I will be getting my GF tickets tomorrow, I go every year.

This is my take on the final series using the current table as a preforma

1.Manly
2.Storm
3.Sharks
4.Roosters
5.Broncos
6.Raiders
7.Dragons
8.Tigers

Week 1
1st Manly vs 8th Tigers
2nd Storm vs 7th Dragons
3rd Sharks vs 6th Raiders
4th Roosters vs 5th Broncos

Only way for us to get first week off is if teams from 1st to 4th all lose and that would be a miracle.
As for us to get a home final in week 2, we would have to hope that we are the 3rd or 4th highest place team thru the finals. Usually that goes to the team that finishes 3rd or 4th.
Our best hope is to win the first semi and then maybe results might go our way to get the week off and progress to week 3 or get a home final in week 2.
But if we lose we have to hope but 7th and 8th lose to so we progress to week 2 also.

Hope that clears things up

Thanks mate. Would be good to read the official stance on this.

Good News! Here is the response I got

Dear Peter,

Thanks for your email.

The highest qualifying teams (after re-ranking following week 1 results) in each match (winners 3 & 4) will host in their home city. The following home City venues may qualify to host a Final in Week 2:

Sydney - Aussie Stadium, ANZ Stadium
Brisbane/Gold Coast - Lang Park
Townsville - Dairy Farmers Stadium
Newcastle - Energy Australia Stadium
Canberra - Canberra Stadium
Melbourne, - Telstra Dome, MCG
Auckland - Mt Smart Stadium

Excellent.. so it's only the third round of the finals where we have to play in Sydney.

What date will that be? Coz if the Raiders play a home semi on my bday....I will seriously love them <3

19 or 20 September.

Mate I agree 100% - this will be even bigger than the Tigers, and I dare say rival 1989 in club folklore. I know its still a longshot but you have to have hope dont you!? Now lets smash those Knights.

The Raiders are certainly playing well at the moment and I honestly think that we have a better chance of winning finals games than we have in a long time. The foundation of this is our attitude in defence. To keep a clean sheet in the 2nd half yesterday shows how important this is and the way we defended our line when we were miles in front was a huge highlight for me.

I would love to see the Raiders win the grand final but I think at this stage we still struggle to some degree against the top sides like the Storm and Manly. The beauty of final footy is that anything can happen.

The most important thing for us to do is win again next weekend aginst the Knights. They are in good nick and we will be playing with a 4th string hooker so this is definitely a danger game for us. I for one am keeping the faith, this team can do anything because they play for each other and for the green!

I cant see us winning our first game if we make the finals to be honest, Manly, Melbourne, Roosters or Sharks at their home grounds are going to be tough.........

Manly are beatable. And we have already shown we can run with the Storm.

And lets not forget we played both teams and the sharks prior to our purple patch of form.

One game at a time. Im more worried about the Knights on Sunday as it stands. Should be another good test.

You suck.

Having a look at the draw for the rest of the season we have a pretty good chance of ending up in 6th and a slim chance of finishing in 5th. The Broncos have a pretty easy run and unless there are some big upsets they will finish ahead of us. The Rooster have a tough run with games against Sharks, Storm and Dragons that will be tough to win. If they lost these games and we win all of our remaining they could slip to 6th, Broncos 4th, Raiders 5th. Would be a tough road trip to Brisbane in the 1st week but improves our chances of getting a second go.

All of this means nothing if we can't beat the Knights next week though, and this will be a tough one.

Hands up who this time last week honestly thought we'd be talking about the Raiders winning the 2008 grand final this week?


I love the GH

possibly the finest example of collective, online, bipolar disorder known to man!

So true. This forum will make you want to slit your wrists sometimes... right now it reeks of awesomeness, just roll with it