- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The preliminary final between the Sydney Roosters and Melbourne Storm at the SCG on Saturday night will determine the NRL’s team of the 2010s.
With both having won two premierships and consistently performing strongly in finals appearances throughout the decade, consider the following ratings system to quantify who has been the better (and as reported in an article for The Roar last year):
Minor premiership: one point
Finals Week 1 elimination: one point
Finals Week 2 elimination: two points
Finals Week 3 elimination: three points
Grand final loss: four points
Premiership: eight points
As of last weekend, this leaves the Storm on 40, while the Roosters are on 36.
If the Melbourne win this weekend, they will have the best claim to being team of the decade. For the Bondi boys to take the title, they have to succeed this weekend, then back it up in the grand final to end up on 41.
Perhaps more importantly, this weekend’s clash has all the ingredients of the last game of the decade, in 2008, when the Victorians took on the Broncos in a pulsating Week 2 semi-final at Suncorp Stadium.
That match was largely decided by a dropped ball from Ashton Sims on his own line in the final minute, which snatched defeat from the jaws of victory for Brisbane.
Craig Bellamy’s side experienced something eerily similar to this just two weeks ago, against Canberra, when Josh Addo-Carr dropped the ball deep in his side’s own territory in the final minutes of the match. The Raiders were able to scoop up and secure an unlikely victory.
Back to this week, the major sub-plot is Cooper Cronk.
The veteran halfback has orchestrated premierships for both teams throughout the decade and is potentially facing the last game of his career against his former club.
Cooper Cronk and Cam Smith. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Amazingly, after a decade of playing deep into the finals, neither side is showing signs of fatigue or staleness. They are both continuously improving and rising to new peaks.
Both backlines have electric speed, skill and power, with a good balance of youth and experience. Look for the fast and agile Storm backline to put the Roosters’ edge defence to the test.
How well the backs perform, however, will be dictated by the performance of the forwards and the position they receive the ball. Both teams have tough and experienced packs, however the loss of Roosters’ prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves could well prove to be the difference through the middle of the field.
This match will decide the team of the decade and hopefully is as great as the 2008 version.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.