of margins despite various setbacks, thanks in part to the Titans once again getting on the wrong end of a player being offside during a field goal chargedown, as they lost to the Dolphins in Golden Point in Round 19 thanks to a player being caught offside, and this time they missed a potential go-ahead penalty goal after the referees, more specifically the touch judges, missed Shaun Lane (Who charged down the kick) and Ryan Matterson both being offside during a successful chargedown on Tannah Boyd.

For reference, this was from Graham Annesley’s analysis, and at the exact moment of the play-the-ball when the Eels were on the goalline, the referee told Gutherson (to his right) to stop, which he did, but the touchies missed Lane and Matterson on his left charging down the kick and sending it back to the Titans 40.

Still, I’ll happily take a tip that I had no right getting.

The other funny part was I checked up on the Warriors belting the Sharks and thought I’d picked Cronulla and ruined my track record… turns out I had gone for the Warriors at home, so it was as safe as the Bank of England.

Another story from this week of carnage included the inductions of Souths great George Piggins, who led the successful fight to get Souths back into the NRL at the turn of the century, and the well-respected writer and journalist Ian Heads into the NRL Hall of Fame as contributors…

I remember Ian Heads going on Richard Fidler’s Conversations, and he was talking about the story of fairtytale Western Division from country NSW winning the 1974 midweek Amaco Cup against Penrith, covered in his book The Night The Music Died, and that win included a 12-12 semi-final draw against 2-time defending premiers Manly, and Western Division advanced to the final on a penalty countback of all things, the win described by Heads as the best story he’d ever covered in 40 years, then he went back a few years later and told the story of Balmain’s almighty upset of Souths in the 1969 Grand Final and the nefarious story behind it (The Great Grand Final Heist).

Another writer that started in the heyday of the copy boy.

So, looking at Round 21:

– Thursday night gets an appropriate match as the Dragons play the Wests Tigers in Wollongong, and with the state of Wests’ points differential, a Red V win would pretty much ensure they miss a historic first wooden spoon for the joint venture, while a Tigers’ win gives them a fighting chance of avoiding the first back-to-back ‘spooning’ since Newcastle’s hat-trick in 2015-17.

– The Warriors and Raiders face off at Mt Smart, and the Warriors belted the Raiders in Jarrod Croker’s 300th game approximately 6 weeks ago, and a win here would see them leap over Canberra on points differential, which wouldn’t be that hard, because they’d still be able to do it if their For/Against was at +1, that’s how bad the Raiders’ is (-55).

– The Rabbitohs have got the hutch of Origin stars back as they venture off to the Sunshine Coast to face the Broncos, and that said, both teams have got their Origin players back, it’s just Souths happen to have half the starting 13 back together, most importantly of all Latrell Mitchell after what feels like 6 months on the sidelines.

– The Titans play the Roosters in a clash of the disappointments, as the Titans could very easily have been on the fringe of the Top 8 with some better play at the death of their last 2 games, but alas they lost them by a combined 3 points, and the Roosters are only two losses away from Uncle Nick ordering a hit on Trent Robinson.

– The Knights host the Storm in Newcastle, having not defeated the Melbournians since 2015, a run that probably won’t end on Saturday evening.

– The Cowboys host the Eels in a rematch of the Preliminary Final, and it’s a genuinely good contest as both teams are absolutely charging into the Top 8 at the right moment, and I would favour the Cowboys with the home ground advantage, but then again, how did that work out in the Prelim….

– The most lopsided match-up of the round sees Penrith, with Nathan Cleary back, hosting Canterbury, and that’s all I’ll say about that.

– And Cronulla host Manly at Shark Park, with the Sharks having an extremely rare chance to complete a clean sweep of Manly in the home & away season, having only done it twice in their history, although in fairness they did do it last year, with the other instance coming in 2004.

So anyway, here we go for Round 21 of the Succinct NRL Tips, as I prepare to spin the random tip generator, HERE WE GO…..

Round 20 score = 7/7, Progress Score = 92/148 (62.2%)

Round 21 =

Round 21 Lock of the Week

Because when you’re right 52% of the time, you’re wrong 48% of the time!

It was shooting fish in a barrel last week as the Storm got a 1st Half lead and never let up, despite the Roosters making the scoreboard look slightly better than it was, which was 30-4 at it’s peak, before finishing 30-16.

Alas, another Lock proved correct.

So, this week’s Lock, with no thought at all….

ST GEORGE-ILLAWARRA, NOT QUITE THE FORMER HOME OF REG GASNIER, AKA PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON, TO DEFEAT THE TOOTHLESS TIGERS, WITH A BIT OF HELP FROM PETER, PAUL AND MARY!

And probably Ben Hunt.