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2018 NRL finals series: Week 3 preview

Roar Guru
18th September, 2018
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Roar Guru
18th September, 2018
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Only four teams are left remaining in the premiership race, with an ancient and a modern rivalry to highlight this weekend’s preliminary final matches.

The premiers of the past two seasons, the Melbourne Storm and Cronulla Sharks, will meet in one preliminary final, while the Sydney Roosters and South Sydney Rabbitohs, who have both been in the competition for over 100 years each, face off in the other.

It will be up to the Sharks to ensure that the grand final is an all-Sydney affair, with the premiership trophy having left the borders of New South Wales twice in the past three years.

Here is your full preview to the two preliminary finals.

Storm vs Sharks
Friday, September 21
7:40pm
AAMI Park

This season: Sharks won 14-4 at Southern Cross Group Stadium in Round 4; Sharks won 17-14 at AAMI Park in Round 22.

Last meeting in a final: Sharks won 14-12 at ANZ Stadium, 2016 grand final.

NRLW: Broncos vs Warriors, 5:15pm.

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Earlier this century we were treated to a fierce and genuine rivalry between the Melbourne Storm and Manly Sea Eagles.

While that rivalry continued this year, another team in recent years has emerged as the Storm’s fiercest rivals, and it’s another team that’s based out of the beaches.

Only two years ago, the Sharks won their first NRL premiership by defeating the Storm in the grand final, with Paul Gallen earning some revenge against his Storm counterpart Cameron Smith, who led Queensland to another series win against Gallen’s NSW earlier that year.

The Storm hit back by winning last year’s title, though they didn’t have to face the Sharks in the decider, after they were eliminated on the first hurdle by the North Queensland Cowboys.

Since then, Cronulla have won three out of the last four against the Storm, including both times this year.

In the first match, in Round 4, Smith was sin-binned for the first time in his career on what turned out to be a not-so-Good Friday for the reigning premiers.

Cameron Smith of the Storm is sin binned

Cameron Smith (AAP Image/Craig Golding)

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The return match saw the Sharks take out a 17-14 victory at AAMI Park, where they will return this Friday night.

This will be the final time club stalwart Billy Slater plays in front of his home crowd, the 35-year-old having announced that he will retire at the end of the season.

While it would be fitting if the club can send him out with another premiership win, the Sharks will be out to spoil the party, though they may be without captain Paul Gallen, who suffered a shoulder injury in the side’s 21-20 win over the Panthers last Friday night.

They are already without their other co-captain, Wade Graham, who suffered a serious knee injury in the 21-12 loss to the Roosters in the qualifying final.

Their win over the Panthers, which came despite a tryless second half, was their first win in a finals match since the 2016 decider.

Melbourne, meantime, enjoyed the week off after coming from behind to beat South Sydney 29-28 in their qualifying final, with the magic boot of Cameron Munster proving to be the difference as they kept their unbeaten record against the Bunnies at home intact.

Beforehand, Melbourne will get its first taste of the NRL Women’s Premiership, with the Brisbane Broncos and New Zealand Warriors to face off.

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While the Broncos are certain to be represented in the decider, a win for the Warriors will almost certainly get them there too, though they would then have to pray that the Dragons don’t beat the Roosters by a huge margin on Saturday night.

Melbourne are bidding to enter a team as early as 2020, so local fans will be keen to check out the best of what the women have to offer for themselves first before, hopefully, seeing their own team run around in the not-too-distant future.

For the winner: a berth in next week’s grand final.

For the loser: season over.

Prediction: Storm by two points.

Roosters vs Rabbitohs
Saturday, September 22
7:40pm
Allianz Stadium

This season: Rabbitohs won 24-16 at Allianz Stadium in Round 6; Roosters won 18-14 at ANZ Stadium in Round 22.

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Last meeting in a final: Rabbitohs won 32-22 at ANZ Stadium, second preliminary final, 2014.

NRLW: Roosters vs Dragons, 5:10pm.

Isn’t it fitting that two of rugby league’s greatest rivals get to see off Allianz Stadium with a bang?

The clash between the Roosters and Rabbitohs will be the final sporting event to be played at the Sydney Football Stadium before it is demolished and rebuilt in time for a 2021 opening.

A sell-out crowd is expected to see the two historic rivals face off in the preliminary final for the second time in five years, after the Rabbitohs won by 32-22 on their way to ending a 43-year premiership drought in 2014.

The Bunnies will be full of confidence after edging out the Dragons by 13-12 in a classic semi-final, in which Adam Reynolds scored all 13 of their points, including becoming the first player since Jason Taylor in 1997 to kick three field goals in a finals match and the first since Billy Smith in 1971 to do so in a winning cause.

Captain Greg Inglis will be available after he took the early guilty plea to a crusher tackle last week, and they’ll face a Chooks side slightly weakened by the suspension-enforced absences of Latrell Mitchell and Dylan Napa.

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Latrell Mitchell

Latrell Mitchell (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

Meantime, Trent Robinson’s side enjoyed the week off, having defeated the Sharks 21-12 in their qualifying final at Allianz Stadium the week before.

Despite the absences of Mitchell and Napa, the Roosters should start favourites to progress to their first grand final since 2013.

The two matches between the sides were split this season, with the Rabbitohs claiming a 26-14 win at Allianz Stadium in Round 6 and the Chooks returning serve with an 18-14 win at ANZ Stadium in Round 22.

In the women’s match, the Roosters and Dragons will play off for either a date with the Broncos in next week’s grand final or to avoid the wooden spoon (if the Warriors win).

The Chooks will be desperate to notch up their first win, after going down to the Warriors and Broncos in their first two matches, while the Dragons will be full of confidence after upsetting the Warriors 22-10 to win their first match in the league, with birthday girl Jessica Sergis among their best players.

For the winner: Bragging rights in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and a berth in next week’s grand final.

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For the loser: season over.

Prediction: Roosters by six points.

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