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Well, we all knew to expect the unexpected, because inevitably that’s what the NRL finals produces. 2014 is no different, if week one of the finals is to go by, with some huge scorelines mixed in with some unexpected results.
South Sydney and Penrith were victorious in the top half of the finals draw, while North Queensland and Canterbury stay alive the bottom half, and live to fight another day against the Roosters and Manly respectively.
It’s the first time that the top two sides in the minor premiership race have lost under the new system, and it makes for an interesting second week.
Here’s our wrap of week one of finals action.
South Sydney won 40-24
Roar expert Tim Gore predicted in his first stat article this week that the Rabbitohs would clean up Manly but 26 points.
It wasn’t a bad prediction, and he texted the editor of this site when South Sydney were up 22-nil and looking ominous at half-time, saying his prediction may have been conservative.
This was a proper thrashing, with respectability only being brought to the scoreline late in the game, as South Sydney switched off after being up 40-0.
It was a stunning performance from the Rabbitohs, with the huge Bunnies forwards laying a perfect platform for Adam Reynolds and Luke Keary to take control. Dylan Walker, Alex Johnston, Kirisome Auva’a and Lote Tuqiri were the beneficiaries, all having blockbusting games.
For Manly, there were few positives, and with Jamie Lyon and Anthony Watmough both on report for a tip tackle on Greg Inglis, they may be missing more cattle next week.
Penrith won 19-18
Another week, another belter in the NRL season. Jamie Soward was the hero this time, as he has been throughout the season for the Panthers.
18-12 down, Panthers’ winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak kept the game alive with just three minutes left on the clock, with an outrageous flick pass to Dean Whare, with Jamie Soward good enough to convert from the sideline.
Then the little general knocked a bullet-like field goal over from 35 metres out to give the Panthers the week off and the Roosters shaking their heads.
The Roosters will also be worried about big prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, who is on report. As we mentioned in our preview of this game, this is precisely what the Roosters didn’t need in Anthony Minichiello’s 300th match.
The Roosters are set to face the Cowboys, and although it’s at Allianz, they will need to be better than they were in this match to get to the qualifying final the week after.
It was a huge surprise for fans that the Panthers will be through to the third week, but they are a team with a huge amount of belief, and despite a huge injury toll, just keep on winning.
North Queensland won 32-20
The Cowboys enjoyed a solid victory over the ‘bigger brother’ Broncos in Townsville on Saturday night. Interestingly, that’s three from three for the North Queenslanders against the Broncos in finals matches.
Although a comeback from the Broncos might have been on in the second half, the 24-point lead the lads from North Queensland took into half time proved far to much for the Broncos.
A big concern for the Cowboys will be the points they leaked to the Broncos backline early in the second half, and the fact that combative backrower Tariq Sims was put on report for a very late shot on Brisbane fullback Justin Hodges.
On the positive side, their flawless first half performance and sparkling backline moves will see them travel to Allianz Stadium in high spirits, and confident of a victory against the Chooks, who couldn’t close it out against Penrith.
Johnathan Thurston will be key in that game, and will be keen to take advantage of a Tricolours side that might be shocked they have to play again this coming weekend.
Canterbury won 28-4
Playing Melbourne in Melbourne is always tough. Well, almost always. In this case, although it was a bruising game, with both sides out on their feet by the end, the Storm never showed enough to crack the Bulldogs’ line, while the Canterbury men just kept piling on the points.
Canterbury will now face Manly in the second week of the finals after disposing of the Storm, and should be confident against a side that has lost two in a row, and is looking very shellshocked heading into the finals.
Tim Lafai, James Graham and Greg Eastwood all performed well for Canterbury, while Melbourne were just too sloppy with call in hand to get any attacking momentum.
Trent Hodkinson led the team around the park well, and after playing a shocker last week, Josh Reynolds bounced back to his aggressive best, with some strong defence and a lot of passion around the park.
Josh Morris is a worry for the ‘Dogs, as he was put on report a chicken wing-style tackle on Sisa Waqa midway through the second half, so we will have to wait and see what comes of that.
It sets up an absolutely fascinating contest next week, and an interesting element to the draw, with the winner of that game going on to face the Panthers, who don’t seem to know how to lose recently.
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