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Although the NRL grand final is won on the first Sunday in October, a season’s worth of hard work, form, luck and injuries all play their part in a team getting there.
Here are some reasons why the Sharks will – and won’t – break their 49-year premiership drought, based on more than just the 80 minutes this weekend.
Why they will
1. Jimmy Moloney. It’s no coincidence that the Sharks’ reaching the grand final has come with Moloney’s arrival this season. It’s the third club this tough, crafty playmaker has helped take to a grand final – he was part of the Warriors’ unsuccessful tilt in 2011, and won with the Roosters in 2013.
At 30 years of age, he has both the big match experience and current form to get the Sharks home.
2. They have a better record against teams that finished in the top eight this season. Cronulla played the top eight teams 14 times, for ten wins, a draw and three losses. The Storm played the top eight teams 12 times, for eight wins and four losses.
3. They make more attacking metres in the forwards. Both teams have three players that have averaged more than 100 metres per game this season, but the Sharks’s stats are slightly more impressive – Paul Gallen (175 metres), Andrew Fifita (169) and Wade Graham (123), versus Jesse Bromwich (148), Tohu Harris (133) and Dale Finucane (123) for the Storm.
4. They have more attacking flair in the backs. The Sharks’ backs have scored 79 tries this season to the Storm’s 67.
Why they won’t
1. Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk. These two have proven time and again at national, Origin and club level that they have winning in their DNA.
2. They beat the Sharks 26-6 at AAMI Park in Round 26 just three weeks ago.
3. Defence wins premierships. The Storm’s defence has been the best in the competition this year, conceding an average of just 11 points per game in the regular season. They have maintained this in their two semi final victories, restricting the Cowboys ten points and the Raiders to 12.
Cronulla conceded an average of 16 points a game during the regular season, and in their two semi final games, they conceded 14 against the Raiders and 20 against the Cowboys.
4. The clinical, mistake-free, field position brand of football of the Storm is tailor-made for winning grand finals.
Of course, there is always the wild card of a largely unheralded player having a blinder on grand final day to spearhead their team to victory – think Paul Osborne laying the platform for Canberra’s win in 1994.
That’s the beauty of a grand final. Maybe there is an unsung Cronulla or Storm player who will have a similar impact this weekend and write their name into the history books.
There must also be plenty more reasons why Cronulla will (or won’t) win next Sunday. What do you think?
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