Farewell to Keith Barnes, the one and only Golden Boots

For all he achieved in rugby league (Namely captaining Australia and retiring as the all-time pointscorer), Keith Barnes could never play in a Premiership for Balmain, having lost 3 Grand Finals against the almighty St George teams, then he finally retired in 1968… and the next year, the Tigers pulled off the upset of the century against South Sydney.

Funnily enough, the Tigers are playing the Dragons this weekend.

Alright, on we go to Round 6 of this injury-filled season, and if the whispers are correct, then the first coaching victim of 2024 is destined to be Jason Demetriou, paying the price for Souths’ disastrous start to 2024, as it seems the game against Cronulla will be his last hurrah, regardless of the result.

Although, Demetriou apparently had one last present for Damien Cook by dropping him to reserve grade, and as for his interim replacement, well Souths have a field of 6 candidates headed up by none other than…

Renowned Canberra politician Mal Meninga.

Based on that story, if all went to the script, Meninga would serve as the interim coach until the end of the season, so as to not conflict with his Australian coaching duties, then Souths want to get back with Wayne Bennett for 2025…

Getting back with your ex after everything else went like shit, or as it’s known in popular circles, the Richard Burton-Elizabeth Taylor method.

The other story of this week is that the NRL, in a step from the norm, decided they wouldn’t celebrate Michael Jennings’ 300th game, owing to his history of being suspended for doping and being found guilty of sexual assault in a civil court.

Hold up a minute – If the NRL don’t think Michael Jennings is of good enough character to have his 300th game recognised, then why the hell did they let him back in the game?

On that note, it’s time for the look at Round 6, and before I do that Someone asked for some Overs/Unders for Round 6, although if Crazy Craig is any guide, anything we suggest on this website shouldn’t be touched with a 50 foot barge pole, so that said, here’s my Over for the week….

Parramatta/North Queensland = Over 47.5

The Cowboys can’t defend but holy moly they can score – Match made in heaven.

Now, with the Panthers having a bye, here’s Round 6:

– Thursday night sees the Knights host the Roosters in Newcastle, in which some bloke will play his 300th game, and this would’ve been Dominic Young’s first game against the Knights after signing for Easts, but he couldn’t quite stick a tackle last week and got sent off, so he’ll be out, as will James Tedesco and Sam Walker.

– The Storm host the Bulldogs at AAMI Park, Canterbury being the one club to consistently give Melbourne grief over a long period of time, as evidenced by the Berries winning in Melbourne last year and holding the best record of any current club against the Storm (22 wins 23 defeats).

– Friday night has the first of the Brisbane Derbies for 2024 as the Broncos host the top of the table Redcliffe at Suncorp Stadium, as the Broncos still can’t get their complete spine together, with Adam Reynolds out and Reece Walsh in, as for Redcliffe…. did I seriously see that correctly, Redcliffe are top of the ladder?

– The Warriors return to New Zealand to host Manly in Auckland, with both teams clubbing their opponents in Sydney last weekend, as Daly Cherry-Evans extends his Manly record of 310 games to 311 games, and Manly set a unique record in the history of First Grade, becoming the first team to play in 3 different countries in 1 season (USA, Australia & New Zealand)

– The Eels host the Cowboys in Parramatta, and it seems the Brad Arthur era in Parra is slowly winding down based on their recent performances (Namely the belting in Canberra), while the Cowboys are floating up there in 2nd spot on the ladder, which means this year is already a greater success than their 2023 season was.

– In what could be Demetriou’s farewell, Souths host Cronulla at the Olympic Stadium, minus Latrell Mitchell due to his latest on-field misdemeanor, and the aforementioned Damien Cook getting dropped despite being the incumbent New South Wales Origin hooker, while the Sharks just sat back and watched the world burn last week.

– Campbelltown hosts the first Cripple Fight of 2024 as the Tigers play St George, and this could be anywhere from an 8-6 kind of game to a 30-28 kind of game given the state of the Tigers and Dragons, and it’s the best chance the Benji Marshall Tigers have had to end the Campbelltown Curse, having not won at Wests’ old home ground since 2020 (With 8 straight defeats in that time)…. in fact, Wests’ record at Campbelltown is 4 wins from 20 games since 2017…. still, who knows which St George will turn up.

– And for the second week running, the last game of the round sees the Raiders host the Titans in Canberra, and in true Canberra fashion, Antony Green has forecast this one to end in a landslide.

The Succinct NRL Tips for Round 6, here we go…

Round 5 score = 6/8

Running score after Round 5 = 23/40 (57.5%)

Lock of the Week

I should just put the Cowboys in here every week, because it’s the only way I can get a Lock to stay.

Alright, the Lock for Round 6…

CANTERBURY TO GET SENT BACK TO 1885 BY A FIERCE STORM.