It was the weekend for the feathered mascots with the Eagles, Hawks and Roosters getting up. This now sets up a re-match of the game of the year from two weeks ago when Easts triumphed 4-0.
How did we get to it? Let’s review the two grand final qualifiers.
Souths versus Manly
Two words sum up this game. Experience counts.
We’ve been reading the stories all week that Manly were out on their feet and all a rested Souths had to do was turn up to win through to their first grand final since 1971.
Everything was going according to script for 10 minutes at least, as Souths came bolting out of the gates, rushing to a 14-0 lead.
The other 70 went slightly awry, with no more points to be found until the last minute.
It felt like Souths assumed Manly would roll over and give up like they did last when they were whipped 40-12 by Melbourne on the same stage last year. No such luck.
Souths will say they lost as a team, but I’m going to lay it all at the feet of the unfortunate Bryson Goodwin, who was reportedly in doubt for the game and had Matt King training in his place.
For Souths, it would have been better if Bryson hadn’t been passed fit and I suspect he won’t be keen to watch the replay.
The Manly comeback started with Goodwin attempting a sketchy offload inside his own half that resulted in a knock on and easy possession back to Manly in good field position.
From the ensuing set it was Goodwin that was beaten to the ball by Brett Stewart from Glenn Stewart’s grubber for Manly’s opening try.
Manly’s second four-pointer saw the simplest of tries to Matt Ballin, who walked into a massive gap from a one off the ruck pass from Brett Stewart.
Who was the Souths player not numbering up and came in on Stewart when he should have stayed out? Bryson…
Manly’s third try; Jamie Lyon burst through a tackle to score a pretty simple try. The tackler that he took over the line? That bloke Bryson again.
What about David Williams’ freakish put down before being pushed out? Glad you asked.
Brett Stewart was tackled in what was an ineffectual tackle, which allowed him to throw the pass out to Williams, who went over to score. Whose ineffectual tackle? Bryson.
I couldn’t detect any influence Bryson had on Adam Reynolds’ charge down that led to Manly’s other try, so we can’t pin him with that one.
There were also many mentions during the broadcast that it was the birthday of Dylan Walker – who, at 19 years old, looked out of his depth and overawed by the occasion.
At the end of the first half Souths desperately withstood 12 tackles inside their own 20 yard line, and forced a bad pass from Manly that ended on the ground.
Instead of diving on the ball and securing possession, which at that stage was worth more than gold, Walker attempted to do the heroic thing and pick the ball up at speed.
He failed – fumbled it back to Manly for yet another set of six.
It didn’t cost them, as Manly coughed the ball up, but was a clear sign Walker’s head wasn’t in the game.
Later in the second half, Walker caught the ball on the try line and ran back into his in goal and tried to run around the defenders rather than risk a heavy collision forcing it back into the field of play, which gave Manly more possession at a time where Souths really needed the ball.
This is Walker’s first year and I’m sure he’ll learn, but you wouldn’t see experienced campaigners like Steve Matai or Jamie Lyon making the same mistakes.
In the end, Manly had too much big match experience for the Rabbitohs and killed off the possibility of the Monty Python grand final (Knights versus Rabbits), and Souths will have gained some significant mental scars from this one.
They didn’t choke quite as badly as the New Zealand America’s Cup boat, but it must be up there on the Greg Norman scale.
While I may be struck down for saying it, the performance of Adam Reynolds in this big game may have been the best advertisement for keeping Mitchell Pearce for NSW.
It was also another embarrassing black eye for the NRL, with ANZ Stadium managing to be just over half full, for a match one game away from the grand final between two Sydney teams.
Manly fans continue to refuse to leave the Northern Beaches and there have been a number of reasons given for their reluctance.
Just before the finals there was research done that reported South Sydney supporters have a higher personal income per capita that Manly fans, so perhaps they can’t afford the bridge toll?
Or perhaps another reason was given by the judge in the case of Origin streaker Wati Holmwood, who said, “It may merely be a reflection of the people who go to the football … it may suggest they’re not the most intelligent members of the community.”
Seems like the judge is saying that Manly fans might be too stupid to find their way home.
Easts versus Newcastle
The battle of the red, white and blues.
The Roosters had the less-than-perfect preparation despite the week off, having to deal with the drug rumours, then Luke O’Donnell was ruled out the day before the game and Sonny Bill Williams was rumoured to be questionable after a bout of illness.
The result of the game was in the bag after 20 minutes when the score was still 2-2.
Last week Joey Leilua ran in and gave Jordan McLean a gobful as he lay prone on the field injured. This week Danny Buderus lay prone on the field after being knocked out, and Roosters players rushed in and sought to place Buderus in the recovery position, then clapped him off the field.
The football gods smiled on the display of sportsmanship and shone their favour upon them.
The football gods covered their ears, however, when multiple commentators reported on the Buderus’ condition by saying he was “OK”, and he was only knocked out for three minutes.
Granted the “only” was in the context of ‘lucky he hasn’t broken his neck’, but being knocked out for that long is still a serious injury.
After a long and distinguished career, it’s not the way Buderus deserved to end his last match.
With the football gods on the side of the Roosters, they didn’t really need the referees to be on their side as well.
The pass from SBW to Dylan Napa was well forward for the Roosters’ second try and the two times Newcastle made line breaks and put Easts under pressure in the first half, the Roosters gave away a cynical penalty to give their defence the chance to re-group.
It is their obvious intention and both occasions deserved a stint in the sin-bin.
In comparison, the Roosters made a long break in the second half, Newcastle allowed the play the ball and the Roosters scored against the broken defensive line on the next play.
Newcastle have to learn to cheat better.
The game turned into one way traffic, before some Newcastle face-saving in garbage time and the fairy tale came to an end for the Knights in a season where you would have to say they over achieved.
At least Nathan Tinkler got some return on his investment in Wayne Bennett.
That’s how I saw it from the couch. Let me know what you thought in the comments section below.
Follow Julian on Twitter @Armchair_Guru
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