Thirteen talking points from NRL Round 26

The regular season is over, the top eight is settled and those glorious four weeks of finals action are upon us. Before we get to that though, there is plenty to talk about from Round 26, so here are my NRL talking points from the final round.

Dissecting the Dragons’ mess of a season
Well, it’s pretty obvious where I was going to be starting this week. The Dragons are out of the finals after a shocking display against the Bulldogs.

It was unacceptable that a professional side can turn up with everything to play for and produce a performance like they were glued to the bottom of the table – for reference, that was the Knights who fought hard against Cronulla.

Unfortunately, the game summed up the second half of the Dragons season. They could have just as easily been finished off last week, but managed to scamper home against the Panthers to keep it alive.

Then, whatever that was today.

I don’t like to ping the blame on the board or the coach, but here we go. Since Paul McGregor was re-signed as coach, this is a team who have looked directionless. Gareth Widdop is the only one who has done anything of note, and their season fell away quicker than crowds for the 6pm game on a Friday.

The Dragons’ season, frankly, has been a mess. It started with no hopes from anyone, then moved to promising, before they sat top of the table. The fall from grace was swift and dramatic.

It’ll be a different looking team in 2018, but it’s too far away to think about that.

Right now, there is some soul-searching to do for a group of players who looked like they didn’t really care on a Sunday afternoon with everything to play for at Homebush.

(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

Consistency, please Mr Archer – the finals don’t deserve to be destroyed
It’s a word talked about a lot in rugby league circles. It’s talked about here on The Roar, it’s talked about in other parts of the media, and it’s talked about by players and coaches alike.

All we want is consistency in decisions. All we want is for something that is called one week to be called the next, and not changed based on who is officiating, or who is sitting behind the controls in the bunker.

While it would be nice to rule on every offside, held in a tackle, hand on the ball and forward pass correctly, human error happens. It’s impossible to have that sort of consistency at this stage.

However, apart from the fact it was the Storm again and I don’t know if there’s ever been a penalty try and an eight-point one in the same game, how was Josh Addo-Carr now awarded a penalty try in the corner?

He was quite clearly pushed way over the sideline, had to run around the corner post and still almost got back into score. In fact, he won the race to the ball but just wasn’t able to take a leap from inside the field of play.

Suliasi Vunivalu has been awarded two penalty tries this season, and neither of them were as convincing as the case to give Addo-Carr one on Saturday evening.

For Joseph Leilua to not even be so much as sent to the sin bin for a professional foul defies belief.

The NRL have to work out their interpretations of rules ahead of the finals. It’s a blight on the game, and it’s not the first time it’s been so. Get it right, because you don’t want the NRL grand final to be decided on a ‘maybe’ penalty try. It’s happened once before, and believe me, it’s not fun.

(The Roar)

The Cowboys are going to be up against it, but they fight hard and could just cause an upset
Take nothing away from North Queensland, they deserve to make the finals. They haven’t played like a top eight team to be fair, but they have fought hard over the last few weeks. Winning that game from behind against the Tigers has saved their bacon and now they get a chance with no pressure on to try and upset the odds.

Next week, North Queensland, without their two biggest superstars will take on Cronulla. More on Cronulla shortly, but the Cowboys have fought and fought this year, and if Michael Morgan and Jason Taumalolo can lead from the front, there is no reason they can’t travel to Sydney and beat the under pressure Sharks.

They will need everything to go right for them, but let’s not write off the eighth-placed team just yet.

(AAP Image/Michael Chambers)

Is this the most lacklustre build-up to finals action in recent memory?
I don’t want to knock the build-up to the finals, but it really feels to be lacking something. Despite the jockeying for position at the bottom of the eight, there were only nine teams in contention coming into the final round.

That in itself feels a lot lower than normal. For weeks, we have been down to ten teams, and the gap between the top nine (ten if you include Canberra after a late season push) and everyone else is phenomenally large.

There are a lot of genuinely bad teams in this year’s competition. It’s not the first time this has come up, but the finals have snuck up, and now they are here, it seems we have been robbed of a lot of regular season excitement.

There was no battle for the minor premiership, barely a battle for the top four and less crucial games than normal for the top eight during the last month of action.

Even if we did get two huge final round games, it still feels like the back-end of the season has missed something.

I hope the finals will live up to something far greater, but with so many bad teams and results which feel like they are decided before games start, much of the intrigue has been suspended.

As much as you want the finals to be better though…

Are the 2017 version of Melbourne the best one yet?
Another week, another glowing praise of the Storm. It feels I’ve spent half my time wrapping them this year. I did it last week, I probably did it the week before that and the week before that.

Call me a broken record all you want, but how can you not? They are too damn good. Awarded the minor premiership on Saturday night after another heavy win over the Raiders, this may be the best Storm side ever assembled.

And that’s no word of a lie. They have won 20 of 24 games, and that’s without even looking at their best. Cooper Cronk can still go up a gear or two, and Cameron Smith has been strong as always, but you feel he could provide extra come the finals.

Billy Slater has been the key difference maker for Melbourne this year. He missed last year, and it showed in September. This year, the experience of Slater, especially setting the line defensively will make all the difference during the finals run.

This is the best Storm team ever assembled – hell, they are better because of their youngsters and extreme depth than the side who were wiped out during the salary cap scandal.

The grand final feels like a foregone conclusion.

(AAP Image/Joe Castro)

The Eels must get their defence back to standard for the finals
I can already feel Eels’ fans heating up in the comments, so just hear me out. Credit where credit is due, the Eels defence was good. So good, it sparked their run which has landed them a top four spot at the end of the season.

Before any criticism of their last couple of weeks can be put down, it has to be mentioned that the Eels conceded just 62 points in six games leading up to their Round 23 shock loss at the hands of Newcastle.

That night, their attitude was poor as they let in 29 points. They restricted the Titans to eight the following weeks, but then, despite scoring 52 themselves let in 34 against the Broncos.

The Rabbitohs might have only scored 16 points against them on the weekend, but even that felt too many. Parramatta never dominated the game, and South Sydney were probably unlucky not to run up more tries – put it this way, a better team would have ran riot over the blue and gold’s defensive structure.

Don’t get me wrong, I like what the Eels have done to get to this point, but if they are going to go on with it against the top teams, then defence over anything else is key.

It won’t matter how well Mitchell Moses and Corey Norman are playing, or how many times Semi Radradra and Michael Jennings shred opposition defences if they can’t defend well themselves.

Their Week 1 finals Test will be a huge battle against the Storm, and if they can restrict them to 18 points or less, you’ll know they are somewhat back on track.

Structure and scramble, as well as warding off long periods of pressure will be crucial for Parramatta, and despite not being must-win, it feels like momentum will go down the toilet if they let in a score.

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Where on Earth has that been for Manly?
If you tuned into a Manly game for the first time on Saturday, you’d be mistaken for thinking they were at the top of the ladder.

From the get-go, they were switched on. Their first defensive set was one of the best of the season as the Panthers didn’t clear the red-zone, and from there the pressure built.

Penrith barely had the ball in Manly’s half of the field during the first 20 minutes, and for Manly fans, it was a case of asking ‘what happened the last few weeks?’

Sure, their season felt really on the line on Saturday – more so than the previous few weeks – but those last few weeks, they had played fatigued and busted. It didn’t look like they had it in them to turn it around.

How wrong we all were, as they handed Penrith a shellacking. Whether they can keep that up against the same opposition next week is anyone’s guess, but with form like that, there’s no reason why they couldn’t make the grand final from outside the top four. After all, they were in the top four themselves not so long ago.

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Will we see a new Cronulla in the finals?
It’s no secret the Sharks have spent 2017 winning ugly. They haven’t played well, yet have finished in fifth spot.

There was no better example of that than their up and down performance on Sunday against the Knights. They pinched a win against the wooden spooners, but after being up 18-0 it was a chance for them to make a statement.

Instead, they stumbled, fumbled and bumbled their way to an unconvincing 26-18 victory over the wooden spooners.

Paul Gallen was inspirational, making 270 metres, but they must step it up a gear come the finals. We have been waiting for them to do it all season, and it just hasn’t happened.

Now, with everything on the line, will the Sharks be able to turn their form around and string four do-or-die games together to go back-to-back?

The finals are a funny beast. On evidence, you’d say no, but knowing the players they have – who really knows.

(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Let’s not kid ourselves, the Roosters won’t be there on October 1
The Roosters attitude was very, very poor against the Titans on Saturday afternoon. A reasonable crowd, the final game of the season, and they only just escaped with a win thanks to some magic at the back-end.

But, for the Roosters to get into that position shows there is a major problem. While the Storm were busy making another statement ahead of the finals by thumping the listless Raiders, the Roosters were struggling to put points on against a club who have conceded more than 120 in the last month.

The Roosters can say they didn’t turn up all they want, or claim they will be stronger next week, but for a second-placed team they leave a lot to be desired.

They lack the killer instinct, and it’s been shown on more than a few occasions this year. It’d be a huge shock to see them there on October 1.

(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

The Knights might have a spoon, but 2018 promises plenty
Picture this. Down 18-0, wooden spoon wrapped up against a side who belted you 62-0 on the same ground last season. Most teams would have rolled over, gone to sleep and conceded a similar scoreline – but not the Knights.

This is a youthful side who have worked so hard for each other and coach Nathan Brown week in and week out this season. It’s resulted in three victories, which, frankly is two more than a lot of people thought they might have ended up with at the start of the season.

Of course, it’s not a great season by any standards, but to have the will, determination and resolve to play out 80 minutes in Round 26 is a testament to the culture being built at the club.

It’s a long rebuilding process, but with plenty of talent walking through the doors next season, there are promising signs ahead for rugby league’s most dedicated fan group.

Whether they can do enough to crack the top eight in 2018 depends on a number of factors, but they will be there and about. This should be the last wooden spoon Newcastle will have to endure for some time to come.

(AAP Image/Darren Pateman)

The real Brian Kelly stood up on Saturday
Sea Eagles centre Brian Kelly is a superstar in the making. In his rookie season, he started strongly, getting people talking, then faded through the middle. He was dropped, then re-called by coach Trent Barrett, and his performance against the Panthers on Saturday may have been his best yet.

He was superb. Every time he touched the ball, Kelly looked dangerous. He was solid in defence, made good decisions and played beyond his years in experience.

While it must be noted he was playing in a side who were absolutely steam-rolling their opponents, he scored the opening try with a great run and finished the night with 182 metres from 17 runs with three line-breaks and a couple of try assists.

Watch out for Kelly. He has been touted as a future representative centre and did nothing to hurt his chances on Saturday.

BJ Leilua and Jordan Rapana will be an intriguing storyline to follow in 2018
Even the most optimistic Raiders’ fan would say their explosive right-side combination has had problems being consistently dangerous in 2017.

They set tongues wagging in 2016 and were expected to be a major part of the reason the Raiders were going to push on as premiership contenders in 2017. Instead, they have struggled to recapture that form.

Whether that’s through the fault of their halves, their forwards or themselves, it doesn’t really matter. What does matter for the green machine is that they turn up in 2018 and get back to their best as an explosive combination.

The problem, as seen on Saturday is that there are times they have a tendency to get more involved in other elements of the game – like sledging. Curtis Scott and Josh Addo-Carr did a pretty solid job dealing with it actually.

Anyway, they must return to their best in 2018. Whether that’s being fired up or playing good footy without theatrics, it must happen, or the Raiders are likely to be battling for the top eight again.

(AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Victory Radley on the Roosters’ bench is a waste of a position
A short one to finish this week, but an important point nonetheless. There is no question Radley has plenty of talent and is gaining invaluable talent by being included in first grade.

He impressed filling in for Jake Friend earlier in the season. But with the heir to Cameron Smith’s Queensland throne back on the field and Connor Watson also coming from the bench, the need for Radley to play is minimal at best.

Friend is a consistent 80-minute player and Radley played a grand total of zero minutes on the weekend. It’s a waste of a spot for the Roosters, and coming up against the top sides, they need to use the extra forward.

Roarers, what did you make of Round 26? How are the finals going to play out? Drop a comment below and let us know.