The Cronulla Sharks are through to the NRL grand-final after a thumping 12-point win over the North Queensland Cowboys in the first NRL preliminary final.
There was no question that last week’s match against the Brisbane Broncos badly hurt the Cowboys in terms of fatigue, and they simply never got into the preliminary final as the Sharks blew them off the park.
Here are The Roar‘s talking points from the match.
Will a team go back-to-back again any time soon?
With the North Queensland Cowboys being knocked out at the penultimate hurdle this season, it means another year where the reigning champs have failed to complete a premiership defence.
As a Dragons fan, it hurts to talk about but the last time it happened in a unified competition was way back in 1992-93 when the Brisbane Broncos beat the St George side at the big dance twice in two years.
Every year, we seem to sit here and say this might be the year a side could do it. The Rabbitohs and Roosters have been talked about as likely chances in recent times, and this year it felt we had a real possibility in the Cowboys.
They hadn’t dropped a player from the team that beat the Broncos on grand final day, and were playing good football with the best player in the game.
It just wasn’t to be in the end, and that’s not to say they didn’t have it in them – it’s just that they had to play a grand final intensity match last week and found getting up for another one against a team that spent the whole of last weekend with their feet up too much.
It really seems that no club in this era is going to go back-to-back though. The trip to England at the start of the year and every team wanting to beat you the next season has a lot to do with it.
Cronulla will need more from their bench next Sunday
Before you all tell me the bleeding obvious in that Cronulla’s bench wasn’t needed much in this preliminary final anyway, there is an issue here.
The Sharks really lost their focus at the back end of the game, and with a backline player coming off the bench.
Whether they are playing the Raiders or Storm, both of those teams will dominate a side who is down a forward, or at the very least a player who will play through the middle of the park and tackle hard, helping with controlling the ruck among other things.
While the Sharks forwards know how to role up their sleeves and play big minutes, the key next Sunday will be getting the most out of every minute on the field which could reduce some minutes from certain players, with eyes on Matt Prior and Andrew Fifita specifically.
The bottom line is, to match it with either of those sides intensity has to be high for the whole 80 minutes which raises the importance of the bench ten fold.
Luke Capewell and Chris Heighington, so long as there are no team changes, are going to need to follow the lead of Jason Bukuya and really dig in, playing longer minutes at a higher intensity.
Is this the Sharks only chance at a premiership with their current roster?
While Michael Ennis wouldn’t have been rated in the best couple of players on Friday night, he is the main reason the Sharks have gone as well as they have this year, getting all the way to the first Sunday in October.
The answer is yes. Ennis is hanging up the boots at the end of the year, and it doesn’t matter what hooker the Sharks may be signing or have coming through their junior ranks – they won’t be providing the same output as him.
If James Maloney fires, the Sharks are a strong chance
The kicking game of Maloney is imperative to the Sharks’ chances next weekend.
While he must be supported well by Michael Ennis and Chad Townsend, he is the key man. If he kicks the ball well, it will give their forwards a leg up, and will also aid the running game of Ennis and Townsend.
If they don’t feel under as much pressure to be kicking all the time, it allows them to be a lot less predictable which is important for the Sharks.
Unpredictability brings in the threat of missing marker defence, or offloads, a scary proposition with Siosaia Feki, Valentine Holmes, Jack Bird and Ricky Leutele all in-form and manning the flanks.
Maloney is the experienced half for Cronulla, and when it comes to the big one, he is even more so. Maloney’s kicking game, similar to that of Cooper Cronk or Aiden Sezer must be pin point perfect next weekend, with the decision-making process also strong.
Was that the end of the Cowboys premiership window?
As much as the Cowboys will still be competitive next year, the chances of winning a premiership are starting to flicker.
Before you tell me they got to within a stone’s throw of the big game this year, hear me out. Johnathan Thurston is getting on, and let’s face facts – without him the Cowboys would be nothing more than a reasonably competitive team on the cusp, more than likely just inside the top eight.
Now, with Thurston getting on in age the chance of injury gets higher, but also the chance of him not being able to deliver at the level he has over the last couple of seasons that has propelled him to best-in-the-world status.
While the likes of Michael Morgan and Lachlan Coote are very good players in their own right, it’s impossible to replace Thurston. He is the gel that brings it all together in Townsville.
Whether it’s helping young second rowers play out of their skin – and just look at Coen Hess as the prime example – or keeping their outside backs firing, and even the combination between the creative players, it all goes through Thurston.
There have been signs throughout the back end of the season since Origin, and during the finals series, that the cracks are starting to show.
While he dealt with the pressure well against the Broncos, he had a very sub-standard first 70 minutes, and again against the Sharks he seemed to struggle – and yes his side was under pressure, but he made some errors very much unlike him.
The Cowboys aren’t complete write-offs, but they won’t be in my tip sheet for the grand final next season.
Roarers, what did you make of the game? Let us know by dropping a comment in the section below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde
Mike Broadsmith
Guest
Well said Fish !!
Rob
Guest
So Inglis never threw the ball backwards over his head from over the dead ball line for Gasnier to score for Australia? Hodges running at full pace never threw a pass back from over the dead ball line for QLD to score in SOO last year? It"s just physically impossible?
The Barry
Roar Guru
How do you run with your hands facing backwards? The laws of physics haven't changed in the last 100 years. It's just as impossible to physically throw a ball backwards while running forwards now as it was then so the rules have always accommodated for this phenomenon. Good to see you're rock solid. For the last four weeks it's "we are the mighty cowboys" now they're knocked out it's "I didn't play, I didn't get flogged"
harambe
Guest
no different to the way Gallen carries on to ref's every game really. Too many players (captain or not) have a crack at the refs though, it's an ugly look and horrible example - heat of the moment or 'their just competitive' is no excuse. I think we need a 5 minute sin-bin?
Rob
Guest
TB. Where did I say that's why they lost? That's pathetic. I didn't get flogged because I wasn't playing. Once again you're talking rubbish. The Cowboys got beaten because they played badly. Well done Sharks.. The rule I quoted is directly from the Rule book now, and was there 100 years ago. The twist is because the original rule's have been greyed allowing a ball to travel forward but be deemed passed backwards, which is contradiction. That's why many passes are called forward and some aren't depending on interpretation which is my point.
Griffo
Guest
Jimmy, I don't know that we can use last week as an excuse. Yes I'm sure it had some effect but it was all those silly errors that meant we had no possession and when the sharks had possession they applied the blowtorch. I'm afraid it was the first half that did the damage and the sharks carved us up in the second half. Had we held on to the ball and completed our sets in the first half we probably would have still been behind, especially considering the breeze blowing to our end, but we may have had something in the tank for the second half with that breeze. Maybe we wouldn't have but we'll never know.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Wow! I've read some lame attempts to twist the rules in my time but that's outrageous. It wasn't a forward pass. Maloney threw it backwards to Townsend who was behind him. If that's all someone's got to hang onto you may as well admit you were flogged.
Art Vandelay
Guest
No true Qlder would carry on bashing another qld side so I can only assume your a blues supporting Broncos fan
JVGO
Guest
So Rob you are arguing that the ref should have ignored what is currently in the rule book in order to disallow the try? Really?
Rob
Guest
He learnt that from his Bulldogs days. LOL
Rob
Guest
JVGO does this mean Ref's should have a degree in Physics or NASA training? You could have mentioned the tail mind assistance as well. This is where the problem starts and everyone gets confused. The rule you have quoted are section 10 a sub note written by some fool who thinks he's clever (possibly Phil Gould) IMO. Much like Shoulder Charge definition? The basic mode of play was written over 100 years ago. Simple and easy to follow. Section 5 Titled MODE OF PLAY. "Once play has started any player who is onside or not out of play can run with the ball kick it in any direction and throw or knock it in any direction other than towards his opponents’ dead ball line (See Section 10 for Knock-on and Forward Pass)". This direction of hand thing is crap when you consider most players catch and run with the ball, hands facing backwards. If you're running when you catch the ball it would never be a knock on? A science professor would probably say it only appears to go forward but is backwards from the hand. Section 10 rule 4.2.3 is a contradiction to the basic rules. Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck is a duck in my world.
The Barry
Roar Guru
6. Will the eyeball opinion front up and admit how terribly off the mark his anti-Sharks diatribe was?
The eye
Guest
Nah,you take Maloney and Townsend out and put back Robson and Beale..the team finishes 6th or 7th like last year...
JVGO
Guest
4.2.3 The direction of a pass is relative to the player making it and not to the actual path relative to the ground. 4.2.4 A player running towards his/her opponent’s goal line may pass the ball to a colleague who is behind him/her, but because of his/her own momentum the ball travels forward relative to the ground. This is not a forward pass as the player has not passed the ball forward in relation to himself/herself.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I've got to say I was disappointed with Thurstons attitude last night. He gets a lot of wraps -deservedly - for things like giving his headgear away and picking up his kicking tee but his behaviour towards the refs was appalling. Every time a decision was to be made he'd walk up to the refs yelling and waving his arms. At about the 60th minute he got pinged 100% correctly for stealing the ball and turned and yelled "F#%K OFF" at the ref and then launched into a tirade. Do the crime do the time champ. Then later in the game he was clearly heard saying to one of the refs "you just need to get the f#%king calls right." Probably lucky not to get 10 in the bin. I know he's a super competitor but it's pretty ugly when it gets expressed in that way.
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
That 97 Broncos team were brilliant. It was a who's who of QLD legends. Tallis, Renouf, Hancock, Langer, Lockyer, Sailor. That team would beat just about any team from any era and would spank most of them. Neither Newcastle or Manly would have got near them and it was no surprise the Broncos won the unified competition the next year.
Pomoz
Roar Rookie
That 97 Broncos team were brilliant. It was a who's who of QLD legends. Tallis, Renouf, Hancock, Langer, Lockyer, Sailor. That team would beat just about any team from any era and would spank most of them. Neither Newcastle or Manly would have got near them and it was no surprise the Broncos won the unified competition the next year.
Realist 1975
Guest
Your right AGO74. In order. 1. Win. 2. Lose but play as best they can. I can't wait to take in an atmosphere full of fellow supporters. Everything is booked including ticket. My oldest jersey was Brewers but I so prefer the Reebok one and will be wearing that with pride.
Realist 1975
Guest
I do remember 1997. No team at the time would have beaten that 1997 bronco team. Check out both lineups someday. ET wins the toss and runs into the wind in the first half. At halftime wind turns 180 degrees. Played in Brisbane. John Plath angers every senior Cronulla player that day from ET to Les Davidson to Danny Lee. Aaron, I meant Cronulla finally making it to a GF in a full competition. Super League was half a comp. In those years Manly and Newcastle had a knack of knocking Cronulla out so whilst confident they would have made the finals in a unified comp I can't guarantee they would of made a GF.
JVGO
Guest
You don't understand physics mate. If you are running and you throw a pass directly to someone level with you the ball will inevitably travel forward. It is allowed to other wise the game would just grind to a halt. Townsend was behind Maloney when running and he didn't even catch it in front of himself. He caught it above and behind his head. It was legal.