NRL Golden Points: Finals - Week Three

We take a look back at week three of the NRL finals, whether Justin Hodges should be freed to play the Grand Final and the Dally M curse.

Hodges verdict a test of judiciary’s integrity

Sentimentality should not allow Justin Hodges to play in Sunday’s grand final and the judiciary will set a very dangerous precedent if they let the Brisbane skipper off his grade one dangerous throw charge. Aidan Guerra did jump – and he will testify to that affect to help his Queensland teammate’s case – but that is the reason for the leniency of the grading.

The biggest policy change after Alex McKinnon’s tragic injury, aside from taking a harsh stance on tackles that put players in a dangerous position, was to deter defenders from lifting the leg of a stationary tackled player. Hodges didn’t have to lift Guerra’s leg up – it was a lazy and dumb play (something that has been Hodges’ m.o. throughout a chequered career), and that’s what led to Guerra being in that position, even if the Roosters backrower did milk it.

The contentious issue of loading (it should be remembered Hodges’ appalling record has contributed to his current plight) and the possibility of bringing in fines for grade one charges need to be reviewed, but Hodges must be judged under the current rules.

You could say that Hodges is a victim of an unjust system. However, the judiciary panel must rule the same in grand final week as they would in Round 3 – tugging at the heartstrings to get a not-guilty verdict would be another farce the code can ill afford, and an insult to McKinnon and other victims of tackles the NRL has worked overtime to eradicate.

Broncos’ GF record provides big advantage

The grand final experience ledger between Brisbane and North Queensland is relatively square, with five Broncos featuring in a total of 10 deciders and four Cowboys having made five grand final appearances. But the Broncos’ imposing record as a club with Wayne Bennett at the helm is enough to plant the seed of doubt in the Cowboys camp.

Bennett is a flawless six-from-six in grand finals with the Broncos and – perhaps just as crucially – a common thread in each of those triumphs has been a season-best display to qualify for the big one.

Thurston attempts to overcome Dally M curse

Johnathan Thurston’s watershed achievement in claiming an unprecedented fourth Dally M Medal – by a whopping 11 votes this time – comes with a discouraging caveat. In the 34 seasons the Dally M has been awarded, only Ray Price (1982), Michael Potter (1984), Peter Sterling (1986) and Matt Orford (2008) have collected the prestigious prize and a subsequent premiership medal or ring.

No Dally M winner had finished on the losing side in same season’s grand final until Thurston in 2005, but since then, four more Dally M winners have tasted defeat in the decider less than a month later – Cameron Smith (2006), Jarryd Hayne (2009), Todd Carney (2010) and Ben Barba (2012).

Similarly, only Souths’ Dennis Pittard (1971), Canterbury’s Terry Lamb (1984) and Broncos captain Allan Langer (1992) were able to convert victory in the Rothmans Medal – the code’s official gong from 1968-96 – into premiership success during the 29 seasons the award was run, while another four accompanied their individual honour with a runners-up medal in the grand final.

Roosters denied dynasty status, but they’re no chokers

Three minor premierships, but just one grand final victory and two preliminary final defeats to show for it. Trent Robinson’s Roosters may yet squeeze more success out of their min-golden era, but that task becomes far more difficult following the departure of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and James Maloney – on top of Sonny Bill Williams and Anthony Minichiello last year – and it seems the premiership window has all but closed on this squad.

The Roosters’ achievements have been unfairly marginalised for supposedly having ‘the best roster in the NRL’ – a thinly-veiled swipe at the club’s aggressive recruiting – but 12 of Friday’s preliminary final squad made their NRL debut at the club, while another two had played just one first grade game at their previous club. Williams, Maloney, Michael Jennings and Blake Ferguson have been the only notable additions during that time.

Injuries to Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Mitchell Pearce were major setbacks this year – there’s every chance they would have gone all the way if that superstar duo had been on deck. But the simple fact remains that their table-topping exploits means they ultimately underachieved by failing to reach the decider in back-to-back seasons.

Irony in SKD’s hero-to-zero plunge

Five years after scoring one of the great finals intercept tries, Shaun Kenny-Dowall gifted one back in unforgettable fashion. SKD scored the famous 100th-minute try in the first-ever golden point finals match, plucking a Liam Fulton pass out of the air and outlasting Lote Tuqiri on a 65-metre run to the try-line to give the Roosters an epic 19-15 win over the Tigers.

But Kenny-Dowall’s post-season legacy now contains one of the all-time great howlers, an ill-conceived pass in the opening minute of the preliminary final that put the highly-fancied minor premiers on the back foot from the outset. The rangy Kiwi was otherwise sound, but failed to have his usual impact thereafter and finished with just 80 metres from 13 runs.

It was a rapid fall from grace for Kenny-Dowall, who produced one of his finest games a week earlier with a hat-trick in the semi-final defeat of Canterbury. But he was destined to take the David Williams route. The ‘Wolfman’ scored a miraculous preliminary final try to help propel Manly to an upset of Souths in 2013, before enduring a grand final shocker – ironically, in a game where Kenny-Dowall covered himself in glory, playing 75 minutes with a broken jaw and scoring a crucial try as the Roosters surged to a 26-18 triumph.

Recount required in ‘buy of the year’ vote

The NRL’s unofficial gong for the best buy of 2015 was declared a three-horse race by all and sundry, with Michael Ennis, Jake Granville and Blake Austin earning a giant tick for the recruitment managers at the Sharks, Cowboys and Raiders respectively. But if the question was delayed until after the grand final, there’s a strong possibility it would be a one-two finish for the Broncos in the shape of Anthony Milford and Adam Blair.

Both players have filled gaping holes at the resurgent club, improving as the season has worn on and peaking during the finals. Will-o-the-wisp five-eighth Milford and front-row enforcer Blair, whose 2015 renaissance has been extraordinary, are set to play key roles in Sunday’s decider.

RTS and Luke to bring the passion to Warriors

The emotion shown by Roosters fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Rabbitohs hooker Issac Luke after their respective teams’ finals exits is another reason for the Warriors to get excited ahead of the duo’s move across the Tasman. The Auckland-based club needs players that are hurt rather than upbeat after a narrow loss. Ashamed rather than bewildered after a 30-point defeat. Shoddy edge defence or poor ball-security can be rectified with practice, but a hard-nosed and passionate attitude is more difficult to learn. RTS and Luke bring that winning mentality in spades.

Gutherson to become hot property

With top-shelf outside backs in short supply on the open market, expect plenty of interest in Clint Gutherson, who has been released by Manly. Gutherson, equally at home on the wing, or at fullback or centre, had scored in all four of his previous NRL appearances before suffering a season-ending knee injury in Round 1 against Parramatta.

The emergence of boom teenager Tom Trbojevic, along with Jorge Tafua’s return to form and the presence of Peta Hiku, Brett Stewart, Jamie Lyon and Steve Matai, has left Gutherson with a tough path to regular first grade, and the 21-year-old will look elsewhere. Ironically, the Eels are favourites to gain his signature with Will Hopoate on the outer, Reece Robinson contemplating a shift to rugby union and Beau Champion retiring.

My new favourite player

Cameron Munster is one hell of a player. Melbourne Storm need to hang onto him like grim death, finding a spot for him at five-eighth or centre and grooming him as Billy Slater’s long-term successor. He was close to being the best player on the field in a well-beaten team on Saturday night, saving multiple tries with his uncanny anticipation and tremendous positional play.

The 21-year-old provides almost as much value as the ageing Slater does currently, such has been Munster’s extraordinary improvement over the second half of the season. Munster may not quite have the same electrifying ball-running ability as Slater did as a youngster, but he’s certainly no slouch in that department – and he has several more strings to his bow than Slater did at the same stage of his career.

Shades of...

...The Ipswich Connection: The try Broncos halves Ben Hunt and Anthony Milford engineered for hooker Andrew McCullough was an absolute gem, and was like watching a snapshot from two decades ago of legendary Ipswich and Brisbane playmaking triumvirate Allan Langer and twins Kevin and Kerrod Walters. Hunt and Milford are the most dangerous players inside the opposite 20-metre zone in the NRL, just as ‘Alfie’ and ‘Kevvie’ were in their 1990s pomp.