Ellery Behan's Roar Profile

Whilst I’ve tried my best to educate myself on grand finals of the past, the one decider I haven’t yet witnessed is the one that will be played this Sunday between Penrith and Parramatta. As this match hasn’t yet played out, I’m sure you can appreciate that to claim it will not be the best grand final ever is just as ludicrous as to claim that it will be. I’m sure that no one predicted the late drama that unfolded in the deciding matches of the 1999 and 2015 seasons, and there is no reason that something similar cannot happen again this year. On top of this, my statement that it will be the greatest decider ever isn’t exactly because I believe it will be the most entertaining match of rugby league we’ll ever witness, but rather, because it will either define a dynasty or change the trajectory of a club’s future.

Although I absolutely agree that the term ‘star’ is thrown around loosely in today’s mainstream media coverage of sports, I believe that Mitchell Moses is worthy of being named a ‘star’ player. In this year’s competition, he finished 1st in try assists and 2nd in points scored, and he also played a major role in his side’s top 4 finish. On top of that, he finished 6th in the Dally M voting for this year. So yes, Moses is a star.

I do hope for his own sake that Nathan Cleary doesn’t have the State of Origin loss lingering in the back of his mind, but that isn’t quite the point I am trying to make. The reason I mentioned the Blues’ SOO loss is that I believe these Penrith stars need to start collecting all the silverware they can if they are to be remembered as a true dynasty in the NRL. Once again, this is why I claim that this year could very well present us with the greatest decider ever, as this Penrith side will require trophies if they are to be accredited with dominating a decade of rugby league.

The Panthers do have the ability to win just about any game of football comfortably, but I’m predicting that Parramatta will be up to the task. This game could very well go either way.