Fatcat's 2025 'NRL Tipping
Competition With A Difference'

ROUND 1 NEWS, GAMES AND STARTS

Sportsfans,

My thanks to the many who continue to back up year after year and a warm welcome to any newcomers.  Hopefully by season's end it will have dawned on the newbies that banging their head against the brick wall of tipping success each weekend, and paying for the privilege, is not the smartest thing they'll ever do.  However, it does become addictive ...

A lengthy note to start the season but it should only take a minute or two of your time to read through - future reminders will be signifcantly briefer.

Mainly for the first timers, we'll start with some general info:

• in future you'll be sent email reminders every Wednesday morning (or Thursday morning for Friday night cut-offs) but the same information, if not more, is published on this page generally a day earlier;
• a Summary page (desktop and mobile versions) listing everyone's selections is posted for each round and is generally available 10-15 minutes after the first cut-off.  Selections are progressively colour coded after each game according to the result;
• the tipster ladder is published shortly after the final game.  Access any of these pages via the Fatcat's NRL Tipping option on the club's website menu; and
• the first of 3 handicap knockouts will start next week with your Round 2 picks.

And now for everyone, some very important information:

• the nominated cut-off times for lodging selections are loaded into the HAL 9000 system early in the week.  These times are therefore fixed and do not change even if the referenced games actually start 5, 10, 30 minutes or even a day later;
• the most critical part of lodging your selections is actually pressing the submit button which only becomes available after you have made the required number of selections e.g. 6 scratch and 4 handicap.  Clicking the submit button triggers these immediate events:

1. the tips are sent to the database.  If there is a problem at this point, an onscreen error message will be displayed warning the tips were not received and to log in again;
2. if accepted, an onscreen confirmation will be displayed with your name, selections and time of lodgement and, should your device allow, a short audio clip from the HAL 9000; and
3. I'm sent a copy of your onscreen confirmation;

• if there is a dispute over lodgement, the only proof I'll accept from you is a photo/screenshot of your onscreen confirmation.  Taking a snap of the earlier tipping selections page doesn't count because at that stage the submit button hasn't been pressed.  It's important to acknowledge after 16 years of online lodging, there has never been a single instance where someone's screenshot differs from what was, or was not, stored in the database.

If you're the forgetful type, it may be wise to lodge your selections when you receive the weekly email reminder - they can always be updated before the online cut-off.

Your task this round is to select 6 scratch and 4 handicap winners from the following 6 games (home team first):

STARTS WILL BE CONFIRMED A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE OPENING MATCH

• Roosters vs Brisbane  
  |  Allianz Stadium 8.00pm Thursday
• Wests Tigers vs Newcastle  
  |  Campbelltown Sports Stadium 6.00pm Friday
• Dolphins vs Souths  
  |  Suncorp Stadium 8.00pm Friday
• St.George vs Bulldogs  
  |  Netstrata Jubilee Stadium 5.30pm Saturday
• Manly vs NQld  
  |  4 Pines Park 7.30pm Saturday
• Melbourne vs Parramatta  
  |  AAMI Park 4.05pm Sunday

Bye - Gold Coast

The online cut-off is 8.00pm Thursday (scheduled kick-off for Roosters vs Brisbane).  Tipsters who miss this first deadline have until 6.00pm Friday (Wests Tigers vs Newcastle) to email me their late picks but they are penalised 1 selection and are only allowed to submit 9 (5 scratch and 4 handicap) chosen from the remaining, unplayed games.  It is important to understand all weekly cut-off times are fixed and independent from the time any referenced games actually start.

After accessing the login page, type in your username and password to open the tipping page showing this round's games and starts under your name.  When you have made the required number of selections, the submit button becomes available.  Press the submit button - it's the most critical part of lodging your selections - and your tips are on their way to the ESG&EC database.  A confirmation of your selections will then be displayed on-screen.

Go to Log In page

In the unlikely event of a site malfunction, tipsters can lodge selections by email but they still must be received by me before the respective cut-off time.

Lodge selections by email

Regards,
Fatcat.