Form Teams for Round 15

1. Panthers (447)
2. Cowboys (439)
3.Cronulla (430)
4. Tigers (429)
5. St George (425)
6. Manly (416)
7. Bulldogs (415)
8. Titans (414)
9. Melbourne (413.5)
10. Parramatta (413)
11. Souths (390)
12. Roosters (382)
13. Warriors (380)
14. Brisbane (364)

So based on this my picks for this week
Cowboys, Dragons, Sharks, Eels, Panthers, Tigers, Sea Eagles

NRL Form by Position - After 14 rounds

Updates marked with a **
Fullbacks (numbers in brakets are career games)


1. Brent Morris
2. Josh Hoffman
3. Billy Slater **

4. Anthony Minichiello **
5. Jared Hayne

Only difference here is a straight swap of Billy and Mini
Wingers

1. Daniel Vidot
2. Blake Ferguson  **
3. Jason Nightingale **
4. Ken Sio**

5. Justin O'Neill **

Just a reshuffle of places 2-5

Centres

1. Matt Prior
2. Justin Hodges
3. Michael Jennings
4. Kane Linnett
5. Josh Morris

No Change
5/8

1. Greg Bird
2. John Sutton
3. Josh Reynolds
4. Travis Burns
5. Gareth Widdop
No Change
Half

1. Daly Cherry-Evens
2. Mitchell Pearce
3. Ray Thompson
4. Cooper Cronk
5. Josh McCrone (Canberra - 68) **

The addition of McCrone is only change

Lock

1. Paul Gallen
2. Ashley Harrison
3. Luke Lewis
4. Dallas Johnson
5. Josh Papalii
No Change

Second Row

1.Nate Miles
2. Anthony Watmough
3. Chris Houston
4. Nathan Hindmarsh  **
5. Sam Burgess (Souths, 35)  ** Bolter

Sam Burgess - Great player but injury prone

Props

1. Aaron Woods  **
2  James Tamou  **
3. Tim Grant
4. Keith Galloway
5. Aiden Tolman
Aaron Woods now the in-form Prop in the game. Ready for Origin???
Hooker

1. Issac Luke
2. Matt Ballin
3. Cameron Smith
4. Kevin Kingston
5. Jake Friend
No Change
Interchange

1. Corey Parker
2. Trent Merrin
3. James Graham
4. Shaun Fensom
5. Matthew Scott

No Change

State of Origin - Game 2

Exciting  stuff with the Game 2 of the State of Origin tonight. Based on form, I am picking a NSW victory, but if I based my pick on form and experience, QLD will win.

Plenty of points in the QLD side, which is always a danger. Still, in the wet, on form, and at home, I think NSW will be too strong. We shall see.

Form Teams for this weekend

From the team lists (you can definitely see the effect of the origin players), I have the following  FORGOAT scores (highest number is better Form)

1. Tigers (412)
2. Panthers (394)
3. Warriors (392)
4. Canberra (390)
5. Newcastle (385)
6. Roosters (373)
7. Melbourne (372)
8.Cronulla (364)
9. Brisbane (328)
10. Titans (326)

So I am tipping:-

Tigers
Canberra (Just)
Sharks
Roosters
Panthers

John Grant wants the power!

I think his profile page on the Data#3 website says it all

"John Grant has been a part of Data^#3 since its foundation in 1984 and has been Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer since 1996"

Its the only management style he knows! Poor old David Gallop was in the way and got the hook.

NRL GoatGooooners!

After calculating the top players by form in my previous post, the only thing to do now is calculate the under performers. A few surprises in my opinion, and some not so surprising. Again in brackets, team and career games.

Fullback
1. Luke Burt (Parramatta - 252)
2. Matthew Bowen (Cowboys - 235)
3. Kevin Locke (Warriors - 58)
4. Tim Moltzen (Tiger - 75)
5. Nathan Merritt (Souths -186)
(That is a star studded field that just isn't doing the business)

Wingers
1. Michael Gordan (Penrith - 102)*though to be fair, this is only after 1 game this season
2. Jharal Yow Yeh (Brisbane - 60)
3. Kevin Gordan (Titans - 60)
4. Andrew Everingham (Souths - 10)*Just slips into my 10 career games minimum
5. Gerard Beale (Brisbane - 50)

Centers
1. Shaun Corrigan (Canberra - 25)
2. Jamal Idris (Titans -77)
3. Esikeli Tonga (Parramatta - 39)
4. Ryan Morgan (Parramatta - 23)
5. Willie Tonga (Parramatta - 157)
(We now know why Parramatta have been performing poorly)

5/8
1. Terry Campese (Canberra - 103)
2. Jamie Soward (St George - 142)
3. Jarrod Mullen (Newcastle - 133)
4. Benji Marshall (Tigers - 167)
5. Braith Anasta (Roosters - 246)
(Another star studded lineup. I think Benji is getting better as the season goes along though (he had a shocking start which is why he is in the bottom 5...he will move out of the bottom five soon enough)

Half
Luke Walsh (Penrith - 86)
Chris Sandow (Parramatta - 95)
Scott Prince (Titans - 267)
Tyrone Roberts (Newcastle - 13)
Adam Reynolds (Souths - 12)
(Sandow worth $550,000 a season?)

Lock
1. Vic Mauro (Manly - 40)
2. Matt Gillett (Brisbane - 52)
3. Neville Costigan (Newcastle - 139)
4. Reni Maitua (Parramatta - 127)
5. Justin Horo (Parramatta - 48)

Second
1. Luke O'Dwyer (Titans - 106)
2. Joe Picker (Canberra - 90)
3. Taniela Lasalo (Parramatta - 35)
4. Clint Newton (Penrith - 127)
5. Glenn Hall (Cowboys - 127)

Prop
1. Scott Anderson (Brisbane - 61)
2. Sione Lousi (Warriors - 21)
3. David Tyrrell (Souths - 55)
4. Scott Geddes (Souths - 123)
5. Petro Civoniceva (Brisbane - 299)
(I think it's time for Petro to hang up the boots)

Hooker
1. Isaac De Gois (Cronulla - 128)
2. Aaron Payne (Cowboys - 207)
3. Glenn Buttriss (Canberra - 72)
4. Michael Ennis (Bulldogs - 157)
5. Mitch Rein (St George - 28)

Interchange
1.Luke Capewell (Brisbane -36)
2. Joel Romelo (Bulldogs - 21)
3. Josh Miller (St George - 114)
4. Trent Hodkinson (Bulldogs - 52)
5. Tim Robinson (Manly -16)

So that sums it up for Parramatta - 8 players out of form means bottom of the ladder. Also interesting that Queensland keep picking Petro for State of Origin, even though he is horrible out of form at the moment. Go the blues!

NRL Form - By Position

Watched the movie "Moneyball" the other day. What a top movie. Anything that can make statistics interesting to the masses can only be a good thing.
Which led me to ask whether it was possible to do the same thing for Rugby League. So using a few metrics, in both attack and defensive areas, from the official nrl.com.au website, I have come up with the "GoatGoodness" ranking for all players. Here are my top 5 in each position based on form in the 2012 NRL season (after 13 rounds, 10 game career minimum)

Fullbacks (numbers in brakets are career games)
1. Brent Morris (St George - 120)
2. Josh Hoffman (Brisbane - 54)
3. Anthony Minichiello (Roosters - 239)
4. Billy Slater (Melbourne - 215)
5. Jared Hayne (Parramatta - 136)

Wingers
1. Daniel Vidot (St George - 56)
2. Justin O'Neill (Melbourne - 31) -Bolter! *(under 50 games)
3. Blake Ferguson (Canberra - 77)
4. Jason Nightingale (St George - 122)
5. Ken Sio (Parramatta - 12) - Bolter!

Centres
1. Matt Prior (St George -87)
2. Justin Hodges (Brisbane - 192)
3. Michael Jennings (Penrith - 113)
4. Kane Linnett (Cowboys - 34 ) - Bolter!
5. Josh Morris (Bulldogs - 119)

5/8
1. Greg Bird (Titans - 158)
2. John Sutton (Souths - 167)
3. Josh Reynolds (Bulldogs - 23) - Bolter!
4. Travis Burns (Penrith - 124)
5. Gareth Widdop (Melbourne - 40) - Bolter!

Half
1. Daly Cherry-Evens (Manly - 40) - Bolter!
2. Mitchell Pearce (Roosters - 119)
3. Ray Thompson (Cowboys - 43) - Bolter!
4. Cooper Cronk (Melbourne - 196)
5. Jeff Robson (Sharks - 76)

Lock
1. Paul Gallen (Sharks - 206)
2. Ashley Harrison (Titans - 241)
3. Luke Lewis (Penrith - 206)
4. Dallas Johnson (Cowboys - 194)
5. Josh Papalii (Canberra - 26) - Bolter!

Second Row
1.Nate Miles (Titans - 141)
2. Anthony Watmough (Manly  - 227)
3. Chris Houston (Newcastle - 100)
4. Liam Fulton (Tigers - 126)
5. Nathan Hindmarsh (Parramatta - 317)

Props
1. James Tamou (Cowboys - 66)
2. Aaron Woods (Tigers - 36 ) - Bolter!
3. Tim Grant (Penrith - 80)
4. Keith Galloway (Tigers - 150)
5. Aiden Tolman (Bulldogs - 88)

Hooker
1. Issac Luke (Souths - 113)
2. Matt Ballin (Manly - 130)
3. Cameron Smith (Melbourne - 225)
4. Kevin Kingston (Penrith - 138)
5. Jake Friend (Roosters - 81)

Interchange
1. Corey Parker (Brisbane - 247)
2. Trent Merrin (St George - 63)
3. James Graham (Bulldogs - 13) - Bolter!
4. Shaun Fensom (Canberra - 50) - Bolter!
5. Matthew Scott (Cowboys - 131)

If I was a scout, I would be locking up the bolters pretty quickly. You are going to get quality cattle for a pretty reasonable price!