Five questions from the NRL preliminary finals

The 2014 NRL grand final is set, with the South Sydney Rabbitohs facing the Canterbury Bulldogs next Sunday to decide who will win this season’s premiership.

Both teams qualified for the grand final by winning their preliminary finals on the weekend, against the Sydney Roosters and Penrith Panthers respectively, and it is from those games that we pose this week’s five questions.

How tough were Souths?
Though there were a number of reasons that the Bunnies beat the Chooks last Friday night, I believe it was their sustained intensity that ultimately proved the difference between the two sides.

Both teams threw everything at each other, but the Bunnies maintained it for almost the full eighty minutes, whereas the Roosters fell away in the second half, and didn’t really lift again until the last ten minutes, when it was all too late.

In fact, it was a little strange to see Sonny Bill Williams, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Sam Moa show their aggression late in the game, when their side was in desperate need of a lift much earlier in the second half. One suspects it may have been born out of frustration, rather than any sense of strategic emotion.

The physicality of the match was State of Origin-like, and in particular, the first forty minutes were brutal. Neither team could be accused of shying away from it.

The powerhouse performance of Souths’ forwards, led by Sam Burgess and Ben Te’o, combined with the sheer class of Greg Inglis, secured a long-awaited grand final berth for the Bunnies, and the chance to win their first premiership in 43 years.

Should Issac Luke be suspended?
No. The still footage doesn’t look great, and I understand there will be outrage if Luke gets off, but I don’t think a player should miss a grand final for that tackle.

The fact Sonny Bill Williams has stated he will do everything he can to ensure Luke isn’t suspended, along with the fact a grand final is at stake, should see the Souths hooker escape suspension, in my humble opinion.

I don’t really care whether that – by the letter of the law – is the right decision. I just don’t want to see a player miss the pinnacle of his career for an incident that had very little in it. Keep in mind, that’s coming from a Bulldogs fan.

How did the minor premiers fail to make back-to-back grand finals?
Considering I’ve already outlined that the main reason the Bunnies won is because they sustained their physical intensity, it would be a bit strange to blame the Roosters coach for his team’s loss.

So I won’t.

Trent Robinson probably should have gotten some of his forwards a little more rest – considering how tough the game was – but his hands were tied a little by the concussion to Frank-Paul Nu’uausala.

To be honest, it was just one of those nights for the Roosters. They got very little love from the referees, had a try disallowed, made 11 errors, conceded 10 penalties, missed 38 tackles and had a completion rate of just 68 per cent.

They also looked very tired in the second half. A brutal first forty minutes certainly took its toll, but it was more than just that.

The loss to Penrith in the opening round of the finals meant the Roosters didn’t get a desperately needed week off, and the emotion of last week’s game versus the Cowboys, combined with the extra effort required to win back-to-back premierships, all caught up with the Roosters. They appeared physically and mentally fatigued.

The big calls and the big plays went Souths way all night, and when you add the Bunnies’ ferocity and some Greg Inglis magic, it was all just too much to overcome for the Chooks. I honestly don’t think it was much more complex than that.

Which grand final combatant will miss their hooker more?
Assuming that Issac Luke is suspended and Michael Ennis cannot overcome the fractures in his foot, both teams will be without their number nine for the grand final.

Hooker is obviously a vital position, and the absence of both players will be felt by their clubs, but who out of the Bunnies and Dogs will feel the potential loss more?

Personally, I believe it’s the Rabbitohs. I honestly think that Luke is Souths’ most important player. Perhaps not more important than Greg Inglis and Sam Burgess, but at the very least, of equal significance.

With all due respect to Cameron Smith, Luke was the NRL’s best hooker this year, and so much of what the Bunnies do in attack is based upon their rake’s game. His service from dummy half is brilliant, and his probing runs are a large weapon in Souths’ arsenal.

If he is suspended, Souths chances of winning the premiership are greatly diminished.

If Michael Ennis is ruled out via injury, the Dogs will certainly miss him. Love him or hate him – and most people fall into the latter category – Ennis is experienced, a superb leader, a very good hooker and a masterful niggler.

His loss will be hard to overcome for Canterbury, but Josh Reynolds looked good when he moved into dummy-half on Saturday night, and to be honest, the position may be Reynolds’ future, as I’m still unconvinced he’s a five-eighth.

Either way, the Dogs have some options up their sleeve, and will be able to better cover what Ennis brings to the table than the Souths will be able to do with Luke. Mind you, this all may be a moot point, as both stars could end up playing. Stranger things have happened.

Who is going to the win the 2014 NRL Premiership?
I’ll go into more detail on this question later in the week, but my heart says the Bulldogs will win the grand final next Sunday.

What does my head say? It’s with far less confidence, but it also says the Doggies.

Souths were brutal on Friday night. Just absolutely brutal. I’ll borrow a line I used to describe the performance of Hawthorn in the AFL grand final, but it’s customary to take someone out for dinner before you do what the Bunnies did to the Chooks on Friday night. It was a punishing display of physicality.

To their credit, the Roosters tried to match them, and it’s for that very reason that I’m picking the Dogs. Friday night will have taken a lot out of the Bunnies, and I think the gruelling encounter against the Roosters will have a damaging effect this week.

Throw in the intense pressure on the Bunnies to finally win a premiership after a very long drought, and I think the Dogs will break many a heart out Redfern way and be crowned the 2014 NRL premiers.

Of course, I would say that, considering I bleed blue and white.