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!
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
Coaches is a key point. Bellamy and Robinson can do it. None of the other coaches in contention can. Arthur has had no success in getting his team up for Finals and Cleary has proven himself incapable of lifting teams over a long period of time.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Storm and Roosters can be beaten in big games, but a team will make it hard for themselves if they have to beat both of them
Dogs Boddy
Roar Rookie
1. Make the finals - I know this seems simple but you would be surprised at just how many teams each year fail this basic step. 2. Not too many injuries - Having your best team, or close enough to, on the park together for an extended run into the finals is a huge bonus. The last thing you need is radical changes because your star 6 and 7 got on the turps and thought towing a shopping trolley over a motorcross jump would be a good idea (true story though sadly not NRL). 3. Luck - Everyone needs a bit of luck. Whether it's a good bounce, a changing breeze, a seven tackle set all the way to a finger maybe or maybe not on the sideline and a 6 again call that wasn't, you need something to go your way at some point. 4. Pray to whoever you subscribe to that you don't play the Storm or the Roosters in the final - I'm not saying you can't beat them, the Sharks proved that in 16, I'm saying it's very unlikely that you will.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Yeah, I think the Broncos have shown that good sides need a mix of youth and experience and I think rolling through most successful sides you’ll find that youthful exuberance tempered by a few hard heads The Panthers have beaten the Storm and the Roosters and taken the Eels to the wire, but their lack of experience is the big query. Having said that they have Cleary and Tamou who’ve played a lot of rep footy. Players like Koroisau, JFH mad Yeo have been around a while now Moses has played a couple of semi final campaigns and guys like Gutho, Jennings, Paulo, RCG, Ferguson and Brown have been around for a while For teams like the Roosters and Storm, semi final footy is BAU, while the Raiders will be hoping the “you’ve got to lose one to win one” cliche will hold true
Nat
Roar Rookie
The best teams have that balance of experince and enthusiasm. Thinking back, it would be the early 00s since we've seen flair over structure for consistent success culminating in the 05 GF with Benji vs JT. The importance of experience would be highlighted in 2018 and Cronk wouldn't it? Even if I had a team of 20yo Benji's, I would still want one a 30yo Cronk in those games. This year, dunno, still a bit early. We're only half way through with a stuttered start and already we've seen all combinations of victories and unexpected losses. History says Storm, Roosters and Parra will be there abouts but injury could curtail that in a matter of weeks. Can Manly hold on until their players (Tom) can come back. This Tigers team has just that deja vu opportunity as 05. Could NQ build on their defensive effort and cause trouble in 10wks time?
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Plenty of water to flow under the bridge before GF day. To me the Raiders and even the Eagles have a much better chance of winning the big one than the Eels in particular and probably the Panthers and the Knights because they have more experience in the big games. Injuries and form obviously will play key roles but if Manly or the Raiders get all the luck with injuries and a few good calls then I couldn't write either club off. Manly hasn't played well all season and if not for a dodgy forward pass call would be level with the Chooks who have been truly outstanding at times. I suppose that could be interpreted several ways.