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The Cronulla Sharks have hung on in a nailbiter to beat the Penrith Panthers in the first NRL semi-final, with the finals series continuing to deliver high-quality games. Here are my talking points.
The Sharks now face the Storm, and they love it
If there is one team who actually likes travelling to Melbourne, it’s the Sharks.
When it comes to controlling the ruck and middle third of the field, as well as tempo of a footy game, few teams do it as well as the Storm, with Cameron Smith and their all-conquering forward pack leading the way.
One of the teams who can match them, and have proven they can match them just a month ago, are the Sharks.
They love getting into a scrap, something they have to fight their way out of and grind to a win. Going to Melbourne is going to provide exactly that opportunity for the Sharks, who will need to make the most of their opportunities and defend like their life depends on it.
The task is made a lot tougher by Wade Graham being out, and if Paul Gallen and Luke Lewis join him after shoulder and ankle injuries respectively, it’ll be curtains. If they can put up a strong forward pack and even stronger performance though, going blow for blow with the Storm, this could be a game for the ages.
James Maloney loses the battle to Matt Moylan
It was somewhat ironic that the first finals meeting between two clubs who entered the competition in the same year and have been rivals ever since had two players who effectively swapped clubs during the pre-season on either side last night.
Matt Moylan, while being patchy at times this year, including in last week’s loss to the Panthers, was brilliant last night.
Matthew Moylan of the Sharks catches the ball. (Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)
It may well have been the best game of his career. Certainly the best he has played this year, as he stood up the Panthers and their management who dumped him out the back door in favour of Maloney at the end of last year.
Moylan’s kicking game, management of the contest and everything in between earnt him what should be man of the match honours in a performance for the ages.
Maloney, on the other hand, had a shocker.
It was almost like he got caught up in the moment trying to do too much. Right from the moment he gave away a dumb penalty to make it 8-0 and struggled in defence early on, you knew it was going to be a long night for the New South Wales origin half.
How good is Valentine Holmes?
Apart from that one moment where Holmes refused to boot a ball into row Z leading to the Panthers’ first try, he had a blinder of a game, helping the Sharks into their commanding position at halftime and then doing nearly everything right during the second half for them to hang onto it.
Holmes came up with a try of his own, was involved in the lead-up play to others and had many strong runs from fullback, as well as being generally pretty safe in defence.
What was more impressive was some of the support play he popped up with at times.
I’ve been critical previously of Holmes’ ability to play fullback. Earlier in the season, he looked like he should have been moved back to the wing, but the last two months have seen a changing of the guard for the Sharks back.
The Panthers need more experience to be a force in 2019
The Panthers have an incredibly young team. Taking out James Maloney, they have few other players with enough experience in the biggest matches to be a genuine force at this time of year.
The rest of their spine last night was Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Nathan Cleary and Sione Katoa, with Cleary 20 and the other pair 23. Trent Merrin and James Tamou can bring plenty, but the rest of the side are grossly under experienced.
Nathan Cleary of the Panthers (Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)
Reagan Campbell-Gillard might be a player with Origin experience, but he is only 25. Waqa Blake made critical errors last night, but is only 23, while Isaah Yeo is the same age.
They don’t have the mix of experience and youth to win a premiership. They have the latter in abundance, and when Maloney goes off the boil like he did last night, it makes it impossible for Penrith to have a calming influence who can remind them of what they do well, what plays to go to in the crunch times and then to actually execute them.
The last five minutes of the game sum this point up.
They looked lost. Whereas, without so much pressure on, Penrith have just continued to try and pile up the points through tries during the season, they opted to chase a field goal last night.
It was to no avail, and their second last set with the ball was maybe the most confused, ugly set of six dished up all season.
If they are going to be a force in 2019, experience will be the key. It might be a little on the late side to add that to their roster now, but it’s something to keep in mind.
No Graham, almost plenty of worries
The loss of Wade Graham to an ACL injury seemed to be one of the big problems for Cronulla coming into their semi-final last night, but for the first 40 minutes at least, it didn’t seem to worry the Sharks a great deal.
The Sharks left edge was just as good as it has always been, with Kurt Capewell doing a splendid job and Matt Moylan shaking off the demons which got to him during the loss last week.
While Moylan was quiet last week, he proved himself as more than capable against his old club.
The big problems came during the second half, and while it wasn’t all the blame on Graham’s usual left edge, they badly missed his impact and influence. A third kicking option may have worked wonders at different times throughout the game, as would his passing and running.
Graham is a complete player, and his loss will be felt in Melbourne next week.
The Sharks got out with a win this time, but they need a complete 80-minute performance next week.
Wade Graham was important in the Sharks’ 2016 premiership win, and will be missed this time around (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
If it’s possible for Jayden Brailey to play 80 minutes, he needs to
During the Sharks premiership run in 2016, the man who brought the club together and ensured they were able to gel in attack was Michael Ennis.
When he departed the club in 2017 and headed off into retirement and a gig with Fox Sports, it was clear the Sharks were going to experience some growing pains, so pivotal was the role of the cagey veteran playing the number nine role.
Brailey has come on in leaps and bounds since then and is one of the games brightest young prospects.
It’s rare you’d be pinning a 22-year-old as the key to a premiership, but Brailey playing big minutes isn’t far away from what the Sharks need to be successful, particularly against Melbourne.
He might get a lesson next week against Cameron Smith, but the Sharks looked like a shell of their former selves when James Segeyaro came onto the field last night and played the dummy half role.
Of course, other injuries to Paul Gallen and eventually, Luke Lewis, might have come into play, but the service out of dummy half and decision making just wasn’t at the same level.
If Brailey is fit enough and can handle increased minutes, now is the time for Shane Flanagan to throw them his way.
Roarers, what did you make of the game? Drop a comment below and let us know.