Come Sunday evening it will all be over. 30 weeks of competition will come to an end with one team holding the Provan-Summons trophy aloft.
For the other 15 teams it will be back to the drawing board to plan their assault on the 2014 Premiership.
The minor-premiership winning Sydney Roosters will face-off against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. They have faced each other three times this season with the Roosters running out victors on every occasion.
The two clubs have faced off only once before in a grand final.
In 1972 Manly ran out winners over Eastern Suburbs 19-14. That grand final is now in the history books, committed to the yellowing pages of time.
41 years on and these teams do battle for the greatest rugby league prize on offer once more. Their last encounter pitted the Brookvale wall against the wall of Bondi Junction. The Roosters escaped with a narrow 4-0 win.
Some experts have already begun labelling this match as possibly one of the greatest of all time. Both teams offer scintillating attack. Manly boast the likes of Glenn Stewart, Kieran Foran, Daly Cherry-Evans, Jamie Lyon, Jorge Taufua and Brett Stewart.
The Roosters contain an equally impressive attacking ability with Sonny Bill Williams, James Maloney, Mitchell Pearce, Michael Jennings, Daniel Tupou and Anthony Minichello.
With each team boasting such great attacks one would have to pose the question, could we see another try-less grand final? Will each team be so hell bent on preventing the opposition from scoring that no one crosses the stripe?
The one and only try-less grand final was played between Parramatta and Canterbury in 1986 with Michael Cronin’s boot allowing the Eels to slip away with a 4-2 win and their most recent premiership.
Or will it be a case of defence left at the door? Each team trying to out-score the other in what would be a try-fest.
Manly have already shown that they’re tough and ready for a scrap. The ingrained us-vs-them mentality has allowed the Silvertails to develop the mental toughness needed to win the big matches.
However, their slow start against the Rabbitohs almost cost them an appearance on Sunday, trailing 14-0 early on. They must be sure not to make the same mistake against the Roosters, who will be sure to cash in on any early advantage.
Six Manly players: Jamie Lyon, Brett Stewart, Glenn Stewart, Brent Kite, Steve Matai and Anthony Watmough, will play in a record fourth grand final alongside each other.
They are the first Manly players to achieve the feat.
In terms of experience, Manly appear to have the edge.
Five of those players above have already played in three deciders with Jamie Lyon having an extra appearance in 2001 with the Eels.
Halves Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans will be playing in their second grand final.
The Roosters were forced to release a lot of their experience after the 2010 grand final but still boast plenty of big match players. Anthony Minichello has played five previous grand finals for the Roosters but has won just the one premiership.
The other Roosters to have grand final appearances in the tri-colour jersey are Mitchell Pearce, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Jake Friend, Mitchell Aubusson, Frank-Paul Nu’uausala and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
While five-eighth James Maloney has a grand final appearance for the Warriors against Manly and Daniel Mortimer has a grand final appearance for Parramatta. Sonny Bill Williams has won a premiership in 2004 with the Bulldogs against the Roosters.
Manly will look to win by attrition. Carting the ball up strongly with heavy hits in defence. They’ll then go wide, using the Stewart brothers, Cherry-Evans, Jamie Lyon and Jorge Taufua.
That right-side play for Manly has a number of variants with Cherry-Evans opting to run himself, Glenn Stewart kicking for his brother/winger, Brett Stewart taking the line on or Jamie Lyon trying to get outside his man and either score himself or put Taufua over in the corner.
The odd chip-kick from Cherry-Evans or Foran for Brett Stewart wouldn’t be amiss either. The terrific kicking game of Manly’s halves goes without saying.
The Roosters will try to do what they’ve done all year and it worked especially well against the Knights. Both Friend and Mortimer have speed out of dummy-half. Friend will start the match and given any opportunity he’ll take full advantage of the space offered.
After an opening softening up period expect the ball to be spun to Sonny Bill with room to move. He wasn’t at full fitness last week but still caused plenty of problems for Newcastle, racking up six offloads.
Jennings profited from Sonny Bill Williams’s efforts, his strength and speed on the edges makes for a good battle between himself and Steve Matai.
Expect Maloney and Pearce to try and pick out Daniel Tupou with cross-field bombs, the youngsters height makes him a big target and a handful for the Sea Eagles defence.
Shaun Kenny-Dowall will have his work cut-out for him given he lines up against the dangerous and experienced Jamie Lyon. Lyon was yesterday named the Dally M Centre of the Year and has been at his best this season.
If both teams turn up and prepared to stand toe-to-toe we’ll be in a for a terrific grand final. Hopefully we’ll see some scintillating attack, bone-crushing defence and some toughness from yesteryear.
My tip? Well my tipping so far this finals series has been abysmal. I got nothing right last week.
But I like the Roosters. I feel their speed in attack and the amount of superstars they have will be able to over-power Manly.
The Sydney Roosters to claim the Premiership 22-16.
Team Line-Ups: Roosters
1. Anthony Minichiello
2. Daniel Tupou
3. Michael Jennings
4. Shaun Kenny-Dowall
5. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
6. James Maloney
7. Mitchell Pearce
8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves
9. Jake Friend
10. Sam Moa
11. Aidan Guerra
12. Sonny Bill Williams
13. Frank-Paul Nuuausala
Interchange
14. Daniel Mortimer
15. Mitchell Aubusson
16. Isaac Liu
17. Dylan Napa
Coach: Trent Robinson
Sea Eagles
1. Brett Stewart
2. Jorge Taufua
3. Jamie Lyon (c)
4. Steve Matai
5. David Williams
6. Kieran Foran
7. Daly Cherry-Evans
8. Brenton Lawrence
9. Matt Ballin
10. Brent Kite
11. Anthony Watmough
12. Justin Horo
13. Glenn Stewart
Interchange
14. David Gower
15. Jamie Buhrer
16. Tom Symonds
17. George Rose
18. James Hasson
19. Peta Hiku
Coach:Geoff Toovey
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Anzac Round is done and another NRL touchpoint is ticked off amid the onward march of the 2024 season. It helps to see things…
Manly have been slammed by the judiciary with both Daly Cherry-Evans and Haumole Olakau'atu charged for two weeks for their part in a dangerous…
Brad Arthur believed Tom Trbojevic was offside before Will Penisini was binned for a professional foul. Brad Fittler confirmed Penisini was unlucky
Clint Gutherson showed his frustration at the press conference, shaking his head when asked about Sivo's brain explosion.
This can't have been a lot of fun for Brad and Gutho!
Brad Arthur must wonder what he has to say to his team anymore. With his job under huge pressure, his Parramatta side managed to…
