Yeah, sure. You’re kidding. Okay, hear me out on this one. This year was the first time in 10 years where I could watch the NRL finals without feeling nervous.
The Sea Eagles had a great run but all good things come to an end. The games on the whole were excellent, and after the first semi-final between the Broncos and Cowboys most neutral pundits would have taken that match as the decider.
This idea was eventually rewarded.
The finals as they say are all about momentum. At the conclusion of the regular season there were really only three teams in contention – the Roosters, Broncos and Cowboys. The top three.
The Roosters and Broncos were probably the form teams, so when the Storm rolled the Roosters in Week 1 of the finals, things didn’t go to script.
That result happened because the team with better momentum at that point was the Storm. They had scraped into fourth spot with absolutely nothing to lose and played their ‘grand final’ in Week 1.
This result changed the dynamic of the NRL finals. Suddenly the two ‘best teams’ were going to be pitted in a semi-final against one another. The Roosters played the extra game they weren’t expecting and never recovered. The Broncos knew that the Roosters semi-final would be a massive game and this did just enough mental damage to their campaign. They credibly held it together for 79 minutes and 50 seconds.
So how did Manly win the Cowboys the comp? Well, in their last game they played the Sharks at Remondis Stadium, and the Sharks were expected to win. History shows they were held out by Manly. That result was a catalyst for the Storm finishing fourth. Without that result the Sharks finish fourth and things could have been very different.
Ifs and buts and buts and ifs. Worth a thought, though.
It is also worth nothing that outgoing Sea Eagles coach Geoff Toovey picked the Cowboys in his last press conference. Here’s hoping the new coach has that level of foresight.
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