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Five talking points from Cronulla Sharks vs North Queensland Cowboys NRL preliminary final

23rd September, 2016
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The Sharks have won their first ever NRL grand final, defeating the Storm by two points. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
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23rd September, 2016
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The Cronulla Sharks are through to the NRL grand-final after a thumping 12-point win over the North Queensland Cowboys in the first NRL preliminary final.

There was no question that last week’s match against the Brisbane Broncos badly hurt the Cowboys in terms of fatigue, and they simply never got into the preliminary final as the Sharks blew them off the park.

Here are The Roar‘s talking points from the match.

Will a team go back-to-back again any time soon?
With the North Queensland Cowboys being knocked out at the penultimate hurdle this season, it means another year where the reigning champs have failed to complete a premiership defence.

As a Dragons fan, it hurts to talk about but the last time it happened in a unified competition was way back in 1992-93 when the Brisbane Broncos beat the St George side at the big dance twice in two years.

Every year, we seem to sit here and say this might be the year a side could do it. The Rabbitohs and Roosters have been talked about as likely chances in recent times, and this year it felt we had a real possibility in the Cowboys.

They hadn’t dropped a player from the team that beat the Broncos on grand final day, and were playing good football with the best player in the game.

It just wasn’t to be in the end, and that’s not to say they didn’t have it in them – it’s just that they had to play a grand final intensity match last week and found getting up for another one against a team that spent the whole of last weekend with their feet up too much.

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It really seems that no club in this era is going to go back-to-back though. The trip to England at the start of the year and every team wanting to beat you the next season has a lot to do with it.

Cronulla will need more from their bench next Sunday
Before you all tell me the bleeding obvious in that Cronulla’s bench wasn’t needed much in this preliminary final anyway, there is an issue here.

The Sharks really lost their focus at the back end of the game, and with a backline player coming off the bench.

Whether they are playing the Raiders or Storm, both of those teams will dominate a side who is down a forward, or at the very least a player who will play through the middle of the park and tackle hard, helping with controlling the ruck among other things.

While the Sharks forwards know how to role up their sleeves and play big minutes, the key next Sunday will be getting the most out of every minute on the field which could reduce some minutes from certain players, with eyes on Matt Prior and Andrew Fifita specifically.

The bottom line is, to match it with either of those sides intensity has to be high for the whole 80 minutes which raises the importance of the bench ten fold.

Luke Capewell and Chris Heighington, so long as there are no team changes, are going to need to follow the lead of Jason Bukuya and really dig in, playing longer minutes at a higher intensity.

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Is this the Sharks only chance at a premiership with their current roster?
While Michael Ennis wouldn’t have been rated in the best couple of players on Friday night, he is the main reason the Sharks have gone as well as they have this year, getting all the way to the first Sunday in October.

The answer is yes. Ennis is hanging up the boots at the end of the year, and it doesn’t matter what hooker the Sharks may be signing or have coming through their junior ranks – they won’t be providing the same output as him.

If James Maloney fires, the Sharks are a strong chance
The kicking game of Maloney is imperative to the Sharks’ chances next weekend.

While he must be supported well by Michael Ennis and Chad Townsend, he is the key man. If he kicks the ball well, it will give their forwards a leg up, and will also aid the running game of Ennis and Townsend.

If they don’t feel under as much pressure to be kicking all the time, it allows them to be a lot less predictable which is important for the Sharks.

Unpredictability brings in the threat of missing marker defence, or offloads, a scary proposition with Siosaia Feki, Valentine Holmes, Jack Bird and Ricky Leutele all in-form and manning the flanks.

Maloney is the experienced half for Cronulla, and when it comes to the big one, he is even more so. Maloney’s kicking game, similar to that of Cooper Cronk or Aiden Sezer must be pin point perfect next weekend, with the decision-making process also strong.

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Was that the end of the Cowboys premiership window?
As much as the Cowboys will still be competitive next year, the chances of winning a premiership are starting to flicker.

Before you tell me they got to within a stone’s throw of the big game this year, hear me out. Johnathan Thurston is getting on, and let’s face facts – without him the Cowboys would be nothing more than a reasonably competitive team on the cusp, more than likely just inside the top eight.

Now, with Thurston getting on in age the chance of injury gets higher, but also the chance of him not being able to deliver at the level he has over the last couple of seasons that has propelled him to best-in-the-world status.

While the likes of Michael Morgan and Lachlan Coote are very good players in their own right, it’s impossible to replace Thurston. He is the gel that brings it all together in Townsville.

Whether it’s helping young second rowers play out of their skin – and just look at Coen Hess as the prime example – or keeping their outside backs firing, and even the combination between the creative players, it all goes through Thurston.

There have been signs throughout the back end of the season since Origin, and during the finals series, that the cracks are starting to show.

While he dealt with the pressure well against the Broncos, he had a very sub-standard first 70 minutes, and again against the Sharks he seemed to struggle – and yes his side was under pressure, but he made some errors very much unlike him.

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The Cowboys aren’t complete write-offs, but they won’t be in my tip sheet for the grand final next season.

Roarers, what did you make of the game? Let us know by dropping a comment in the section below.

Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde

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