Six talking points from Canberra Raiders vs South Sydney Rabbitohs NRL preliminary final

The Canberra Raiders have advanced to their first grand final since 1994, putting on a gut-busting display of defence through the second half to hold on for a tense victory over the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Here are my talking points from the first NRL preliminary final.

The Canberra Raiders have had one of the great seasons
Regardless of what happens next week when the Raiders take on the Storm or Roosters in the deciding match of the 2019 NRL season, they should look back on this season fondly.

Let’s go all the way back to the pre-season for just a moment.

Now, I wrote them off – all the way off. In hindsight, that was madness, but there were those who agreed, and the vast majority who thought they’d challenge for the eight at best.

Even optimistic Raiders fans wouldn’t have been daring to dream that this could have been the end result.

They came into the season with an experiment in the halves (more on this later), another half who wasn’t even sure if he was first choice, a fullback who had been signed dirt cheap without much first grade under the belt, and some unproven English forwards, as well as a hooker who had been on the injury list for over a year.

And that’s not even to mention the coach, who hadn’t been to a grand final since 2004 and who is at his fourth club since that time.

It’s therefore, frankly, stunning that they have made it this far, turning themselves into the people’s team with a gritty, yet entertaining style of rugby league which has seen them win games of all types and all situation in 2019.

Stuart is almost a shoe-in for coach of the year, and they are in with a good shot of winning the premiership.

Raiders fans are rejoicing, and rightly so.

(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

The only thing Josh Papalii has to worry about is winning next week
I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, because this is the unpredictable NRL match review committee we are talking about here, but Josh Papalii shouldn’t have much to worry about when the charge sheet comes out tomorrow morning.

The big Raiders prop, who was certainly the best player on the ground in the victory, was put on report for a high tackle on Adam Doueihi in the second half.

Now, as most comments on last night’s live blog will reflect, the shot was nothing more than a footy accident. The arm was wrapped, and started at roughly chest height on Doueihi.

While Doueihi did have to go off for a HIA and it was a penalty with the shoulder probably making contact with the chin, you’d be hard-pressed to find any rugby league fans who think Papalii should be watching next week’s decider from the sidelines because of it.

I’m not doing the Raiders apologising act here either. If it was Sam Burgess, Cameron Smith or Boyd Cordner in the same position, I’d be telling you the same thing. It’s not a suspension. Simple as that.

While Papalii might have a nervous night and morning, his real focus should be on recreating last night’s performance when he runs onto the Olympic Stadium next Sunday evening.

He was immense for the Raiders, and apart from scoring the match-winning try, managed to play a staggering 70 minutes in the middle third of what was a very physical contest, made even more so by that long run of defence Canberra had to do during the second half.

The representative prop ran more metres than any other forward with 179, had a line break, seven tackle busts and made 35 tackles in the gut-busting performance.

I know I’ve written a lot about Papalii recently, but he deserves every bit of recognition being thrown his way.

(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Josh Hodgson wins the battle of the hookers in stunning fashion
In my preview for the match, I made the point that whichever team’s hooker had the better game would probably take the win, and that’s the way it proved.

Damien Cook and Josh Hodgson (who must surely be in line for hooker of the year), are so, so important to their team.

Hodgson fell away slightly in the second half, which was understandable given how much defence the Raiders did, however, his effort in stopping a try on the line, setting up one of his own and coming up with a one-on-one strip were all phenomenal.

He made some stunning tackles in the second stanza as well, firming up the middle third for the Raiders on more than one occasion.

On the other side of the coin, Damien Cook had an absolute kitten of a game.

His kick late in the piece giving up a seven-tackle set was probably the play that summed up the entire night for the South Sydney hooker, who has had a good year, but been below his usual standards on the back of the Rabbitohs spluttering forward pack.

Outside of that kick, some of his service out of dummy half was poor, and he struggled to get South Sydney playing fast and direct, even with their weight of possession in the second half.

In the end, Hodgson won the battle of the hookers, and the Raiders won the battle to go to a grand final.

(AAP Image/Lukas Coch)

South Sydney’s season isn’t a write-off, but sideways movement isn’t desirable
So close, but so far again for the Rabbitohs, as they get brought undone at the preliminary final stage yet again.

Last year, it was the Roosters, and this year, it’s the Raiders, but it doesn’t change the terrible feeling that comes along with it for players, coaches and fans.

This is not to say it’s a bad season for the Bunnies. Far from it. They have done a lot more than most other clubs, and under a new coach, that still says a lot about the playing group.

However, you have to feel it’s a wasted season.

They have, of course, been impacted with injury and suspension, particularly in the forwards, more than some other clubs, but that’s no excuse.

There were high expectations for the Rabbitohs coming into the season, and for them to crash out a week short of the grand final again falls short of those expectations.

They will pick themselves up, dust off and be back at the forefront of the NRL again next year, but they have to learn how to win finals matches, and not leave turning their form around until the very death.

It’s a difficult thing to do, and it’s little wonder most of the premiers in recent times (the Cowboys as the notable exception in 2017) have finished the regular season like a house on fire before going on with it.

(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

The Jack Wighton experiment has worked better than anyone might have anticipated
The Raiders came into this season with an experiment in the halves at best.

Moving Jack Wighton there was the desired step to not only save his career from ambling along in the back five for another season, but also to take the Raiders to another level.

The faith in Wighton shown by Ricky Stuart early in the season while he adjusted to the role was outstanding, and clearly Sticky saw something in the now Blues representative in the cauldron that is State of Origin.

His form throughout the season was good, but there is little doubt that his foray into Origin would have helped him big-time in last night’s preliminary final, where he was absolutely superb from start to finish for the Raiders.

While he had a knack of being in the right place at the right time – like for his try – he made some tough runs, kicked well down the short side and defended like his life depended on it.

Wighton is never going to be the best half in the game, but he fits into the Raiders game plan beautifully, and if they are to win the premiership next weekend, you can bet the backline utility will be a big reason why.

(AAP Image/Lukas Coch)

Adam Doueihi is a star of the future
Adam Doueihi is a player who has divided opinions at the Rabbitohs throughout the year, particularly from their own fans.

Sure, there is talent there, but for much of the season, it didn’t really click the way it was supposed to, with the young backline utility struggling in his return from injury to cement down a regular playing position or minutes.

However, an injury-riddled campaign allowed him a crack at fullback, and he made the absolute most of it, learning the trade slowly but surely.

Sure, Rabbitohs fans would have liked a safer set of hands, and someone who already had a firm grasp on the position, but Doueihi might have cemented the number one jumper for next year with his effort last night.

He was played on the wing during the qualifying final against the Roosters, and coach Wayne Bennett admitted he got it wrong. Badly wrong.

Moved back to fullback last week, kicking Alex Johnston out to the wing, he was solid against Manly, but last night, Doueihi took his game to a whole new level.

He was outstanding from start to finish, only making one error in the game, which was more than made up for by his outstanding defensive work and reading of kicks, as well as his willingness to take tough runs into a green brick wall in front of him.

He wore some bruises, and will be very sore today, but he finished the game with more running metres than any other player in a beaten side, and that is impressive in itself.

(Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)

Roarers, what did you make of this preliminary final? Drop a comment below.