A dramatic change at the top sets the tone for the most super of Sundays
A Tigers win would be a sensational start to a three-game schedule on the final day of round 19 because it would very much signal game back on in the battle to make the all-important top four going into the finals.
And the two teams currently best placed to break into the top four in the run down to the finals - which are also the two teams any other top-four team would most hate to see there - are due in action later the same day.
Sixth-placed Penrith are away to Parramatta in Sunday's second game and the round will then wrap up with fifth-placed Brisbane away to the Gold Coast.
Please forgive me for using the pay-TV catchcry, but it really does shape as a Super Sunday.
Either the Warriors are going to strike a blow in their desperate bid to hang on to a top-four spot, with the Broncos and Panthers and maybe even one or two others to keep coming, or they're going to become even more vulnerable than they already are.
The top four was looking like a lock after round 16, when a six-point gap had opened up between the third and fourth-placed Melbourne and the Warriors, both on 24 points at the time, and the rest of the field.
But the competition dramatically changed shape only one round later. It wouldn't have been so bad for the Warriors had their round-17 loss to Brisbane been the worst thing that happened to them that day, but it wasn't.
Their star halfback, Luke Metcalf, went down with a season-ending knee injury, which followed on from their NSW State of Origin prop Mitch Barnett having experienced the same fate four rounds earlier.
The Warriors had the bye in round 18, which at least for the time being protected what the Broncos had reduced to a four-point advantage over fifth, and now they return to action.
But, let's face it, the Warriors are cooked as far as being a genuine chance of winning the premiership is concerned.
Even if they still make it to the top four from here, which would be a fine effort, they're not going to have what it takes to go all the way from there. They would be doing very well just to win a game in the finals.
The bookmakers have already written them off and they're not taking any real risks when they quote them at $34.
None of the top-three teams ahead of this weekend's round - Canberra, on 30 points, and Melbourne and Canterbury, both on 28 - are going to be anywhere else but in the top four going into the finals.
It's just a matter of where exactly they're going to be placed and finishing in the top two is very important because of the home-ground advantage it brings those teams in the first week of the finals.
But the real interest from now is how the rest of the top eight is going to pan out, with every team down to 12th, definitely, and maybe even right down to 15th still a chance of making the finals from here.
I mean, you'd need a vivid imagination to picture any team among Newcastle, Wests Tigers and Parramatta, all on 16 points and four points outside of the top eight, being there come finals time, but it's possible.
Tenth-placed Cronulla and the seventh-placed Dolphins, both on 20 points, play each other at Sharks Stadium on Friday night, so one of them has to advance to 22 barring a draw. So, too, will eighth-placed Manly, which has the bye.
And if the worst-case scenario develops for the Warriors and they lose to the Tigers and the Broncos and Panthers both win, that would leave the Warriors on 26 and the Broncos and Panthers coming to get them on 24 and 23, respectively.
Have you got it in you, Wests Tigers, to help blow this thing wide open?
Penrith were in last place on nine points after round 12 and we had to at least consider the possibility that coming off four straight premierships they might actually miss the finals.
But much of the competition table has remained compressed all season and even though they were running 17th the Panthers were still only three points outside of the top eight.
They haven't lost a game since and in doing so have added another layer of interest to the competition.
MORE NRL NEWS
After being routinely at or near the top of the table all along during that quartet of premiership-winning years could they come from where they were after round 12 to win it again?
And, having made it back into the top eight, could they win it from the bottom half of the finals draw?
Well, now we can't rule out the possibility of them making the top four again, which would be a phenomenal effort.
IT's going to be fascinating to see how it all pans out at Canterbury over the rest of the season.
Their starting halfback Toby Sexton and hooker Reed Mahoney are both leaving the club at the end of the season and their star mid-season recruit Lachlan Galvin is on the bench. The player tipped to be their starting hooker next year, Bailey Hayward, is at lock.
That's how the team has been named for the game against North Queensland at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Saturday night anyway.
How it looks by the time the finals come around, we'll have to wait and see.
If ever the NRL needed the team that seems to fascinate the masses - Wests Tigers - to stand up and be counted it's when they play the Warriors in Auckland on Sunday.
A Tigers win would be a sensational start to a three-game schedule on the final day of round 19 because it would very much signal game back on in the battle to make the all-important top four going into the finals.
And the two teams currently best placed to break into the top four in the run down to the finals - which are also the two teams any other top-four team would most hate to see there - are due in action later the same day.
Sixth-placed Penrith are away to Parramatta in Sunday's second game and the round will then wrap up with fifth-placed Brisbane away to the Gold Coast.
Please forgive me for using the pay-TV catchcry, but it really does shape as a Super Sunday.
Either the Warriors are going to strike a blow in their desperate bid to hang on to a top-four spot, with the Broncos and Panthers and maybe even one or two others to keep coming, or they're going to become even more vulnerable than they already are.
The top four was looking like a lock after round 16, when a six-point gap had opened up between the third and fourth-placed Melbourne and the Warriors, both on 24 points at the time, and the rest of the field.
But the competition dramatically changed shape only one round later. It wouldn't have been so bad for the Warriors had their round-17 loss to Brisbane been the worst thing that happened to them that day, but it wasn't.
Their star halfback, Luke Metcalf, went down with a season-ending knee injury, which followed on from their NSW State of Origin prop Mitch Barnett having experienced the same fate four rounds earlier.
The Warriors had the bye in round 18, which at least for the time being protected what the Broncos had reduced to a four-point advantage over fifth, and now they return to action.
But, let's face it, the Warriors are cooked as far as being a genuine chance of winning the premiership is concerned.
Even if they still make it to the top four from here, which would be a fine effort, they're not going to have what it takes to go all the way from there. They would be doing very well just to win a game in the finals.
The bookmakers have already written them off and they're not taking any real risks when they quote them at $34.
None of the top-three teams ahead of this weekend's round - Canberra, on 30 points, and Melbourne and Canterbury, both on 28 - are going to be anywhere else but in the top four going into the finals.
It's just a matter of where exactly they're going to be placed and finishing in the top two is very important because of the home-ground advantage it brings those teams in the first week of the finals.
But the real interest from now is how the rest of the top eight is going to pan out, with every team down to 12th, definitely, and maybe even right down to 15th still a chance of making the finals from here.
I mean, you'd need a vivid imagination to picture any team among Newcastle, Wests Tigers and Parramatta, all on 16 points and four points outside of the top eight, being there come finals time, but it's possible.
Tenth-placed Cronulla and the seventh-placed Dolphins, both on 20 points, play each other at Sharks Stadium on Friday night, so one of them has to advance to 22 barring a draw. So, too, will eighth-placed Manly, which has the bye.
And if the worst-case scenario develops for the Warriors and they lose to the Tigers and the Broncos and Panthers both win, that would leave the Warriors on 26 and the Broncos and Panthers coming to get them on 24 and 23, respectively.
Have you got it in you, Wests Tigers, to help blow this thing wide open?
Penrith were in last place on nine points after round 12 and we had to at least consider the possibility that coming off four straight premierships they might actually miss the finals.
But much of the competition table has remained compressed all season and even though they were running 17th the Panthers were still only three points outside of the top eight.
They haven't lost a game since and in doing so have added another layer of interest to the competition.
MORE NRL NEWS
After being routinely at or near the top of the table all along during that quartet of premiership-winning years could they come from where they were after round 12 to win it again?
And, having made it back into the top eight, could they win it from the bottom half of the finals draw?
Well, now we can't rule out the possibility of them making the top four again, which would be a phenomenal effort.
IT's going to be fascinating to see how it all pans out at Canterbury over the rest of the season.
Their starting halfback Toby Sexton and hooker Reed Mahoney are both leaving the club at the end of the season and their star mid-season recruit Lachlan Galvin is on the bench. The player tipped to be their starting hooker next year, Bailey Hayward, is at lock.
That's how the team has been named for the game against North Queensland at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Saturday night anyway.
How it looks by the time the finals come around, we'll have to wait and see.
If ever the NRL needed the team that seems to fascinate the masses - Wests Tigers - to stand up and be counted it's when they play the Warriors in Auckland on Sunday.
A Tigers win would be a sensational start to a three-game schedule on the final day of round 19 because it would very much signal game back on in the battle to make the all-important top four going into the finals.
And the two teams currently best placed to break into the top four in the run down to the finals - which are also the two teams any other top-four team would most hate to see there - are due in action later the same day.
Sixth-placed Penrith are away to Parramatta in Sunday's second game and the round will then wrap up with fifth-placed Brisbane away to the Gold Coast.
Please forgive me for using the pay-TV catchcry, but it really does shape as a Super Sunday.
Either the Warriors are going to strike a blow in their desperate bid to hang on to a top-four spot, with the Broncos and Panthers and maybe even one or two others to keep coming, or they're going to become even more vulnerable than they already are.
The top four was looking like a lock after round 16, when a six-point gap had opened up between the third and fourth-placed Melbourne and the Warriors, both on 24 points at the time, and the rest of the field.
But the competition dramatically changed shape only one round later. It wouldn't have been so bad for the Warriors had their round-17 loss to Brisbane been the worst thing that happened to them that day, but it wasn't.
Their star halfback, Luke Metcalf, went down with a season-ending knee injury, which followed on from their NSW State of Origin prop Mitch Barnett having experienced the same fate four rounds earlier.
The Warriors had the bye in round 18, which at least for the time being protected what the Broncos had reduced to a four-point advantage over fifth, and now they return to action.
But, let's face it, the Warriors are cooked as far as being a genuine chance of winning the premiership is concerned.
Even if they still make it to the top four from here, which would be a fine effort, they're not going to have what it takes to go all the way from there. They would be doing very well just to win a game in the finals.
The bookmakers have already written them off and they're not taking any real risks when they quote them at $34.
None of the top-three teams ahead of this weekend's round - Canberra, on 30 points, and Melbourne and Canterbury, both on 28 - are going to be anywhere else but in the top four going into the finals.
It's just a matter of where exactly they're going to be placed and finishing in the top two is very important because of the home-ground advantage it brings those teams in the first week of the finals.
But the real interest from now is how the rest of the top eight is going to pan out, with every team down to 12th, definitely, and maybe even right down to 15th still a chance of making the finals from here.
I mean, you'd need a vivid imagination to picture any team among Newcastle, Wests Tigers and Parramatta, all on 16 points and four points outside of the top eight, being there come finals time, but it's possible.
Tenth-placed Cronulla and the seventh-placed Dolphins, both on 20 points, play each other at Sharks Stadium on Friday night, so one of them has to advance to 22 barring a draw. So, too, will eighth-placed Manly, which has the bye.
And if the worst-case scenario develops for the Warriors and they lose to the Tigers and the Broncos and Panthers both win, that would leave the Warriors on 26 and the Broncos and Panthers coming to get them on 24 and 23, respectively.
Have you got it in you, Wests Tigers, to help blow this thing wide open?
Penrith were in last place on nine points after round 12 and we had to at least consider the possibility that coming off four straight premierships they might actually miss the finals.
But much of the competition table has remained compressed all season and even though they were running 17th the Panthers were still only three points outside of the top eight.
They haven't lost a game since and in doing so have added another layer of interest to the competition.
MORE NRL NEWS
After being routinely at or near the top of the table all along during that quartet of premiership-winning years could they come from where they were after round 12 to win it again?
And, having made it back into the top eight, could they win it from the bottom half of the finals draw?
Well, now we can't rule out the possibility of them making the top four again, which would be a phenomenal effort.
IT's going to be fascinating to see how it all pans out at Canterbury over the rest of the season.
Their starting halfback Toby Sexton and hooker Reed Mahoney are both leaving the club at the end of the season and their star mid-season recruit Lachlan Galvin is on the bench. The player tipped to be their starting hooker next year, Bailey Hayward, is at lock.
That's how the team has been named for the game against North Queensland at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Saturday night anyway.
How it looks by the time the finals come around, we'll have to wait and see.
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The Age
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