Footy Tipping: NRL Round 1 Wrap
It's only round one of the 2010 NRL season and theService Central NRL Tipping Competitionjackpot has gone off already! Congratulations to Anna Hall who was the only tipster to correctly pick eight winners in the opening round of the 2010 NRL season - no mean feat given the standard unpredictability of round one and the handful of upsets that occurred. Anna takes down the opening round jackpot of $20 and as such the jackpot next week will be reset to $20. Three other tipsters managed to get seven right, with the Knights' upset of the Bulldogs (tipped by 87%) and the Roosters' win over the Rabbitohs (tipped by 75%) bringing many a tipster undone. The round average was 4.3, with yours truly limping in with a miserly 3 correct tips.
The season got off to an absolute flier and there was no love lost as teams squared off against their traditional rivals in the season opening derby round.
First up were the Dragons and the Eels in what many pundits are tipping might be a sneak peek of this year's NRL grand final. The Dragons' halfback Ben Hornby opened the try scoring for season 2010 as his side, aided a stunning 96% completion rate, downed Parramatta 18-14 in what was arguably the match of the round. On the same night the Broncos, led by exciting youngster Corey Norman, held off a Johnathan Thurston-inspired Cowboys comeback to cling on to a 30-24 victory having earlier led 24-0.
Having endured a hellish summer, the Knights put aside all their off-field dramas to stun the highly fancied Bulldogs 20-16 and throw a spanner in the works for many tipsters. Reigning premiers Melbourne picked up where they left off - albeit not as stylishly - to down a gritty Sharks outfit 14-10 at Toyota Park. The Panthers enjoyed a reasonably comfortable 34-16 win over the Raiders; having moved to a 22-0 lead at half-time they were never headed, despite some second-half wobbles which saw the lead cut back to six points.
On Sunday, the Titans defeated the Warriors 24-18 in a match lacking in spectacle. Match-winner Preston Campbell was unable to recall much of the match after copping a knee to the head late in the piece. South Sydney had many tipsters scratching their heads as last year's wooden spoon winning Roosters caused a boilover to win 36-10, led by the brilliant Todd Carney in his first game in the tricolours.
Monday night football saw the return of Lote Tuqiri to the NRL as his Tigers staged a remarkable comeback from a 4-20 deficit nearing the hour mark to defeat the Sea Eagles 26-22. Four tries in sixteen minutes made for a thrilling finish as the first round of the season came to a close. The big question - are tipsters any the wiser, or is it still impossible to tell the real deal from the rest of the pack?
We are still welcoming signups to both our NRL and AFL tipping competitions, the latter of which is now less than two weeks away from the first bounce. If you haven't signed up,join today! It's completely free and as you can see, even late signups have a great chance of winning the jackpot!
