NRL Grand Final Day: An upset, a classic and a dynasty confirmed

 

 

Three games with just 14 points the combined margin between the winners and losers – now that suggests a good day at the footy! And it certainly was with each game having multiple stories to tell. Here’s how I saw its all play out.

 

State Championship: Newtown Jets v Norths Devils

The club champions of NSW has won this fixture, usually quite comfortably, for the past eight years. (You’d win a prize if you could name the club and its coaches when a Queensland side last succeeded in this fixture. #) Three Newtown tries in 15 minutes midway through the first half suggested that a familiar pattern was about to play out. A try to Norths just before the break left them four points adrift at the break but the flow of play suggested that Newtown’s class would prevail when play resumed. A third try to Sam Stonestreet five minutes after the resumption seemed to confirm the game’s trajectory. But the northerners had other ideas and refused to throw in the towel. In fact, they were the better side for the remainder of the second half while Newtown seemed to lose its focus and structure. Oryn Keeley had already had a great game for Norths and his converted try with 25 minutes on the clock made it a 2-point game. But the aspiring Dolphin wasn’t done yet, repeating his efforts with five minutes to play to put the Devils ahead. The Jets couldn’t find one last effort and lost a game they probably should have won. But that doesn’t give credit where it is due. 10-18 behind and with the crowd behind the opposition, Norths found something extra to come up with a famous victory. To read more about the game and check out the match statistics click here and here. And remember that name, Oren Keeley – I suspect we’ll hear more about him in the coming years.

# Ipswich Jets were the last Queensland side to win the State Championship in 2015.  Their coaches were the Walker brothers, Ben and Shane.

 

NRLW Grand Final: Sydney Roosters v Cronulla Sharks

The NRLW Grand Final was a real Jekyll and Hyde game! Others might call it a game of two halves. Whatever! In a high-scoring, six tries to five classic, the Roosters, having gone to the break up 24-0, hung on desperately at the end to eventually run out winners by 32-28.

 

The first half was a Tarryn Aiken masterclass as she took advantage of her rampaging forward pack to guide the Roosters around the park with consummate ease and skill. Her selection of passes was particularly inspired and led to several of their five first half tries. What a playmaker! Dally M winner Olivia Kernick showed us why she won the top gong with a display of strength and skill while Amber Hall was a powerhouse in both attack and defence. Jocelyn Kelleher’s kicking game was ‘on’ and the redoubtable centre pairing of Kelly and Sergis were also on song. It looked a case of how far and how many records were going to be set.

 

The game desperately need the Sharks to come out and score some points as soon as possible. Which they did – in fact, 18 at better than one a minute before a penalty to the Roosters broke the sequence. But only momentarily before a miraculous effort by Johnstone got the margin back to 2 with eight minutes to play. But 24 is a big lead to overcome, so when Kernick scored again to get the lead back out to 8, it looked all over. Not so, said the Sharks as they clawed it back to 4 after another Penitani try. They forfeited their conversion kick in order to get one last set to put off a miracle but, alas, it was not to be and the Roosters took the chocolates. Emma Tonegato was in everything in that second half while the forwards made good yardage to have the Chooks on the back foot repeatedly.The bench players did their bit. But the Sharks had conceded too big a start.

 

Tarryn Aiken received the Karen Murphy Medal for best on ground, probably just ahead of Tonegato, Kernick and Hall.

 

NRL Grand Final: Melbourne Storm v Penrith Panthers

At half time with the score at 10-6 to the Panthers, I texted Liam and said, ‘Penrith playing Melbourne style with suffocating defence. They also look more likely to score through better ball movement.’ Not a lot changed after the break.

 

Let’s face it, the game was not a classic. That’s always a bonus in a grand final. No, this was simply about winning. The old adage won out yet again – forwards win matches, especially the big matches! Penrith’s forwards dominated the game from start to finish. To a man, they were big, powerful and mobile, and they made consistently good metres up the middle in every set. In defence they tackled in numbers and with venom, suffocating the life out of any Melbourne attempts to attack. In attack, Cleary was able to kick on the last tackle from inside Melbourne’s half. His high, well placed kicks gave the likes of Martin and Sorensen time to get to the contest and hit the Melbourne wingers before they could take a step forward. By contrast, Hughes was always kicking from within his own half, forced to kick long providing the likes of Edwards, Turuva and To’o with time and space to return the ball strongly. It was Melbourne-like in its simplicity and clinical execution. How’s that for flattery? How Melbourne missed NAS in both attack (to bend the pink defensive line) and defence (to challenge the midfield dominance of the Panther pack. Only once in the whole game did Melbourne set up camp in the Penrith red zone – five consecutive sets, in fact – but not even the skills of Hughes (who was not 100% fit, I’m sure), Munster or Papenhuyzen could find a way through. The Howarth ‘no try’? A tad contentious, no doubt, but not a game changer for me.

 

Isaah Yeo has been announced as Kangaroos skipper today – a good choice because he is a genuine leader! He must have gone close for the Clive (but Martin was a deserved winner). Yeo is just relentless – he played the whole game, made 24 runs for 233 metres, and completed 45 tackles. Martin was the bustling, confrontational, non-stop, omnipresent competitor we’ve seen all year. Cleary and Luai enjoyed the space and time afforded them by their dominant pack, and the back three never looked like dropping the ball. It was a consummate effort from the whole team. (But spare a thought for Brad Schneider who didn’t make it on to the field.)

 

Harry Grant was Melbourne’s best by a mile – always looking for a chance to spark the attack, leading by example, and a game high 59 tackles in defence to boot. He was best supported by Katoa and Coates. Melbourne’s defence was little short of heroic considering the possession ratio (55/45 to Penrith) and the overall field position of the game. And yet they only lost by 8 points! But those 8 points must have seemed like 20 in the context of what was happening on the field.

 

Penrith? Definitely the best team of the NRL era. Ivan Cleary? Must be rated up there with the likes of Bellamy, Bennett and Robinson as the best club coaches of the last three to four decades, especially when you consider how much talent he’s had to replace during this phenomenal four-year run of premierships.

 

You tip against Melbourne at your peril. I did. I said Penrith by 9+: missed it by that much!

 

 

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