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Only four teams remain in the race to win this year’s NRL premiership, with the Melbourne Storm and Sydney Roosters set to start favourites to progress to next Sunday night’s grand final.
Both clubs have had the week off following hard-fought wins over the Parramatta Eels and Brisbane Broncos in their respective qualifying finals, and now face Queensland opposition in this weekend’s preliminary finals.
The four clubs left in this year’s premiership race are exactly the same as just two years ago; though for the Storm and Cowboys this is the third consecutive year that they have lasted this far.
As if losing the ‘unloseable’ State of Origin series this year wasn’t enough, New South Wales rugby league fans could face the ultimate embarrassment if it ends up being yet another all-Queensland grand final, as it was in 2015.
Thus, local fans have been urged to back the Bondi-based Roosters, who remain as the only hope the state has of premiership glory in 2017.
Here is your ultimate preview to this weekend’s two preliminary finals.
[1] Melbourne Storm versus [3] Brisbane Broncos
Friday, September 22
7:55pm
AAMI Park
Last meeting in a final: Storm 40-10 at Etihad Stadium, first preliminary final, 2009.
This season: Storm 14-12 at AAMI Park, Round 3; Storm 42-12 at Suncorp Stadium, Round 17.
Once again the Melbourne Storm has proven to be the most consistent club of the regular season, taking out their second consecutive minor premiership and finishing three wins clear of the second-best team, the Sydney Roosters.
After narrowly defeating the Parramatta Eels by 18-16 in their first qualifying final, only the Brisbane Broncos stand in the way of them reaching their seventh grand final since the start of the 2006 season.
The win over the Eels, who have crashed out in straight sets, was the perfect way for Cameron Smith to mark his record-breaking 356th NRL game, taking him past Darren Lockyer for most NRL games ever played.
And at the rate in which he is going, there is every chance he could break the 400-game barrier late in the 2019 season, provided he plays every game between now and then and does decide to go that far in his career.
Friday night’s clash against the Broncos will also mark the final home game in Melbourne for Cooper Cronk, with his future after this year still undecided following his decision to move closer to his Sydney-based wife, Tara Rushton.
While the motivation will be there, the Broncos will also have their own incentives to win through to the grand final as they seek to end what is the longest premiership drought in their history.
Captain Darius Boyd is expected to return for the northeners after missing the past two weeks due to a hamstring injury, as well as mourning the death of his grandmother earlier this week.
The custodian certainly could’ve been the difference between the Broncos hosting a preliminary final in front of over 50,000 fans at Suncorp Stadium or facing the NRL’s toughest task, playing the Storm in Melbourne, this week.
Without their captain, the Broncos fumbled their way through a 24-22 loss to the Roosters in the qualifying final before righting the ship with a gutsy 13-6 win over the Panthers at home in last Friday night’s semi-final.
The preliminary final match against the Storm could be the last for Ben Hunt in Broncos colours before he moves to the St George Illawarra Dragons on a five-year deal in 2018.
Travelling to Melbourne, however, should not hold any fears for the Broncos as they have emerged from the AFL capital victorious on two of the last three occasions.
They may have also lost five of six finals matches against the Storm between 2004 and 2009 inclusive, but the odd one out was the match that mattered the most – and that was the 2006 grand final.
So, can the Broncos reverse their poor finals record against the Storm, or will Craig Bellamy’s men ride the support of their fans through to yet another grand final?
For the winner: For the Storm, a berth in their seventh grand final since 2006 and eighth overall, or for the Broncos their second grand final berth in three seasons and also eighth overall.
For the loser: Season over.
Prediction: Storm by 10 points.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
[2] Sydney Roosters versus [8] North Queensland Cowboys
Saturday, September 23
7:40pm
Allianz Stadium
Last meeting in a final: Roosters 31-30 at Allianz Stadium, first semi-final, 2014.
This season: Roosters 22-16 at Allianz Stadium, Round 21.
All the pressure will be on the Sydney Roosters in the other preliminary final on Saturday night to ensure that there will be a Sydney-based side represented in this year’s NRL grand final.
The second week elimination of the Eels and Panthers, both at the hands of Queensland opposition, leaves the Bondi-based Chooks as the only hope New South Wales fans have of premiership glory this year.
Trent Robinson’s men found themselves in this same position two years ago, when they were the only local side remaining alongside the Storm, Broncos and Cowboys.
Ultimately, they went down to the Broncos by 31-12 at Suncorp Stadium, and following the Cowboys’ win over the Storm it guaranteed that the trophy would head north for the first time since 2006.
This time around, though, the Roosters are in a better position after having won its qualifying final against the Broncos by 24-22, the result earning them a bye into the preliminary final.
There, they will face the Cowboys in what will be a repeat of the 2004 preliminary final, where the then-Ricky Stuart-coached side won by 19-16 – ending what was a fairytale season for the Townsville-based club.
In their tenth year in the competition, the Cowboys, appearing in their first finals series, turned the finals on its head when they upset the Bulldogs by 30-22 at ANZ Stadium before shutting out the Broncos 10-0 in a final that was moved to Townsville from Sydney in the week leading up to that match.
Thirteen years on, the Cowboys have again made an impact on this year’s finals series after just narrowly finishing in eighth place without both co-captains in Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott.
First, they upset the reigning premiers, the Sharks, by 15-14 after Michael Morgan kicked a field goal in the first period of extra time, then, six days later across the road at ANZ Stadium, they bowled over the Eels to win by 24-16.
Now, this Saturday night, they face another trip to their finals graveyard, Allianz Stadium, where the freshened Roosters await.
Until their win over the Sharks, they had lost six consecutive finals at the ground, at least two of them in controversial fashion, and overall they haven’t beaten the Roosters at the ground since 2010.
The only regular season meeting this year saw the Chooks come from 16-6 down at half-time to win by 22-16, while they also won 22-10 in Round 23 last year despite eventually finishing that season second-last on the ladder.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
The stakes will be high if the Broncos beat the Storm in the previous night’s preliminary final, because if the Cowboys can beat the Roosters, then it will set up a sequel to the 2015 grand final, regarded by many as one of the greatest NRL grand finals in recent history.
Question is, can the Roosters prevent it from happening and keep alive NSW’s hopes of premiership glory this year? Or will the Cowboys’ bandwagon roll on into next week?
For the winner: For the Roosters, a seventh grand final berth since the start of this millennium, or for the Cowboys just their third grand final berth ever and second in the past three seasons.
For the loser: Season over.
Prediction: Roosters by six points.
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