The NRL grand final is now set after two hard-fought preliminary finals saw the Canberra Raiders and Sydney Roosters emerge as the two teams which will contest the final game of the 2019 season.
The Raiders and the Roosters have been consistently impressive this year with both teams finishing in the top four. The Roosters’ star-studded roster has proven their quality again by making a second consecutive grand final as they look to become the first team since the Brisbane Broncos in 1993 to record back-to-back premierships.
The Raiders similarly have been lead by their English recruits highlighted by Josh Hodgson, Elliot Whitehead and John Bateman. Defensively the Raiders have been a transformed team this season as they have discovered a newfound grit, which was highlighted against South Sydney last Friday where they soaked up intense pressure from the South’s attack.
These two teams have had contrasting fortunes in recent times with the Roosters establishing themselves along with the Melbourne Storm as one of the dominant powers over the last decade. The latest grand final will be the Roosters’ and coach Trent Robinson’s third appearance in the last six years, while the Raiders appearance will be their first in 25 years.
Results this year indicate the Roosters will go into this game as favourites with both contests this year going the Roosters’ way. Grand final experience will also be heavily in the Roosters’ favour as a majority of their squad were there last year when they defeated the Melbourne Storm.
Cooper Cronk will also be calling curtains on his incredible career which will see him contesting his ninth grand final and fourth consecutive decider.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Ricky Stuart, though, will look to rain on the Roosters’ and Cronk’s parade as he looks to win his second premiership as a coach after guiding the Roosters to the title in 2002. Stuart has built the Raiders over the last few years wherein they would be ready to contest a grand final.
Canberra’s squad has been added to through clever signings such as fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, who was released from the final two years of his New Zealand Warriors contract to join Canberra as well as the tough English recruits which have added to the steel now showcased within this Raiders team.
Stuart has also instilled a hard-working ethos wherein no individuals are bigger than the team. This ethos has seen players such as Joseph Leilua and Josh Papalii enjoying some of the best form of their career, which was highlighted in the game-sealing try by Papalii against South Sydney, where he barged over the top of the South Sydney defence.
The team’s success has also engaged and brought the Canberra community together as seen last Friday at a packed GIO Stadium where the Viking clap brought the hair up on the back of the neck.
This grand final has all the ingredients to be a classic where the proven star power of the Roosters comes up against a Raiders team who will look to not give an inch. Trent Robinson has instilled a calm but clinical mentality since becoming the Roosters coach in 2013 while Ricky Stuart’s own emotional persona is personified in his Raiders team, which plays on the back of effort and toughness which has been reflected in their improved defensive effort.
The neutrals will be cheering on a fairytale Raiders premiership but they will be under no illusion in regards to the task they face as the Roosters look to add to their 14 premierships titles.
Kafka
Guest
Yes, in theory it could be brought into a new contextual understanding by the Roosters but such a creative action would require in- sight ... an artistic integrity. Go for it! Sadly, I suspect that is not what drives the Sydney Roosters management and their fans ... as for the logic of my rhetoric implying some kind of telos with no fans...the fans are what bring the appropriation to life in a new context while still referencing another. It has to be appropriate ... that’s the expressive integrity. One does not exist without the other whether it be the thunder clap or the cock’s cry! The endgame is always the quality of the fan’s message as they play out the rites if their sport...on and off the field. There also lies difference between millionaire row and ...
mushi
Roar Guru
Bit of an over reach on the extension of modern sociological themes being the down fall of the roosters. If you truly invested in that rhetoric wouldn't the end game be there are no dedicated fans of either team? Or that the inspirational application of the clap could also be adopted by the roosters?
King in the north
Roar Rookie
You write like a friend of mine talks (Mark - is that you?). And I can agree with everything you say. I think!
Kafka
Guest
Love your comment Superspud, but we live in a postmodern era where appropriation is the call of the day. The Thunder Clap is both a ‘found and bound’ phenomenon that can and has been decontextualised while still referencing its Icelandic roots... irony is the essence of contemporary life lest we return to the prejudices of nationalism... as some in this country will have us do with their expedient colonial white rhetoric that wishes us to remain silent obedient and good little citizens full of the sound and the fury , signifying nothing. Equally three Pom’s have been de - contextualised to lead the Line and chorus for the Green Machine both on and off : the northern hemisphere down under. The jokes on the Sydney Rooster who may find themselves replicating odious notions of superiority with trump- like hollowness. Time will tell ...but with regards to the ‘thunder clap’ please set me free and allow some unbridled human expression clear of the identity politics that deflects attention from the inhumanity of it all ‘Oliver’s ( oops Dutton’s) army’! May sport prevail above the mediocrity of our times and helps us come into communion as people - whatever the final result, just for one day! Go Canberra , but if it’s not to be then may a sporting fraternity prevail.
Superspud
Roar Rookie
Franz himself would be proud of that little blurb. However I will repeat if the Raiders think that the crowd gimmick stolen from Iceland (who unlike Australia's Capital actually have a connection to the Vikings) is going to do anything to influence the outcome of this game then they are in trouble.
mushi
Roar Guru
Weren't the raiders the first cap fraudsters?
Paul
Roar Guru
The only question the Raiders need to answer is whether they've already played their grand final? I hope not, but I think they've used up a lot of physical and emotional energy just getting to the Grand Final.
Insider
Roar Rookie
“Thunder clap” Far from it believe me! And no refunds
Kafka
Guest
The Thunder Clap represents the mythos that is emerging out of the supporter base of the Green Machine ... & something that has the power in time to not only overrun the shallowness of the emerald city and its Rooster’s support base but also to embarrass the heartlessness of our nation’s parliament. Real league people are about ritual that binds on and off the field beyond the manufactured star quality of individuals & their club’s wealth ...& because of that Canberra might just do the unthinkable.... thunder clap their team to their first premiership in 25 years. If not , they’ll still out perform the individual ‘bling’ that divides this country off the field. Where there is no depth, things fall apart when failure beckons. The Viking spirit will prevail regardless... not so sure the opposition has that capability as it is built on money.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
They get to do the Viking clap, and big Mal blows the mega cow horn.Already set in stone. Just no mead being drunk.
Superspud
Roar Rookie
I think if the Raiders are relying on the Thunder Clap to unsettle the Roosters they are in trouble. Do they even get to do the clap?? It's not their home game. I know the Rabbitohs got to hold up everything with the bell thing in 2014 but not everyone gets the same treatment as the Rabbitohs.
Kafka
Guest
The fairy tale genre has traditionally dealt with society’s anxieties before restoring a status quo of sorts. In Sunday’s nrl grand final the status quo seemingly sits with Sydney Roosters ???? but so may the anxieties that come with expectation and therein lies the possibility of Viking thunder clap ???? unsettling the roost in a two horse race.
Justin Kearney
Roar Rookie
I agree. Love the raiders but I reckon the roosters will beat them in attack and defence sadly. Their finals experience was there for all to see Saturday night. They are simply too bloody good.
Rob
Guest
Would love to see the Raiders win although I just don't see how they win if the Roosters defend the way they did against Melbourne.