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The minor premiership will be decided between the Melbourne Storm and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks when the top two teams in the NRL go head-to-head at AAMI Park this Saturday night.
The Storm’s 26-16 loss to the Brisbane Broncos, coupled with the Sharks’ 37-12 win over the Sydney Roosters, has seen the gap between the two sides on the ladder reduced to just one point with only one round to play in the regular season before the finals start next weekend.
Both the Storm and Sharks have been the standout teams this season and could even be seen as the preview to this year’s grand final, which hasn’t been contested by teams one and two since 2012.
Every year since the club’s 2012 premiership win, many have predicted the Storm would slowly regress, as past premiership teams have before them.
But if anything, the Melbourne Storm have proven their detractors wrong, even with Billy Slater sitting out all but one match of the 2016 season due to complications arising from shoulder surgery which he underwent last year.
In his absence, Cameron Munster has performed admirably well and looms as the logical choice to replace Slater in the number one guernsey when the incumbent Maroons and Australian fullback eventually hangs up the boots.
Cameron Smith has once again led by example for the Storm this season, despite an incident last week against the Broncos in which he was marched ten metres for arguing with the referee.
On the other hand, the Sharks have emerged as premiership contenders two years after the horrors of the ASADA scandal saw the club finish the 2014 season with the wooden spoon.
Shane Flanagan’s men compiled a club-record 15-match winning streak between rounds four and twenty inclusive, starting with a 14-6 win over the Storm at home. Wins over the Raiders, Broncos and Cowboys were also part of the streak.
In recent weeks, however, the club hit a skid with a draw against the Titans followed by losses to the Raiders, Dragons and Rabbitohs, before bouncing back to beat the Roosters 37-12 last week.
Their impressive run this season has been attributed to the form of Ben Barba, who after a couple of lean years has rediscovered the magic that saw him win the Dally M Medal and lead the Bulldogs to the grand final in 2012.
Veterans Paul Gallen, Michael Ennis and Wade Graham have also played their part, as has winger Valentine Holmes, who could’ve made his Origin debut for Queensland this year had he not broken a curfew during an Emerging Maroons camp in January.
The club would also love for nothing more than to send Ennis out a premiership winner, the veteran hooker having announced that he would retire at the end of the season.
He missed the Brisbane Broncos’ 2006 premiership win after suffering a knee injury early that season, while he led the Bulldogs to the 2012 decider for a 14-4 loss to the Melbourne Storm.
He also missed the Bulldogs’ grand final loss to the Rabbitohs in 2014 after injuring his foot in the preceding preliminary final match against the Panthers.
Additionally, the Sharks’ lack of success is well-documented – in half a century of existence the club has not won a premiership but have finished minor premiers twice, failing to reach the grand final on both occasions.
While the minor premiership is on the line this Saturday night, the Sharks continue to insist that winning the ultimate prize is more of a priority than finishing on top of the ladder, which if they do will be the first time since 1999 that it has happened.
Even if it means finishing third, and having to travel to Canberra in the first week of the finals series, so be it.
Only the North Queensland Cowboys (last year) have won the premiership after losing their first final, on the road no less, since the current finals system was brought into effect in 2012.
With no AFL matches being played in Melbourne this weekend due to that league holding their pre-finals bye, the Storm will be hoping for a huge home crowd as they attempt to secure just their second minor premiership, and first since 2011.
The club even took the step of holding one of their press conferences this week at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to expose this flaw, while also promoting 50 per cent off discounts for reserved seat ticket prices to members of any AFL club.
The battle for top spot between the Storm and Sharks is only part of what shapes as a blockbuster final round of the NRL, with the final berth in September also to be decided this weekend.
The Titans are precariously clinging onto eighth place on the ladder and must beat the Cowboys in Townsville on Saturday afternoon to be assured of their first finals berth in six years.
It will not come easy, with the Cowboys not only having won their past two matches to be sitting in fourth place on the ladder, but will also be desperate to lock up the double chance, with both the Broncos and Bulldogs chasing their tails.
The Broncos face the Roosters, who won their previous meeting 32-16 late last month, at Suncorp Stadium tomorrow night while the Bulldogs play the Rabbitohs at ANZ Stadium on the Friday night.
A loss for either side will rule them out of the running for the double chance, but the stakes will be high in the Bulldogs’ case – if they are beaten by the Rabbitohs, then the Panthers will have the chance to overtake them by beating the Sea Eagles.
If both the Broncos and Bulldogs lose their matches, then the Cowboys will enter their match against the Titans knowing their ladder position cannot change, however, they will face a side desperate to make the finals for the first time since 2010, guaranteeing coach Neil Henry’s future in the short term.
Only the Storm, Sharks and Raiders are assured of the double chance entering Round 26, with the order in which they will finish to be decided over the weekend.
Should the Titans beat the Cowboys, then the Wests Tigers, the only other team still in contention for a finals berth, will be playing for pride when they welcome the Raiders to Leichhardt Oval on Sunday afternoon.
Otherwise, the Tigers can overtake the Titans if they beat the Raiders, who will have the chance to play for second place on the ladder if the Sharks are beaten by the Storm in the aforementioned minor premiership decider on Saturday night.
And so, all is set for what should be a blockbuster finish to the regular season, highlighted by the showdown for top spot between the Storm and Sharks in Melbourne on Saturday night.
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