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Last night’s decider was the best grand final in a decade. And, even better, as fans we’ll get to argue about it for any decades to come.
It takes many things to make a great game of rugby league. Big hits, spectacular tries, stirring feats of skill and bravery.
And look these are nice and all, however they mean nothing unless they are mixed in with a healthy dose of controversy and some “Mate are your flippin’ eyes painted on!?!”
For mine this is where the 2013 grand final really managed to give 110% and full credit to the boys, by throwing up some absolute Barney beauties to haggle over on a dull day.
Say hello to the following argument for the off season!
JWH head butt
Let’s start with a nice little one. And little it was.
In a game loaded with angry blokes Waera-Hargreaves looked the angriest, and in the end was the only player who could be convicted of more than a grade three shoving offence.
There’s little doubt that this match would have featured at least one all-in brawl pre punching ban, but it was for the best that the refs let this love tap slide I think everyone bar Justin Horo will agree.
Jamie Lyon penalty try
Ok, now let’s get serious.
In all of rugby league there is no ruling that fans the flames of disagreement like the penalty try.
The majority of the ones that are given however do seem to come from a situation where a kick chaser is taken out on way to the ball.
Which sort of makes it hard, because if a ball is rolling there’s never a 100% guarantee that the chaser is going to ground it correctly.
The fact that Manly ended up losing probably dampens the controversy a bit in this instance thankfully for the NRL, which is not to say Jamie Ainscough still didn’t cry himself to sleep last night.
Maloney’s pass to SKD
Ahh the forward pass, the unsolvable riddle of rugby league.
At first it looks marginal, then from sky cam it looks blatant, then ok from the side, but his hands are facing backwards….
I once read a yarn about how good looking people were less likely to get speeding tickets.
Kenny Dowell’s try was pretty damn sexy, and I don’t think the officials were ever going to pull it up.
Was a huge turning point however and the one that will haunt the Sea Eagles.
The Williams
In the end it was the Williams who got the Roosters over the line. That is, Sydney’s Sonny Bill and Manly’s David.
After not being sighted in the first half SBW made a couple of busts that led to tries and turned the momentum of the game when the DJ was dusting off his Daddy Cool Records.
As for the Wolfman though…geez, what a pooch. Not contesting the Roosters first try, dropping the (albeit difficult) pass from Lyon and then letting Michael Jennings sneak in for the sealer, not a good look.
You never want to pin a loss on one bloke, but when you go through the rest of the Manly team you’d say most of them played pretty well, meaning Williams might want to lay low for a while.
Or alternatively just shave the beard and get a haircut and voila! Perfect disguise.
DCE Man of the match
The last man to win the Churchill medal from a losing team was Brad Mackay in 1993.
Daly Cherry Evans played his junior footy in Mackay.
Mackay just won the Queensland Cup.
In the words of Wade Graham I probably don’t have to draw you a picture, and the code is clearly gripped by some form of Mackay conspiracy.
Well, either that or Cherry-Evans was the best half on the ground, looked dangerous for most of the match and the selectors wanted to calm down Geoff Toovey a bit
Can’t really argue with them there, can you?
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