Mason believes Roosters can work a finals miracle

[Guest]

public statements serve to further your conviction he wont be here
what does that mean exactly-i mean-how is mase making public statements relate to his future with us?

Greg Willett old trick - negotiate through the newspapers, keep yourself top of mind, never back off from an opportunity to be at the centre.

When Mason was head down, bum up working on his game like in the first half of 2008, he wouldn't even acknowledge the press. Kept Schtum.

But when he was in secret battles (now we know the full story after the fact) with the Dogs, well there wasn't a topic that Mason wasn't vocal on including taking pot shots at the RLPA and anything else that gave him headlines.

He needs press to generate interest. I don't agree with it, but it seems to be his way.

[TheLoneRooster]

i think your reaction is a tad over the top. headlines grab mase these days not the other way round. a journo asks mase how they went and what he sees for our immediate future and he responds. he's positive and hopeful and confident. lets shoot the guy. saying that his "bravado" and "amplified efforts from opponents" will burden the youngsters is hilarious! I'm sure most of them are far more burdened by the bloke running at them every week, the imminent spoon in their first FG season and retaining their spot. teams arent gonna be amplified against us-we're stone cold last! maybe them amping up a bit might make for some good games, cuz more than likely i'd say our games have potential landslide all over them.

You see it your way, I see it mine, and never the two shall meet. I couldn't be bothered taking your post apart.

[Guest]

so why respond at all?

[Andrew Walker]

Somehow I don't think maths was ever his strongpoint.

With our for and against as it stands, we'd need to smash sides to scrape in the 8 on 28 points. We need 30 points. We currently sit on 10 points, with 9 games remaining + the bye. That means we need to win EVERY game. We only have to play the Dragons, Knights, Sea Eagles, Cowboys, Storm and Bulldogs who aren't much chop. The only sides who are a threat remaining really are Souths, Warriors and the Tigers surely.

Should be able to do it easily LOL. Tell him he's dreaming and start planning for next year.

Looking at the log jame from 5th to 8th I have a feeling 26 will get you there . maybe 28. Last year was an irregularity with 30 making the 8. The year before it was 25 or 26. We can still lose 1 more game. If we lost 2 we would probably miss out on for and against.

[Guest]

Looking at the log jame from 5th to 8th I have a feeling 26 will get you there . maybe 28. Last year was an irregularity with 30 making the 8. The year before it was 25 or 26. We can still lose 1 more game. If we lost 2 we would probably miss out on for and against.

On the contrary, there is ALREADY a 3 point gap between 9th and 10th. 4 between 9th and 11th. This actually raises the required entry point for the 8, it doesn't lower it. The scenario you suggested would need a log jam from 6th down to at least 12th, possibly even 14th. The pack of 8 has separated itself from the bottom tier, this doesn't usually happen by this point, which means the top 8 are winning alot more often than the bottom 8. This can raise the entry point significantly. Theoretically the entry point at this point in the comp can still reach 34. It won't, but I imagine 28 will be the bare minimum, 30 will probably be more realistic. This comp is one of the most uneven comps I've seen in a few years. The top 4 are pretty much settled already, the bottom half of the 8 probably has 1 or 2 spots open at a maximum, then the rest of the comp is lagging behind pretty badly.

Even comps lower the entry point to the 8. The ladder at present shows that this is not an even comp. Already with 10 rounds still to go any team at 10th or lower needs to win twice and a team inside the 8 needs to lose twice before they're even in the 8. With 10 rounds to go, that is already a fair amount of ground that needs to be covered.