Round 10 has just finished in the NRL COVID season, and the two young and flash teams from the West reign supreme.
The Penrith Panthers are sole ladder leaders, followed by the Parramatta Eels, who sit just one point behind them.
One point behind the Eels are the Melbourne Storm, followed by the Knights and the Roosters.
The first two teams mentioned have the young, brilliant players and exciting flair in their style of play.
Both sides provide both fairly young spines, with no real deep finals experience in the NRL – the only player experiencing a grand final out of the eight is Panthers hooker Api Korisau, who filled in 2014 for the suspended Issac Luke. They both play a brand of football that is open, deconstructed and quite fun to watch.
As for the other teams in the top five, things are a bit different.
The Storm alone have two from four players who have tasted grand final success.
The Knights also have two from four and the reigning champions have a whopping three from four players who have tasted the experience of the big day.
We saw the strong contender for the game of the season three weeks ago between two of these teams, the Storm and Roosters, in which their youngest player in their spine stepped up when required.
Does that confidence come off playing with more experience players? Or are today’s youth fearless enough for the big moments?
In the big games that will come up at the end of the season, what do you want and what will you rely on for your side to win?
Youth and excitement, or experience?
The Storm and Roosters will be the most battle tested team out of the five, thus leaving them with experience aplenty, but with the downfall of this, comes age and tiring bodies.
The management of super-coaches Craig Bellamy and Trent Robinson will be a huge factor between these two teams making it to the big dance, and if they can compete with the younger and more exciting teams.
On the flip side, beating structured sides are teams with enough flair and excitement to throw the ball around. Parramatta has that in abundance, and Penrith are slowly adapting that free flowing style.
With noted talented youngsters, Penrith can rely on halfback Nathan Cleary for the big moment, or in Parramatta’s case, captain Clint Gutherson and pivot Mitch Moses seem to be their go-to men in big moments.
The match-up between attacking flair and unwavering confidence, going against experience and battle tested, is always an exciting one. Does it come down to players? Possibly.
Will coaches have a say in the battle? Definitely.
For mine, I would always lean towards experience in the big day, over young flair and confidence. Will that resonate in real life?
One thing I can be sure of – of the five teams mentioned, I believe the premiership runs through one of them.
Bring on the finals!
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