10 reasons to be excited for the 2018 NRL season

As the new year is upon us it means that we are getting ever so close to kicking off the 2018 NRL season with much to be anticipated. So if you aren’t already, here are 10 reasons to be excited about the 2018 NRL season. As always don’t forget to leave your opinions below. Knights New Era After finishing last on the ladder for the third year in a row in 2017 it's safe to say big change was needed for the Newcastle Knights and it looks to have arrived through the signings of possibly the most hyped unknown entity in NRL history in Kalyn Ponga from the Cowboys, and former Grand Final winning halfback Mitchell Pearce from the Roosters, along with other established NRL players such as Aiden Guerra and Chris Heighnington. This will make the Knights a must watch team in 2018 as they like new signing Ponga will be an unknown entity. Although many believe that Newcastle won’t finish last 4 seasons in a row win 2018 they still may not perform that well in 2018 due to the number of new players they have meaning the players will need time to gel so expect at least a bad run of form by Newcastle in 2018 or, perhaps they will come out guns blazing and possibly push for a top 8 spot. New Signings on Show Due to the NRL’s salary cap increase, we saw a number of players sign with new clubs in 2017 for a large sum of money. It can even be argued that in 2017 we saw some of if not the biggest signings in NRL history and these very players will be on show at their new clubs for the first time in 2018. With players such as Matt Moylan attempting to rebuild their career at Cronulla after being dropped from the New South Wales Origin side and the Australian Kangaroos side along with a disappointing end to his career at Penrith as he was outshone by young gun Nathan Cleary or, a player like Cooper Cronk, moving to the Sydney Roosters not only for personal reasons, but to prove he can play just as well without Billy Slater or Cameron Smith by his side. Straight away in Round 1, we will also see some of these players up against their old clubs straight away with Ben Hunt up against his former side the Broncos and James Tedesco up against the Tigers. Freddy’s Fabulous Blues? Regarding the 2018 State of Origin series, the New South Wales Blues have got a new coach in former Penrith Panthers and Sydney Roosters legend Brad Fittler. Although winning the series in 2014 the Blues went right back to being the Queensland’s whooping boys the next year and have not won since. This has to lead to great optimism by New South Wales fans with the appointment of Freddy due to many fans feeling the wrong players are being selected for the Blues each series. With a new coach and selector committee at the helm, the fans may get their wish with Freddy already with his eyes on some players who have yet to make their origin debut. It is likely the side will see some changes under Freddy as is seen most years anyway, but it is more likely that there will be different types of players coming into the Blues squad and possibly some familiar faces being given the boot? Storm go Back to Back? With no team being able to win a Grand Final 2 years in a row in a unified competition since the Broncos in 1992 and 93 you’d think in today’s NRL if any team was to do it it would be the Melbourne Storm, so will it happen in 2018? The reason why many teams fail to go back to back is because around half way through the following season other teams tend to find out and get used to how that team players meaning, whilst the defending premiers are playing the exact way to the season before as it worked for them they are coming more predictable for other teams. Think about the last 3 premiership winning teams excluding the Storm (Sharks, Cowboys and Rabbitohs) and how they went the following year, although all making the finals the following year only the Cowboys made the top 4 and only just at that, with the Rabbitohs failing to make the finals since 2015 and the Sharks being eliminated in round 1 of the finals in 2017. However, there seems to be one exception to this rule, a team that although never seem to change how they player are always dominant and you guessed it it’s the Melbourne Storm, so could they go back to back? At this point in time, it looks very possible. The Roosters Resurgence Many believe that if there is any team that will have something to say about Melbourne going back to back it will be former Storm player Cooper Cronk and his new side the Sydney Roosters. Although the Roosters have been also been dominant in recent years this season may be the strongest they’ve looked since their 2013 Grand Final winning year. With the aforementioned addition of Cooper Cronk the Roosters now have a man who has basically done it all in the NRL and a man who many believe will be a natural leader at the Roosters who is likely to be a man who will better the players around him and could possibly do wonders for players still with many years ahead such as Latrell Mitchell, Luke Keary and other new signing James Tedesco through mentoring them and helping them live up to their potential which is what both Mitchell and Tedesco especially have been criticised for not doing in recent times. The Roosters also like the Storm have a well-established playing group that they have had for a number of years now that seem to gel and play very well together which will only further their chance of winning the 2018 NRL premiership. Pretenders or Contenders? With the Cowboys and Broncos both having solid sides and will both predictably finish comfortably in the Top 8 what about the “outsider” teams who have the ability to rise up and also give the Storm and Roosters a very big scare in 2018? There is the possibility of the Sharks having a very good year with the signings of Josh Dugan and Matt Moylan along with having a respectable side already the Sharks could still feel the effect of the “premiers curse” and keep falling in the NRL or could reinvent themselves and really make a run for a premiership. How about them Eels though? Surprisingly finishing 4th in 2017 and seeing the breakout season of a future NRL great in Clinton Gutherson could see the Eels continue to build and come together as a squad to challenge the big sides. When thinking of the words pretender and contender these past few NRL seasons though, one team really stands out and it’s the boys from the foot of the mountains the Penrith Panthers. After being a game away from the 2014 grand final they went to being in a wooden spoon battle in 2015, then finishing in the lower half of the top 8 in 2016 in 2017, but in 2018 although having a similar side to recent years the Panthers have signed James Maloney who will pair with Nathan Cleary a halves pairing which has the potential to be the best in the competition and there is a 50/50 chance that they will have a similar year to 2014 through giving the top teams a rude awakening. Battle of the Spoon Now from looking at the place teams do want to finish to the place they don’t, that place is last. This season the team that will finish last isn’t as predictable as previous years with the Knights and Tigers both looking on the up but there are some strong candidates. One of whom are the Gold Coast Titans, although making decent signings in areas that do need tweaking and new coach Garth Brennan who many say is a very good coach the Titans still to many will struggle in 2018 as they will still need to learn to gel together a problem they have had a lot in recent years as they are a side with such good talent but talent that don’t seem to play well together and unless the Titans can build a healthy club culture and learn to gel more as a unit they may have the wooden spoon looming in 2018. Another team is the New Zealand Warriors who also has talent that doesn’t seem to gel. The past few years fans have predicted that the Warriors would finally do well and even push for a top 4 spot with them failing every year and it seems the fans have given up on the Warriors with them in the mix to be 2018 wooden spooners. Although these two sides seem to be front-runners for the spoon teams such as the Raiders, Rabbitohs and in reality even the generally consistent Bulldogs will need to play better in 2018 if they don’t want to be candidates for the spoon in 2018. Will Greenberg Stay or will He Go? Although there has not been much talk lately suggesting Todd Greenberg’s role as NRL CEO is under scrutiny Greenberg has not really implemented many concepts to help improve rugby league. As many would know the Bunker concept came to fruition under Greenberg and has gaged a largely negative impact on the fans. The new scheduling of games has also come out under Greenberg with his Thursday night game idea being terrible with it contributing to the decline of fans attending games over the past few years. However, Greenberg has done some good as through the new television rights deal was done with FOX Sports the NRL’s salary cap has increased, making for more high profile and lucrative deals to be completed. Greenberg's reign as NRL CEO hasn’t come with the greatest of praise from NRL fans, but let's face it, not many CEO reigns do, so it will be interesting to see if 2018 is the year Greenberg will get the boot. Thurston’s Last Rodeo With Jonathan Thurston retiring from representative football in 2017 to concentrate on club football it is likely 2018 will indeed be Thurston’s final year in the NRL. Thurston’s contract expires at the end of 2018 and is largely unlikely to sign another. Thurston has done pretty much everything there is to do in the NRL and many believe Thurston will be the NRL’s 9th immortal. However, there is still work to be done, with his focus solely on club football Thurston will hope to lead the Cowboys to their second premiership in his final year. The Cowboys, of course, managed to make the 2017 Grand Final after finishing 8th after finding some form. The reason for the poor regular season finish, however, was due to the Cowboys players previously being so reliant on Thurston and feeling out of place, this was until the Cowboys players found their place without Thurston and were instead believed in themselves as they relied on their own skills and abilities and Thurston is likely to want this New trend to continue so expect him to be a bit quieter in 2018 to allow his teammates to shine. NRL Expansion? NRL expansion has been a big talking point in rugby league for a few years now and 2018 should be no different. The NRL has been looking to broaden their horizon through moving a team or creating one in a new area as to boost crowds and fan numbers and also to compete with the AFL which is currently the number one viewed sport in Australia. There have been thoughts of placing a second team in Brisbane which doesn’t make any sense as that would divide the Brisbane fan base an area which has seen the biggest average crowds per week in 2017. A team in Perth has also been in the mix with former Balmain Tiger Ben Ellias pushing for the West Coast Pirate’s inclusion in the NRL. The Central Coast Bears have also gained momentum over the years with could be smart due to the opportunity for two fan bases to be involved from Central Coast and North Sydney. Although unlikely in 2018 each year the NRL comes closer and closer to adding a new team to the competition and it’ll be interesting g who it is when it eventuates.

		P	W	L	PTS	+/-
1	MEL	2	2	0	4	74
2	NZW	2	2	0	4	58
3	PEN	2	2	0	4	46
4	NEW	2	2	0	4	30
5	WST	1	1	0	4	28
6	CAN	1	1	0	4	1
7	CRO	2	1	1	2	20
8	SOU	2	1	1	2	2

10 reasons to be excited for the 2018 NRL season

NRL Expansion?

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