With the NRL becomming increasingly more difficult to play in due to the salary cap it has fast become one of the hardest and most competitive sporting comps in the world,in fact I rate it the hardest comp to win now with the equality of the sides and it has become a great spectacle for the Punters and Fans as so many of the games are close and hard to pick,a mine field for Punters but a great watch for the Neutrals or supportters of their Fav clubs,for me 3 teams have a chance of winning the Wooden Spoon and they are probaly not clubs you might think,Wests have a shot at it,the Titans have a shot at it and so do the Newcastle Knights,who alot of people tryed to back in last year,the Knights have released alot of players and have kept the ones they needed to,but they have not brought well and look to be hoping that their Jumior talent can make an impact for them,but they are really depleted in certain areas and with the long season and wear and tear I think they might just be in for another bumpy ride this season.

Heres their full Squad for 2008.

Bailey,Buderus,Ciraldo,Cross,Dureau,Fa'aoso,Gidley,Hilder,Houston,Karawana,Ling,Lulia,MacDougall,MacDougall,McManus,Mullen,Ngaquama,Natusch,Patterson,Royal,Sargent,Seu Seu,Simpson,Taia,Toimoana,Tolar,Vuna,Walsh,White,Wicks,Wulf and Young.

Now this is an intresting Squad,a couple of positions are pretty self explanatry Walsh and Mullens will be the halfs,Buderus will be Hooker,Simpson will play second row,Gidley will play Fullback,Ngaquama and Vuna should be on the wings and McManus will slot in somewhere and I would imagine just looking at this squad that both MacDougalls will play centres,but as for the rest of their squad it is a very mixed up sort of bunch with players who could well be playing out of position untill they can see exactly who fits in best.

Newcastle have still retained a couple of Stalwarts in their side with Simpson and Buderus and MacDougall,but lets be frank here Buderus while still a great player is the one true leader in this side ,Simpson will try his best but all 3 of them are past their best and i'm unsure exactly how long these players imparticular can maintain their form for over an entire season,I still see Mullen as being very over rated and is actually injury prone and with the NSW selectors seemingly making up their minds that he is the way forward for them he will be absent at stages of the season,Ngaquama and Vuna are good finishers on the wings and Gidley is a great fullback as we all know and well able to rescue a game all on his own as he has done a few times inthe past,but Origin will hit this side hard and without Gidley and Mullens they will lose all shape in their backline I reckon.

Brian Smith is still the Head Coach and he is a very good coach and has a great record of turing clubs into contenders but in his squads of the past he has had some very good players in his sides in their primes,you go and look at the Dragons or Eels that he has coached and they had some amasing talent in those sides to start with,this is perhaps his least experienced side ever and the players he can call on for leadership are well past their best or still at the beginning of their careers.

Unlike the Panthers they have a tough draw,they play 3 of their opening 6 matches at home and face in those matches Canberra first up which they should win but then face in their next 5 games Manly(H),Parra,Warriors,Brisbane(H) and the Roosters and they then take both their byes also before Round 11,which means they will then play the next 15 matches straight inculding through Origin Period,their last 4 matches albeit two of them are at Energy Australia Stadium are against Canberra in Canberra which as we all know is not a good place to visit,they then play two home games against the Cowboys and Storm before heading to Brisbane for their final round match,with this squad and the age in it they will be very hard pressed to make a run at the end of the season and although their middle part of their season is good for them with Origin thrown in and the possible loss of Mullens and Gidley in that period those games are far from clear cut and their final 4 matches are far from easy games.

I think Newcastle are in for a very tough season that will really takes it's toll by the end of it and for those reasons I think the Knights will trying to fight off the Wooden spoon and if they are with those last 4 games I can see them picking it up...Take Newcastle to win the Wooden Spoon in the Nrl in Season 2008....Good Luck.



Pick : Newcastle Knights to win the Wooden Spoon in the NRL - Season 2008
Odds : 7.50
Stake : 7 / 10
Bookmaker : Canbet
Date : 2008-09-01
Match Result :
Tipster Personal Link/Sponsor:

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