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While the phenomena of second-year syndrome has been plaguing sophomore speedsters since Luke Patten was a boy, the emergence of NRL finals second week slump is something that has become more apparent to footy fans over the years.
To put it simply the second week of the top eight finals system is the hardest to sell.
The first week everything is shiny and “Geez Rabbits it’s finalsssss!,” the third week has all the drama of playing to get into the big one, and the fourth week has interpretive dance numbers and footy players being driven around on the back of utes.
The second week though? It’s a bit like the stop you make to your estranged Great Uncle Neville’s place on Christmas Day in between opening your presents and going to the big lunch with the entire family.
It has to be done, certainly, and is not completely unenjoyable. However often it’s a somewhat impatient wait for bigger and better things as you try to muster suitable enthusiasm when Nev buys you another Brut 33 gift pack to line the back of your cupboard with.
For mine the enjoyment factor of this weekend’s rugby league all hinges on the performance of one team, the Newcastle Knights.
Manly versus Cronulla? This will be a tough contest between two hard-ass teams, and there’s enough history between the two clubs to at least get some decent grainy montages of blokes going the biff at the SCG. Practically takes care of itself.
But with the Knights at Melbourne I’d be lying if I didn’t say the prospect worries me enough to have my That’s Rugby League DVD on standby just in case.
Like a good custodian of the game, I have dutifully cleared my Saturday evening schedule for the match, and have no doubts that the slick Melbourne Storm machine will be on song for fear of being trapped in a confined dressing room with an irate Craig Bellamy for the second week in a row.
By choosing the fast finishing Knights as opposed to the Storm’s 2012 grand finals nemesis in the Bulldogs, the Football Gods have really gone for a chip kick in their own twenty.
And I’m totally fine with that… provided the Knights put up a fight.
You look at the teams who have had to play against the Storm on their own turf in September, and unless your team knows all the words to ‘Slice of Heaven’ by Dave Dobbin, then the overall record is poor.
Poor in the same way Anthony Watts on-field discipline, or Blake Ferguson’s input at Canberra team meetings could be described as poor.
It’s been a carve up basically.
The talk coming out of the Knights camp this week has been reassuringly positive, as a team they’re managing to peak at the right time and they do still have wily old Wayne pulling the strings.
But a Saturday night blow out will be about as welcome as the next batch of Brut and twice as smelly.
So come on Newcastle, from a neutral’s perspective, make your second week performance a good one.
You ended your own finals slump last week, now it’s time to end ours!
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