Which halfback will guide their team to NRL glory?

“Winners always want the ball, when the game is on the line.”

I love that quote from Gene Hackman’s character in The Replacements, a movie about a bunch of misfits who play for the NFL team The Washington Sentinels during a players’ strike, who try to rise above all the obstacles to reach the top.

We just love those feel-good sports movies, don’t we? When the team has had to overcome the required ingredients of adversity, injury, and heartbreak to make it to the end, and then it all comes down to one last roll of the dice, usually by one central figure.

Another quote I love is when Coach McGinty (Hackman) is discussing with his quarterback Shane Falco (played by Keanu Reeves) their final play in the dying seconds of the game while they are behind on the scoreboard.

McGinty: “What’s it gunna be, Shane?”

Falco: “I want the ball.”

McGinty: “Winners always do.”

If you close your eyes, you can easily picture that scene playing out this Sunday in the NRL grand final. Coaches Wayne Bennett and Ivan Cleary, each looking at the clock, the scoreboard, and then at their champion halfback saying, “What’s it gunna be?”

Which halfback will leave Suncorp Stadium victorious? (Photo by Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

And really, if you had to pick one of two halfbacks to be looking back, haven’t the writers of this film cast their potential heroes so perfectly in Adam Reynolds and Nathan Cleary?

Just like a Hollywood movie, it will be up to the star (quarter) halfback to make the final play and win the day. And in the case of Reynolds and Cleary, it just depends on who you are supporting as to which ending you want to see play out.

Are you hoping for Souths’ beloved son Reynolds, who has played his entire career with the Rabbitohs, to play the game of his life and lead his team to a premiership in his final game in the red and green? Or would you rather see young gun Cleary put the Panthers’ heartbreak from last season behind him, play out of his skin, steer his team to glory and hold up the trophy at the end?

Either way, it’s hard to deny that the fate of the game rests with these two.

Reynolds was the second highest point scorer in the NRL this year, and he passed the great Eric Simms to become the highest point scorer in the Souths history. He kicked the first two-point field goal and has been just mesmerising with his skills all over the park.

He’s the halfback that coaches dream to have in their side, and the kicker many kids and players aspire to be. But most importantly, he has been the leader that every team would love to have in their huddle. In only his second year as captain, the way he has led the Bunnies around, you would think he has done it for a decade.

In the other jersey with the same number, we have Cleary. He was named halfback of the year at this week’s Dally M awards and came second for the Dally M itself. He is a complete natural and reads the game as if he was much older than 23. He is one of the main reasons the Panthers find themselves in back-to-back grand finals.

Cleary seems to have the football on a string, making it land wherever he wants it to. It’s almost like watching a magic show. “Did you see that?!”

“How did he do that?!”

He has had us at home shaking our heads, and commentators falling over themselves in the commentary box, still in disbelief of what we all just saw.

Both Reynolds and Cleary have had phenomenal seasons, as halfbacks as well as captains. They have played their positions perfectly, guided their teams around the park effortlessly and seemed to have gotten better with each game. The best part is, I believe they have saved their best until last.

Our movie, The 2021 NRL Season has given us so many storylines. One of the best has been the one between these two teams, especially the champion halfbacks.

The stage is set, the stars are ready, and the director is about to call action on the final scene. Missing loved ones, being away from their homes, the injuries they are carrying, the players they are missing, the memories of falling short in the past, the war of the coaches – all the ingredients to make this the classic it’s destined to be.

The big boys are busting to cause pain up front, the lightning bolts will have their fastest boots on, and the mouths are ready to stir the pot.

But this grand final will be decided by a busted shoulder, an injured groin, and the hands of a No.7. The winning points – whether scored by or set up by – will come from a halfback.

But which one? And how?

Will it be a penalty goal in the last few minutes? Or a 40-20 that puts the attacking team exactly where they need to be? What about a spiralling bomb that the opposition mistakenly let bounce, a precision kick to the corner for the winger, or a perfectly weighted grubber to the in goal?

How about an unbelievable cut out pass, or a tackle bust that sees them go it themselves?

Or what about a classic ‘in-the-dying-seconds-no-time-to-think-about-it field-goal’ that we will be talking about for years to come?

Whatever the winning play, it will come from a halfback. Because winners always want the ball, when the game is on the line.

And of course, we all know that halfback will be…