Seven questions from Round 1 of the NRL finals

The first weekend of the NRL finals didn’t disappoint rugby league fans, with plenty of tension, excitement, upsets, controversy and scintillating play.

Though this weekend’s semi-finals can’t come quick enough, there remains plenty to discuss from Round 1 – including the following seven questions.

Are Penrith the real deal?
No. They’re not. They got lucky. They’re not a great side, and they’ve over-achieved this year.

Conversely, perhaps its time I – and many others – finally started to give the Panthers some long overdue credit. After all, they’ve just knocked off the defending premiers – and this season’s minor premiers – who were in pretty good form.

Behind the superb coaching of Ivan Cleary, this is a very good football team. They’re as tough as nails, compete for the full 80 minutes, and every member of the squad knows his role and performs it to the best of their ability. That’s a pretty dangerous combination in finals football, as the Roosters can now attest to.

No mention of the Panthers can go without Jamie Soward. Much-maligned, but unquestionably talented, the little half is a smart footballer, and is thriving on the added responsibility he’s been given at Penrith. Confidence goes a long way to achieving success, and ‘Sowie’ is full of that after his match-winning kicks on Saturday.

Yes, this team is the real deal.

Are the Dogs back?
As impressive as the Dogs win on Sunday was – travelling down to Melbourne and defeating an experienced and talented Storm outfit – it doesn’t erase the memory of the previous eight weeks of poor football.

So let’s not announce the Dogs as back to their competition-leading form from the start of the season just yet.

By the same token, credit where credit is due. Des Hasler had his team ready to play against Melbourne with a simple but effective game plan. He had his big boppers going forward, but looking to get plenty of second phase play by sending two, and sometimes three, support players with them.

James Graham, in particular, was sensational at charging to the defensive line, drawing a number of defenders, and then getting quality ball away. When the Dogs play like that, it somewhat negates the lack of creativity in the halves.

Should the Dogs forward pack continue to dominate – not just through size, but skill – the Dogs will take some serious beating, no matter the opposition.

Is Melbourne’s dynasty over?
Any club with Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk, along with the coaching of Craig Bellamy, is going to be one of the better teams in the competition. That’s just too much talent in one side for it to be anything less than very good.

However, the Storm do need to make some changes in order to maintain the very high standards they have set for themselves.

Personally, I think they need to invest in a high impact, elite-level forward. Their current pack is serviceable; they’re reliable, and do a solid job. However, I think the Storm need a game-breaker up front.

That’s easier said than done though. Great forwards don’t grow on trees, or become free agents very often. Nor do they come cheap. Yet if the Storm want to compete for the premiership in the twilight of the careers of the Big Three, they need to somehow add some punch to their pack.

Should the Roosters be worried?
The Roosters suffered a shock loss to the Panthers on Saturday, and now face a red-hot Cowboys team this Friday night, so you could understand if the hands were hovering over the panic buttons in Bondi.

Let us be realistic though: the Roosters played pretty well on Saturday night, and save for some Penrith magic at the death, they would currently have their feet up, waiting to see who their opposition would be in the preliminary final. Funny things happen in rugby league, and the Chooks were on the wrong end of it on the weekend.

As for facing North Queensland this week, it’s the NRL finals – you’re only going to face quality opposition at this time of the year. As such, there is no point panicking about facing an in-form team, because the reality is that you should be.

The Roosters need not be worried, but they do need to be well prepared, because Johnathan Thurston has his Cowboys scoring tries for fun, and the team is full of momentum, two valuable assets at this time of the year.

Did South exorcise some finals demons against Manly?
Unfortunately, beating an extremely poor Manly in week one of the finals is not what Souths’ season is going to be judged upon.

As impressive as they were against the Sea Eagles – and make no mistake about it, they were extremely impressive – the Bunnies and their fans know that it’s ‘premiership or bust’ this year.

They’ll take a lot of confidence out of their performance against the Sea Eagles, but their finals demons will only be exorcised with a preliminary finals win, if not the premiership.

Was Tariq Sims tackle really that bad?
I honestly think there was nothing in this tackle. I know Hodges was injured, and anytime a player is hurt, it’s not a good thing. However, rugby league is a contact sport played by big, athletic individuals. Collisions are going to happen, and just because somebody gets hurt, that doesn’t automatically mean someone else is at fault.

Having looked at the footage a number of times, I think Sims was committed to running in Hodges’ direction, and his momentum carried him into the Brisbane fullback after he had passed the ball.

Some have argued he had plenty of time to pull out of the contact, but he’s a big boy, running at pace. It’s not as easy to change direction or stop as one would think. I don’t think it was a shoulder charge, I think Sims was simply bracing himself for the inevitable contact.

Forget a five to seven-week suspension; I don’t think it was even a penalty.

Should Manly clean house and start again?
The Sea Eagles are a proud club that has had a very successful run with a core group of players over a number of years. Yet based on their performances over the last six weeks, culminating in their horrible effort against Souths on Friday night, perhaps it’s time to commence a rebuild.

Sure their season isn’t even over yet, but a fish rots from the head, and I believe the in-fighting on the Manly board has played a large role in the club gradually falling apart this year. The whole board should be replaced with individuals who put the club first, and personal agendas second.

The changes shouldn’t stop there.

It’s been reported that Steve Matai, Brett Stewart and Anthony Watmough have all asked for a release at various times this season, despite being contracted to the club for next season. It’s a big call, but Manly could do a lot worse than letting them out of their contracts this off-season.

I’m not convinced said players are 100 per cent happy at, or committed to, the club. Considering their age, salaries, and connection to the already departed Glenn Stewart, it would seem to be a mutually beneficial decision to all part ways.

With Daly Cherry-Evans and Keiran Foran, Manly has a solid foundation to rebuild upon and I doubt they’d been down for every long, if at all. However, it is time for changes, because something is definitely rotten in the state of Denmark … er, Brookvale.