Talk about a coincidence… I was in the B1 bus going past Brookvale Oval when Anthony Seibold got sacked on Friday!

Just marvel at that reflection ruining the photo.

The Silvertails must’ve known I was coming through to finish the job on Seibs if they didn’t do it first, and you know it’s a strange time in the world when an NRL club manages to sack a coach before an AFL club…. and it wasn’t even April.

Anyway, I was in Sydney until Tuesday and I will say it was a good time seeing my extended relatives, reading every SMH back page which seemed to involve either Madge’s daytime soap opera at the Broncos, the Manly coaching situation being a PR exercise by hiring Kieran Foran and another example of how Scott Penn is a crap owner sacking Seibs after 3 games, and another rugbaleeg highlight of the trip was that thanks to my cousin Nick, my nephew Ned at 11 months old got to experience his first taste of the crushing disappointment of supporting Canterbury-Bankstown, as they got completely shat on by Newcastle’s right hand attack…

Still, wasn’t as funny as Wests coming back and cracking one right on the Warriors’ head in Auckland.

So anyway, we move on to the Easter Weekend, the last weekend of daylight savings south of Tweed Heads, and what a weekend of sport it is considering the Roosters have got the bye:

– The Dolphins host Manly-Warringah in Redcliffe on Thursday night, as we get our first taste of the PR exercise that is Kieran Foran’s NRL head coaching tenure at the Sea Eagles…. hopefully it goes a bit better than another completely random head coaching tenure like Eels hero Luke Birt at the Gold Coast Titans in 2019, as he lost all 8 games as coach.

– The annual Good Friday game sees South get to host Canterbury this year, and a lovely touch from Souths will see Nathan Merritt ring the Legacy Bell before the game, after the club’s former leading tryscorer revealed the news that the diagnosis of stage 4 cancer in his oesophagus and liver has seen him given a life expectancy of 12 months.

– A Good Friday night indeed as the Penrith Panthers host the Melbourne Storm at Commbank, as the Panthers now have a +/- of +110 points through 4 games with an average of 35 points per game, such has been their dominance over the rest of the field in the first month of the season, and the Storm have shown some early cracks as Craig Bellamy’s team have conceded 10+ point leads in their last 2 games to lose… I wonder which front rower was murdered in a satanic ritual this week.

– The winless and struggling St George-Illawarra host North Queensland at Kogarah, or as it’s now known, St George Venues Jubilee Stadium… try saying that with a mouth full of marbles, because it’d be less of a challenge than playing for the Dragons right now.

– Another edition of the South East Queensland Derby on Saturday evening as the Gold Coast Titans host the Brisbane Broncos at Cbus, and Josh Hannay already exceeded expectations for 2026 with that win on Sunday night, while the Broncos showed that they can still play some damn fine rugby league when they’re not too busy fighting each other, and it’s a milestone for the Clive Churchill Medalist Reece Walsh… 100 NRL games!

– Easter Sunday afternoon sees Cronulla host the New Zealand Warriors at Shark Park, as the Sharks once again demonstrated they can defeat anyone and lose to anyone with that commanding win against the Raiders in Canberra, even as Nico Hynes produced one of the worst kicks for goal ever seen by missing in front of the sticks, and the Warriors suffered their first blemish of 2026 as they started hot against the Wests Tigers… then the next thing you know they were colder than a mother-in-law’s kiss.

– The Easter Sunday game on Channel 9 has the Newcastle Knights hosting the Canberra Raiders in the Hunter, as the 2025 minor premiers struggle through the early rounds with a 1-3 record (And that 1 win was in Golden Point) down in 15th, while the early signs of life under Justin Holbrook are good for the Knights as they overcame a lack of Ponga and an early sin binning to deal with the Bulldogs… It does go to show that sometimes a fresh voice for the same playing group is what’s needed.

So that said, expect the Raiders to win this easily.

– And finally the annual Easter Monday game has the Parramatta Eels hosting the Wests Tigers, and it looks like the Benji Marshall Tigers are starting to turn a corner and show some real character after some 15 years in the doldrums, and here’s an interesting fact about Parra… through 4 games of this season they’re on pace to average the 5th-most points conceded per game in league history, and yet somehow they’ve already won 2 games.

That’s just how bad the Dragons are.

And now, the Round 5 tips for Easter:

Round 4 Score = 3/8

Round 4 Progress Score = 19/32 (59.3%)

Random note… I looked at the FootyTips scores and despite getting 3/8, I was somehow in the Top 20% for the round.

That’s how shit it was.

Finally, here’s a preview for tonight’s game, courtesy of The Simpsons: