It’s been a tough and close competition in 2014. The final ladder for this year’s premiership saw only a few points separating the minor premiers from the rest of the final eight.
Some teams fell into the finals, others barged their way in and some spent much of the season there.
There has been some interesting talk about the teams who deserved to be in the finals and the teams who did not. This talk has of course extended to the grand final and much ink has been spilled on the merits or otherwise of the the Rabbitohs’ and Bulldogs’ claims to this year’s premiership title.
Earlier in the year, last year’s premiers, the Roosters, were struggling. Their performances were average and many were quick to trot out the line of the difficulty in chasing back to back premierships. Once they clicked into gear, however, many switched to the view that if any team could claim back to back titles, the Roosters could.
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They had wealthy backers, were full of representative players, were a foundation club and so on. Suddenly, their early poor form meant nothing.
Manly finished equal first on the ladder with the aforementioned Roosters. They too, struggled for periods of the season, especially the latter half as talks of internal troubles with the club surfaced. But they still won many of these matches and the general consensus was that if any team could get over their internal squabbles and win the title, it would be Manly. Suddenly, their ho hum form was somehow proof that they could do it.
Well, these two teams are gone now. And if sense were to prevail, so too the theories surrounding their right to the title.
In fact, the only teams that can claim any kind of right to a premiership are the teams that qualify for the finals. And out of those teams that do qualify, the only teams that have any right to the title are the two teams that actually make the grand final.
Whatever potential a team may have displayed during the previous 26 rounds means absolutely nothing if they do not make the finals. Those 26 rounds are simply a chance to collect enough points to play in the finals. Most teams show glimpses of potential during those 26 rounds but that’s all it is, potential.
If a team limps into the finals, it means that they had enough in them at some earlier stage of the year to make up for their later poor form. Conversely, a team can fumble around for most of the season, get its act together when it counts and barge their way into the finals.
Let’s not forget the quiet achievers who play consistently reasonable football over the premiership rounds and ‘sneak’ in that way.
In all cases, the teams who qualify deserve to be there. And that is as it should be.
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