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Either way, for fans this grand final will be a match-up made in heaven
Greg Prichard
September 15, 2010
The football Gods are already smiling on us - otherwise they wouldn't have provided last Saturday night's hotbed of drama and intrigue, washed down by a shot of willpower, at the Wests Tigers-Roosters game. Now they're going to give us a grand final to satisfy the soul - plus every mischievous bone in our bodies - and they've got a choice of two.
It will be either Roosters-Raiders or Roosters-Dragons. Roosters star Todd Carney against his old club, the one that did him the biggest favour of his career by sacking him, or Roosters coach Brian Smith against Wayne Bennett. They would deny they are each other's biggest coaching rivals, but that wouldn't matter. It's what grabs our imagination. Imagine, finally, Smith versus Bennett, again, after nearly two decades.
The cards fell perfectly last weekend, results putting the Roosters on the opposite side of the draw to the Raiders and Dragons. There is still a way to go before we can get the grand final to die for, but circumstances are deliciously threatening to make it happen. The Panthers and Tigers began the finals in the top four, but the claws of fate have since lashed out at the big cats.
The Tigers couldn't close the deal despite having a 13-point lead against the Roosters, and the emotional letdown of losing that game in extra time would have hit them like a tidal wave. On top of that came the injury to Benji Marshall. Marshall will play against the Raiders on Friday night, because he has to - the Tigers are dead without him. But will he be the same Benji? It's doubtful.
The Panthers were never able to get to the lead at home against the Raiders, which was a horrible sign. They get Petero Civoniceva and probably Lachlan Coote back for Saturday's game against the Roosters, but they lose Trent Waterhouse and Frank Pritchard, so they are no better off. Indeed, when you look at the balance of the side, they are worse off.
The Dragons, and last weekend's other big winners, the Titans, get to look on this weekend. The Titans are the big hurdles to a Roosters-Raiders or Roosters-Dragons grand final coming off, but in the search for something to bring them undone it is found that they lost both times coming off the bye this season. And one of those losses was against the Roosters.
The Roosters can win the title as long as Carney remains upright. He single-handedly dragged them back into the Tigers game, because he is one of those most valuable players who wants the ball in his hands when the pressure is at its greatest.
Where would Carney be had the Raiders not sacked him towards the end of the 2008 season? Had they been soft on him, would he have learnt the error of his off-field ways? It probably would have only delayed the inevitable, which was the league world crashing down around his ear, and he might well have ended up in exile from the NRL this year, instead of last.
Midway through this season, the Raiders were looking like a team of the future, but with nine wins from their past 10 games they look that way now. They are a fabulous young team, but imagine how good they would be if they still had Carney. A grand final meeting would trigger so many emotions, from people on and off the field.
Bennett and Smith wouldn't be talked into stirring the pot on each other if they ended up the last two coaches standing this season. But it would still get stirred. They went head-to-head in the 1992 and '93 grand finals - Bennett with the Broncos and Smith the Dragons - and Bennett won both.
What great theatre it would be to see Smith reach for the Holy Grail, with Bennett trying to deny him.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...914-15ayc.html
Greg Prichard
September 15, 2010
The football Gods are already smiling on us - otherwise they wouldn't have provided last Saturday night's hotbed of drama and intrigue, washed down by a shot of willpower, at the Wests Tigers-Roosters game. Now they're going to give us a grand final to satisfy the soul - plus every mischievous bone in our bodies - and they've got a choice of two.
It will be either Roosters-Raiders or Roosters-Dragons. Roosters star Todd Carney against his old club, the one that did him the biggest favour of his career by sacking him, or Roosters coach Brian Smith against Wayne Bennett. They would deny they are each other's biggest coaching rivals, but that wouldn't matter. It's what grabs our imagination. Imagine, finally, Smith versus Bennett, again, after nearly two decades.
The cards fell perfectly last weekend, results putting the Roosters on the opposite side of the draw to the Raiders and Dragons. There is still a way to go before we can get the grand final to die for, but circumstances are deliciously threatening to make it happen. The Panthers and Tigers began the finals in the top four, but the claws of fate have since lashed out at the big cats.
The Tigers couldn't close the deal despite having a 13-point lead against the Roosters, and the emotional letdown of losing that game in extra time would have hit them like a tidal wave. On top of that came the injury to Benji Marshall. Marshall will play against the Raiders on Friday night, because he has to - the Tigers are dead without him. But will he be the same Benji? It's doubtful.
The Panthers were never able to get to the lead at home against the Raiders, which was a horrible sign. They get Petero Civoniceva and probably Lachlan Coote back for Saturday's game against the Roosters, but they lose Trent Waterhouse and Frank Pritchard, so they are no better off. Indeed, when you look at the balance of the side, they are worse off.
The Dragons, and last weekend's other big winners, the Titans, get to look on this weekend. The Titans are the big hurdles to a Roosters-Raiders or Roosters-Dragons grand final coming off, but in the search for something to bring them undone it is found that they lost both times coming off the bye this season. And one of those losses was against the Roosters.
The Roosters can win the title as long as Carney remains upright. He single-handedly dragged them back into the Tigers game, because he is one of those most valuable players who wants the ball in his hands when the pressure is at its greatest.
Where would Carney be had the Raiders not sacked him towards the end of the 2008 season? Had they been soft on him, would he have learnt the error of his off-field ways? It probably would have only delayed the inevitable, which was the league world crashing down around his ear, and he might well have ended up in exile from the NRL this year, instead of last.
Midway through this season, the Raiders were looking like a team of the future, but with nine wins from their past 10 games they look that way now. They are a fabulous young team, but imagine how good they would be if they still had Carney. A grand final meeting would trigger so many emotions, from people on and off the field.
Bennett and Smith wouldn't be talked into stirring the pot on each other if they ended up the last two coaches standing this season. But it would still get stirred. They went head-to-head in the 1992 and '93 grand finals - Bennett with the Broncos and Smith the Dragons - and Bennett won both.
What great theatre it would be to see Smith reach for the Holy Grail, with Bennett trying to deny him.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...914-15ayc.html
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