Following the McInerney Ford Gold Medal dinner debate has raged as to whether the current structure of the state’s Premier football competition is correct.

Some said the evening was controversial, but it was healthy to see some passion, as for too long people at all levels have accepted the status quo. Had a vote been taken that night on a number of issues we believe that the board and the powers that be at Football West would have found that they are heading down a path on their own, and not one that has the support of those actually playing and coaching the game. A warning has been sounded, it would be wise to listen and not plough on regardless.

Essentially, there are several key issues at the root of the problems. The first being the naming of the team that wins the league, and the title given to the team that wins the finals series. This year they were referred to as Premiers and League Champions. May we suggest that next year the team that finishes top of the League be called the “League Champions” and the team that wins the finals series be called the “Grand Final Winners?” 

The whole finals issue is a sore point with some. The argument being that in the Hyundai A league there is no cup competition, so there is a place for Finals football. In the state league competition we have the Soccer Pools Cup, so do we need finals football? There are pros and cons for both arguments.

If the finals are to remain surely a top four makes more sense, where first plays fourth and second plays third. It would be interesting to see these games played over two legs home and away, enabling each club to gain some financial reward from the gate and bar takings. One to be played on a Saturday the other on a Sunday, so both fixtures don’t clash. The team finishing top playing on the Saturday so they have one extra day’s recovery, should they make the Grand Final.

The Grand Final should be played at a neutral venue, as it was this year, however Football West should man the gate and the takings be split between the two finalists. After all they have made it to the Grand Final; they deserve a share of the spoils. The host club can make their money over the bar and through the canteen.

We have been advised that the Night Series has been restructured this year, and once again administrators put themselves in a position where they could face a problem in the future. With three groups the top teams will progress and ‘the best two third placed teams.’ There is a distinct possibility that two of the third placed teams, or worse all three could end up on the same points and goal difference. If that is the case what happens then? Why create the possibility of such a situation?

The prize money this year is going to be $8000 for the winner, $4000 for the runner up and $500 each for the third and fourth placed teams. The latter seems an almost laughable amount by comparison but at least there is some money being made available.

The question that has to be raised is why is so much attention being paid to the Night Series, which is essentially a pre-season tournament? A tournament in which players are not paid, and after its completion many go and sign for other clubs. Many clubs enter the tournament with the view that it is purely a way to have competitive matches as part of their pre-season, and if they progress it is a bonus. It is, to all intents and purposes a version of the FA Charity Shield, it has no bearing on the season ahead. Surely therefore the funding would be better channelled into the league, and more money filtered down to the more teams over a season? Would that not enhance the overall standard? Would it not also help clubs who are currently staying afloat thanks to a few wealthy benefactors?

Another suggestion is if the night series is to have more credibility, why not play it as an ongoing competition throughout the season, midweek under lights? Would that not have some appeal if promoted properly?

There are always plenty of views and opinions, but the post Gold Medal feeling is that people are not listening to what the players, coaches and clubs want. Then again the Board are charged with leading the game forward. But to lead on without the support of your members is a dangerous path, hopefully dialogue will be opened and not via the standing committee who it appears are not representative of the majority.

If you watch the footage on Footballwest.tv of the Flexible Signage Solutions Grand Final between the Western Knights and Perth, you will hear victorious coach Graham Normanton state, “ This is the league. We’ve just won it and that’s what people need to know. That’s the rules we play by that’s what it is and we are absolutely delighted to win it.”

Which is a valid point everyone did know the rules at the start of the season. Perth did win the finals series and deserved to, because as Graham Normanton went on to say, “We geared ourselves for it and we’ve won it on the day.” Congratulations to them as a club.

However as written on this post previously, the terms Premiers and Champions have been used incorrectly. Perth should be the Premiers and not the Champions as they were the winners on the day, not over a league season.

It is no fault of coaches or teams that we have the finals series, and a strong range of views as to who is regarded as the “Champion.”

If the team that finished top of the league is not the Champion, as Mr Normanton alludes, why would they receive any prize money for coming top of the league?

Just because all the other sports in Australia operate this way does not mean that it is right. Take a look at the Hyundai A league as an example.

When the FFA was accepted into the Asian Football Confederation, along with it came a place in the Asian Champions League. The AFC advised the FFA that that spot would go to the team that finished on top at the end of the league season, as is the case throughout Asia. The FFA disagreed, as it is run by people from other codes and not football people – one of the problems holding the game back despite the giant strides made in the past five years.They said that they would be sending the winner of the Grand Final.

After much toing and froing a compromise was met. Vietnam, who had two teams in the Champions league were told they would now only have one spot, and Australia could have two, one for the team that tops the league, the other for the Grand Final winner.

The argument has been thrown up that finals series are the Australian way. If that is the case then surely if Australia is part of the Asian Confederation they should respect the Asian way, which happens to be the same as most leagues around the world.

The debate is bound to rage on. With no one right and no one wrong. It is simply a matter of opinion; ours being that being consistent over 22 games is a massive achievement and in the true meaning of the word allows you to call yourself a “champion.”

“I’ve never seen so many grown men crying”

Overheard post AFL Grand Final

Hi all, well its 8:30 pm on Sunday evening, my lads have gone home to Carole’s and I’m relaxing and getting round to blogging about my weekend, the last time I wrote was Friday (Big Weekend Coming Up), which was a post looking forward to the weekend ahead. This weekend was of course the weekend of the Super League Grand Final in Manchester at Old Trafford, and Gareth and I had tickets and a hotel room booked, so how was the weekend. It was pretty damn good is the answer to that question, we travelled down to Manchester, well Salford Crescent anyway on Saturday around mid day. We arrived at our hotel around mid afternoon and after booking in we headed to Salford Quays were we got some dinner and then visited the Imperial War Museum North, we tend to visit here each time we visit Salford Quays because as well as having its permanent displays it also has temporary exhibitions, this time it was all about prisoners of war.

Leeds Rhinos 18 – 10 Saint Helens

Afterwards we went to Old Trafford for the game, it was a good night as regards the weather, in fact it was just about perfect for the game, the crowd was massive and very loud, the atmosphere was superb, and it was a good game as well. It was tight and hard fought between Saint Helens and Leeds Rhinos, in the early part of the first half I thought Saints had, slightly, the upper hand but the Rhinos fought back during the later part of the first half, it was even at half time but I thought that after that Leeds always looked more likely to win.

In the end it was sown up by a great Leeds try by Lee Smith which may have had a possible hint of offside about it (although I wasn’t convinced either way on the matter), despite this it was a try worthy of a Grand Final. At full time the Rhinos had won 18 – 10 and it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. It is Leeds third Grand Final win on the run and Saints third Grand Final loss on the run, a pattern is forming, and not one Saints fans will appreciate.

Today we got the train back from Manchester Piccadilly station to Roose, we had a two and a half hour wait at Lancaster for our connection and had to stand from there back to Barrow as the train was full. We arrived home around 3:30 pm.

Later this afternoon we booked tickets online for the Four Nations rugby league international between England and Australia, its being played at the DW Stadium in Wigan on the 31st October, I’m really looking forward to this, it will be my first (well first major one anyway) rugby international.

So now I’m just relaxing, as I said on Friday, I have a holiday in for tomorrow, I’m not sure what I’m doing yet but I will be taking it easy and resting ready for work on Tuesday.

Previous Meetings: Saints have a 2-1 edge this season, with their cup win at Headingley the only time the away side won this game this year. They’ve been fairly even over the last few years, although it’s worth pointing out that Leeds have won their last two encounters at Old Trafford. 

Backline: Saints have the experience, Leeds have the talent, although the Rhinos aren’t exactly lacking in experience here and the Saints line-up isn’t too shabby. Leeds definitely seem to have a pace advantage. The wild-card in all of this is Kyle Eastmond, who is supposed to be a halfback but has spent most of this season roving in from the threequarter line, often to explosive effect. He is also the only person in either threequarter line never to play in the Grand Final, and along with Paul Wellens the only man not to score in the big game. Will he cower under the spotlight? I sort of doubt it.

Halves: Perhaps the most crucial battle in this match. Sean Long and Rob Burrow are both probably going to cancel each other out, although Long will try his hardest in his last ever Saints game. However, at Stand-Off we have a confrontation that in the last few years has extended beyond the Leeds-Saints rivalry: Leon Pryce or Danny McGuire? Since Pryce moved to Knowsley Rd the winner of this battle has usually been on the victorious side (the possible exception being their last regualr season game). Pryce has been mailing it in the last few months, whilst McGuire got a double in his last game. Pryce needs to pull his weight for Saints to win. 

Back Row: Both sides are pretty evenly mached at the back of the scrum. Leeds skew a bit younger, but Saints have Lee Gilmour (who might also end up in the centres) who remains one of the most underrated players in Super League. Leeds also have Ali Lauitiiti back, and he’s seemed to be Saints’ nemesis the last few times they have met. Look for Kevin Sinfield to carry out his usual playmaking role and for Jon Wilkin to occasionally do the same (although his kicking game was woeful last week). 

Front Row: This should be fun. In James Graham and Jamie Peacock, this confrontation features the two best English props not named Morley, and they’re ably backed up by the likes of Kylie Leuluai (consistent go-forward) and Maurie Fa’asavalu (who seemed back in form during the Wigan game). There’s also an underrated subplot to this game going on here – both James Roby and Matt Diskin will be wanting to show they have what it takes to be rake for the England FOur Nations campaign (Roby will almost definitely be in the squad, but this might be Diskin’s last chance to prove himself worthy). 

Coach: Brian McLennan has a pretty good track record in big finals, winning the Tri-Nations with New Zealand and only losing the second time in extra time. He’s also won at Old Trafford at his first attempt last year. He also seems to know when to mix it up and when to change the gameplan, which will be a boon tonight. This is Mick Potter’s first Grand Final as a coach, but he was Coach of the Year last season. People have criticized his management of Saints this year and this is his chance to prove them wrong.

In Conclusion… everything seems to be pointing towards a Rhinos victory, except for one thing: I’ve seen Saints live in three finals before (2006 & 2008 CC Final, 2006 GF) and they’ve won all three games, convincingly as well. Personally, I don’t think either of these sides will crush the other one, and I expect a good tough battle. If it rains, that plays into Leeds’ hands, although the forecast is currently saying it will just stay cloudy. Either Leeds are going to have the class to outmanouvre Saints (they’ve scored readily down the flanks in the last two Grand Finals) or Saints are going to send off Sean Long properly, which is something I keep coming back to. Never underestimate the poer of a good story…

I’ve got a big weekend coming up, its Super League Grand Final weekend and Gareth and I are gonna be there, we are off to Manchester on the train tomorrow, the game itself is tomorrow night at Old Trafford Stadium and then we’re staying overnight in a Hotel. We will come home on the train again on Sunday and then I’ve got a holiday in for Monday to make it a nice long weekend so I can catch up on some rest before going back to work on Tuesday.

This week started off fairly badly for me, I was feeling a bit of stress at work early this week and it was getting me down a little, as the week has wore on though, I’ve had a few less meetings, I’ve been able to catch up with the workload and of course its got closer to the weekend so the feelings of stress have eased off a bit. The tickets for the Grand Final arrived on Wednesday and of course I already had the hotel booked so my mind was set at rest for the coming weekend being all sorted and ready.

So to the weekend then, well this evening is as per normal, just enjoying whatever joys the TV brings us, then tomorrow, probably fairly early I will have to get some shopping in, I say probably fairly early coz of course we will be getting the train to Manchester sometime around midday I’m guessing, maybe a little earlier, haven’t really checked the times yet. Then Gareth and I will get the train to Manchester, we will no doubt get off at Salford Crescent, its handy for walking to our hotel, the Ramada, Salford Quays.

We will book into the hotel and after checking out the room we will probably head off to Salford Quays to potter around for the afternoon and no doubt get something to eat. In the evening we will make our way to Old Trafford Stadium and enjoy the atmosphere of the Grand Final and hopefully witness a great game of rugby between Leeds Rhinos and Saint Helens, its a shame Wigan Warriors didn’t make it but perhaps next year. After the game we will try our best to find our way back to the hotel. If its anything like last year we’ll probably watch the game again on the TV in the hotel room and no doubt we’ll get very little if any sleep.

We return home to Barrow on the train on Sunday, I’m guessing we will arrive home around midday, and then its a normal Sunday from there on till my sons go home to Carole in the evening.

On Tuesday, instead of going back to work I’ve put a days holiday in, I intend to sleep in a bit and probably get some rest, other than that it rather depends on the weather, I have the day to myself so can do pretty much whatever I want, you never know I may even get out with my camera, I do by the way have my camera battery on charge right now ready for the weekend, I may just get some snaps. Then the long weekend will come to an end as I go back into work on Tuesday

So that’s it, that’s the plan for this long weekend, well what plan there is anyway, I’m really looking forward to it, I will of course be reporting on most aspects of the weekend in future posts here on my blog. Anyway that’s all, I’ll say bye for now folks and see ya next time.

We’ve arrived at the magic number.  My first ever Challenge Cup Final was the 1978 date in which the late John Holmes sent his side home as I sat on the ledge between the upper and lower terraces in the Leeds end.  The family at the bottom of the upper terrace were Leeds fans and very kindly let me sit in front of them.  I have few recollections of the game itself other than the drop goals and my dad’s reaction.  At half-time the banter was in good spirits, replaced by a feeling of loss which had emanated from my dad.  It was a day without meaning for a six year old Saints fan but the memories of the feelings and atmosphere have never left.  Facing a trip to Old Trafford for a possible third loss at the hands of British rugby league’s new glamour club has presented many an issue for Saints fans.  Over the past twelve months I have witnessed, formerly avid Saints fans, throw off the chains of success and bemoan it to the point that some are not even attending this year’s Grand Final.  Many Saints fans are bored of success and as we now stand on the precipice of doom with no silverware to follow for many a year I question why they are not here to celebrate the club’s last chance of a trophy for, well until next year.

This season has now unwound.  Leeds have not given us a year similar to previous years and neither have Saints.  Purposeful or not, both teams appear set for trying to climax on Saturday.  It is mutual masturbation, with erotica replaced by a desire for perfect timing.  Like in the era before the internet when you used to express yourself, trying to time your tender moment when the right inspiration was on screen.  Mis-time it and you’ve switched from Harriet Makepeace’s folded arms look to Dempsey slaughtering the screen with his usual ham harvest. Timing is everything.  Have we been fortunate enough to be in this position before?  In the earlier years of the Grand Final it was commonplace to see the two finalists be at similar levels with a couple of exceptions when teams had blown themselves out just trying to qualify e.g. Wigan.  Does this year’s Grand Final present us with one of our most evenly-matched?  The predictors don’t think so.  We’re in for an unprecedented third consecutive championship winning season for Brian McClennan’s side and who can argue with that?

There are a few critical factors which the RL watching public have picked up upon in the build up to this match.  The strength of the defences, the pressure and Saints’ current capability around putting points on the board.  Starting with the latter, there is evidence to suggest Saints are struggling in that department, not having rattled up more than fifteen points since the trip to Harlequins RL in July.  There has definitely been a loss of chemistry with the ball compensated for by some stirling defensive efforts.  Compare this with Leeds who gave us some show-stopping action against Catalans in that game winning spell before half time.  There is little comparison.  It would be dangerous to jump to such a conclusion with Saints and it is something that I imagine their most aware fans will be wary of.  It is though a clear edge in form for the champions in this area.

Defensively it is not so clear.  Both teams can rely on strong efforts in this area.  Is there a difference?  Maybe where the difference between the two lies is in their ability to handle their opposition.  Saints may not be clicking and threatening out wide but they are inside.  Since the start of the year Potter has had his side barging up the middle with good success, much to the chagrin of some of the Saints mentalists.  In the head-to-head games against each other I think Saints have won this game on the basis of their defence has been stronger in winning the forward battle.  This is partly of course due to a less effective yardage making front set for Leeds.  It is also another dangerous game to ignore the wide threats of Lauititi and JJB.  The big Kiwi could prove to be a critical factor in the final outcome (33/1 for the Harry Sunderland).  There is an edge though but I’m not convinced its the kind of edge which influences you enough to look at winning margins for Saints because whatever Saints gain with the slowing of the PTB down, it is little when offset against Leeds’ first rate tackle grounding game.

And the final piece of this breakdown is the pressure.  Saints fans will have you believe the pressure is off them and the team.  It isn’t.  Losing for a third year in a row may send Saints into a downward mental spiral for future finals.  Losing so often to Saints harmed the Bulls only in losing face.  Bradford responded excellently in disposing of other opponents and the Saints legacy is a wrong they wish to correct in the same way Saints wish to do the same on Saturday.  Leeds are favourites and favourites with good cause.  Favourites can be a weighty tag.  It can also be a weighty advantage if you get on top quickly with some tries.  Everybody knows this.  It is down to Saints to prevent themselves getting put in that position.  If the game gets away from Saints before the interval it may already be lost so pressure may play a bigger part than anyone would like it to.

We want a game for the ages.  Each match between the two this year has been a cut above anything else we’ve seen in Super League.  I am not decrying the tremendous efforts we have seen across the competition this year because there has been some great confrontations in Super League XIV.  However, we are being flippant if we ignore how well these two have clashed over the years, going all the way back to my childhood and beyond.  A respect between the two has grown and grown to become a truly fierce rivalry for the ages akin to others in my lifetime.  I want a classic and I believe we will get all the drama and thrills which a classic demands.  A close encounter between two closely match bulks of beef. Big hits in great supply.  Hard runs garnering applause and Francis Meli.  It is time for Leeds to test Super League’s excitement machine and see if their stronger kicking game forces Saints into that mindblowing internal pressure.  Enjoy the game everybody.  Leeds by 6.

For those of you that have read this far and read along with me over the course of the year I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy lives to receive my thoughts.  There are many great sporting blogs out there and I hope that I’ve been able to provide you with something interesting and thoughtful.  After all, which other sporting blogs reference Neil Sedaka with Leeds’ effectiveness at bringing the tackler down and when do you ever see Noam Chomsky, Oscar-nominated shorts or the Foreman-Lyle heavyweight epic sit alongside the greatest game?  If you follow my links I hope you enjoy them as much as I have enjoyed sourcing them.  Usually, if you haven’t realised already, I’ll try and find a way of shoehorning in something I like and tailor my waffle around it.  I love this game.

Power to the peaceful.

So… here in Australia, its the time of year for grand finals of the major codes of Football. Melbourne Storm defeated the Parramatta Eels in the NRL Grand Final. Victorious jubilation on the streets of Melbourne… and in Sydney, particularly around Parramatta… grown men crying in public.

I’m wondering about this issue of Grand Final Grief… it seems to affect both the players of the grand finalist runners up and their fans in almost equal measure. But is this really warranted?

When it comes to the players, it surprised me to hear that the Sydney Swans were counseled after their one point loss in the AFL Grand Final a few years ago. But for all of that I’m not surprised that its going to deeply affect the team itself. They worked hard, they gave it their best, and nobody likes falling just short of the mark… sometimes it feels even worse coming second than it would to… say… come in fifth. Just the fact that you’re so close yet not making it feels like a solid kick to the crotch.

And since it takes a team effort in team sports to win, the feeling that each player has that they let down the rest of their team would set in too.

In terms of the Grand Final Grief in athletes… its best to just let the negativity run its course, then when you’re ready, remind yourself of how far you made it… and while 2nd place is no 1st place, it was still a colossal accomplishment to make it that far.

Anyway, what I’m more concerned with is the Grand Final Grief in the fans. Of course, images come up here of the legions of hardcore sports fans, wearing the colours of their favourite team, maybe waving a flag or banner or giant foam hand in the team colours, cheering loudly every time their team scores, and booing even louder when the opposing team scores. European soccer fans may even take this football fever to a higher level, riot, and tear up half the city based on the final result of the game.

Now… I don’t want to judge people for having an obsession… or rather something they are passionate about. In many cases, it even helps to be passionate about something… it adds a bit of zest to life. But come on! Its just a game, and you weren’t even a participant.

I must admit, I get moments where I think it pathetic that the fans seem to get even more upset about the final result than the team itself. I mean, grown men crying out in the street, people taking sick days, moping about with their friends and consoling each other almost as if someone just died.

But then I remember that we are all conditioned towards this sort of mentality. I remember getting upset in 2001 and 2004 when John Howard won the federal elections of those years, and my sense of jubilation when Kevin Rudd won in 2007. I see even stronger fervor in Democrats and Republicans, not just during the election campaign but just about every day between elections… look at how hysterical the Republicans are at the moment. I also find at times emotionally investing in sides of historical wars… like the Greeks over the Persians during the Persian Wars, Julius Caesar over Pompey in their civil war in the ancient Roman Republic, Saladin over the Crusader States, Scotland over England, France over England, Ireland over England… and it just goes on. I imagine that is because of the perspectives of the stories surrounding those wars and which side is portrayed more sympathetically.

I think we need to remind ourselves that how we feel about one side or the other is of no significance in the big picture. In fact, quite often, we don’t even have any real reason to emotionally invest ourselves in these contests because they don’t have any direct effect on us. Does it really affect your chances of surviving and thriving in the world you live in if the Parramatta Eels lost the Grand Final, or which wing of the oligarchical elite wins an election, or Xerxes crushed those three hundred Spartans at Thermopylae?

What a weekend it was.

For just the second time in 23 years, the Eels made the Grand Final and I was there again. Just like I was in 2001 when we roared into the Grand Final as red-hot favourites.

This time we had scraped into the finals and pounded the top 3 sides to make the Grand Final, riding on a wing, prayer and history. We could have been the first team to win it from 8th spot.

Last week was amazing. We beat our arch-rivals, the Bulldogs, in front of 75,000 people. The crowd was deafening and it was the best Rugby League match I had ever been to. My son told me it had been the best day of his life. Nothing warms the heart more!

But this was the big one. The one that counts. We had reached the prelimiary final 5 times since 1986, but only made the Grand Final twice. We needed to make it count.

So, Dougall, Yellster, Ed and I took the nervous train trip to Homebush to drink, cheer and hopefully be merry.

We downed 4 at the Brewery before the game. I had never seen so many Parra jerseys in one place. It was a sea of blue and gold and the feeling of anxiety and excitement was palpable. I felt good and I felt confident. I had bets on for a 13+ victory. Perhaps ambitious, but that’s how I felt.

We stepped into the Stadium and saw the swarmof people around us. We had nice seats behind the goal posts but with a great view.

It was a game of 2 halves. The first, we had nothing to cheer about. Melbourne scored twice through some uncharacteristically weak defence. We didn’t have that spark. Hayne was very quiet. The crowd was nervous at half-time. I hardly even remember it.

The second was better. We lifted. Guru scored. Fui scored and we were happy.

All I could do was hope…maybe, we can come back…one last time.

It wasn’t to be. An uncontested bomb, a bullshit refereeing decision (fuck you Tony Archer), and a field goal later, and the Eels went down, 23-16. Melbourne win their 3rd premiership of the decade.

I was gutted to have lost again. It’s hard to lose a Grand Final after weeks of build-up. I can only imagine what it must feel like for the players.

But next year is a new decade, and a new chance for the Eels to start their domination. Tahu’s back. Poore and Shackleton are in. We will hopefully keep the core of the team. There’s no reason we can’t get there again.

I just wish I didn’t have to wait 12 months to do it again.

It looked like it was going to be a comfortable victory for the Melbourne Storm heading into the final fifteen minutes. They were leading 22-6 thanks to tries to Ryan Hoffman, Adam Blair, Greg Inglis and Billy Slater, and had even snuffed out Eric Grothe’s would-be comeback-igniter with Slater’s effort. Turns out the Eels just needed to find a second wind, which they did thanks to tries to Joel Reddy and an absolute barnstorming run from Fuifui Moimoi during which I’m pretty sure he would’ve knocked a hippo out of the way. In the end though Moimoi was adjudged to be the villain, accused by the referee of stealing the ball from Slater when all the evidence seemed to show his innocence. In the end, the penalty was enough to take the Storm deep into Parramatta territory, and Greg Inglis relieved his teammates by popping over a drop goal to take the Storm that crucial second score further from the Eels. 

If Parramatta had managed to succeed with their late surge, it would have been the ultimate example of an underserving team scraping a victory because apart from that ten-minute spell they were completely dominated by the Storm. The Eels’ run to the Grand Final had been built on dominating in the forwards and utilising the momentum in the 2nd phase. The one problem was it seemed quite obvious that they weren’t going to bully the Storm around like they had the Dragons, Titans and Bulldogs. In fact, the Storm played it almost note-perfect, swarming the Eeels and taking the big shots when they could (special kudos to Adam Blair who seemed to make it his personal mission to show  the Eels they wouldn’t have everything their own way). They also exploited their attacking opportunities perfectly, and they had a telepathic knowledge of where the support runners would be. I’m also amazed Cooper Cronk didn’t win the Churchill Medal, because he operated the Melbourne machine with pilot-like precision and was at the heart of their scoring (he set up three of four tries). Still, Billy Slater didn’t do too badly either so I won’t begrudge him his medal.

The Eels tried hard, but they just couldn’t break the Storm down apart from that magical spell. Nathan Hindmarsh made 64 tackles. 64! That’s a tackle every 75 seconds. That’s straight-up insane and a fantastic example of Hindmarsh’s extreme work ethic, but the fact he had to make so many tackles is indicative of the fact that the Eels weren’t on the front foot enough, which unfortunately for them is essential for their jazz-style of rugby to work. Fuifui Moimoi was also full of energy, but the Storm did a good job of containing him (if not stopping him). The fact that Jarryd Hayne didn’t really have all that much of a chance to show his talents was indicative of the Eels’ failings, and also indicative of a smart gameplan from the Storm who didn’t let him into the game. His face after his knock-on at the end of the game was that of a frustrated man unable to shape the game his way for the first time in a month. It also didn’t help that their final tackle options and kicking game could be generously called ‘godawful’. 

And so the Storm win their second Grand Final in four years, having been in the final game in all those seasons as well, which cements their reputation as the Rugby League dynasty over the past decade – not bad going considering the club is barely a decade old anyway. Greg Inglis hasn’t played a full season and not reached the Grand Final yet, and with their Toyota Cup side winning that competition (with an English full-back, Gareth Widdop, who might find himself getting international recognition soon) it looks like they’ll be up there for the next few years at least. As for Parramatta, it’s not a bad effort for Daniel Anderson’s first year in charge, and now they have the experience of going this far they should be the wiser for the experience. Of course, to go that one further they’ll have to go through the Storm, not to mention all the other teams in the NRL who will have looked to improve. It should be fun next year.

The NRL grand final of 2009 was held yesterday, between the Melbourne Storm and the Paramatta eels.

The storm being the 4th time Grand Finalist in the row since 2006, while the stunning from in the late season surge saw the eels climb up from 14th on the ladder to the grand final with 10 wins from the last 11 games.

Storm, famous for being clinical and methodical, and the infamous “wrestler” team, is the form team of the decade like the eels in the 80s, raiders and the broncos in the 90s. Whereas Paramatta won the heart of many league fan enthusiasts like me with their fearless and extravagant expansive play of attack, led by Dally M medalist Jarrod Hayne and damaging wrecking-ball Fui Fui Moi Moi (one of the best sporting names I know). Like the legendary commentator Phil Gould said: “it’s man versus machine”, it’s a matter of whether the unpredictable attack of Paramatta can outgun the great impenetrable defence of Melbourne.

(Image courtesy of  Yahoo!Xtra sport)

Just like every para fans wanted to see, MoiMoi took up the first hit up in the slight drizzle weather. However, he got hammered by a 3 man tackle involving Johnson and Blair and his progress grind to a sudden halt in the 10m line, and Hayne was forced to kick within his 40 on the 4th tackle. From then on it’s all territory to Melbourne. The continuous pressure eventually take its toll as Hoffman burst open the defence line and scored in the 5th minute.  Storm 6-0

Eels didn’t manage to recover from the shock, and Inu coughed up the ball in their next set which gives the storms more possession. While they tried to spread the ball in attack, they went too lateral most of the time and got shut down really easily from the opposition centres (Inglis and Chambers) in the rush defence.  Whereas Melbourne waited for their chance and scored another try in the 22th(?) minute. Ball passed to the left, Finch do a switching play to cut the ball the right. Cronk dummied to Slater and ran past a feeble tackle from Robson and feed Blair for an easy try in the right hand side. Storm 10-0.

Reddy injured his head while trying to do a rush defence on Finch (which failed) late in the first half. Eels kept bombing to Turner which is practically no use as he pretty much defused every one of them (I know they want to avoid Inglis and Slater getting their  hands on the ball, but seriously…). Mortimer kept tacked in the 4th or 5th tackle with no supports on the shoulder. Their kicking game was also woeful, giving 3 20m taps to the Storm each time the Eels manage to get to the opposition zone. In contrast, Melbourne just kept working on their business, most of the time kicking in space between Hayne and a winger. Hayne never got a chance to shine.

Half Time. Even the Eels legend Peter Sterling commented that the effort from the eels was awful.

The 2nd half started more brightly for the eels, as they started to run more direct. Moi Moi started to make his mark on the game with a series of huge massive tackles on almost every forwards in the Melbourne pack. The momentum slowing goes to the eels and then bring on Mateo. His first few touches were alright, but then he started a raid down the left hand side with a 50m bust. He got tackled, but then the eels quickly swings the ball to the right and Grothe scored under the attention of 3 defenders. Storm 10-6.

Terrible defence lapse from replacement Ben Smith then gifted the storm another 6-pointer in the next set. Cronk launched a high up-and-under, Ben Smith (who is now defending in the right centre position due to the injury break to Reddy) just stand with hands on hip and watch Inglis take the bomb and stroll over under the bar.. Hayne didn’t manage to get there in time. Storm 16-6.

The next scoring play comes near the 60min mark. Blair ran in a very tight angle onto a short ball from Cronk and broke the line. He then feed Slater the ball for one of the easiest but the most clinical try. Storm 22-6.

When all seems gone, and the clock ticking near the 70min mark. The eels suddenly springs to life. The offloads starts to stick, and Reddy latch to a bomb and scored in the right hand corner. Storm 22-12. What’s even better is the next set. They starts to throw wide passes around, starts to offload at will, each tackle gain at least 15 meters. It was one of the most magical set in the game and exemplify what the eels are capable with once they shed their big game nerve. The set finishes off with Moi Moi (who I think should’ve been the man of the match) crashing over from 20m out with 4 defenders on top of him. Storm 22-16. 6 points difference. Time: 73 minutes passed.

Then at the 76th minute comes the most crucial and controversial penalty in the game. Slater received a bomb and ran toward the half way line. He then got tackled by Moi Moi (again) and lost the ball in process while Moi Moi was holding onto the leg.  The referee ruled that it’s a 2 man strip and awarded the penalty to Storm. From then on Inglis slotted a field goal and made it a 7 point difference. Storm 23-16. After that the game was gone for the eels, finished off with a Hayne knock-on from an offload.

Personally I really want the eels to win, simply because the storm had been too stagnant and boring. Granted, storm got some pretty awesome players, but it’s just their playing style. I still feel that the referee are showing a bit of favouritism. They never got handing  the ball away to the opposition in a 2 men tackle though.

Anyway, since it’s their 4th trip to the Grand Final in a row for them, I felt like that a storm win could solidify their status as the form team of the decade and they did it. Their form throughout the final series had been superb and deserve to be the best side at the back end of the season. Kind of sad that the match winning play came after that controversial decision from the referee though.

Well the NRL grand final has been run and won and in the end the better side came out on top.  Congratulations to the Melbourne Storm, they’ve been so consistent over the past four years and richly deserve the title.  I always felt that if Parramatta were going to have a chance in the big one they needed to get off to a flying start to keep the momentum going.  As it was Melbourne played it very professionally, got out to a ten point early lead and always really had the game under control.  Credit to the Eels they surged late but it was the first half lapses, and the extremely soft try they allowed Inglis to score, that really sunk them.

I thought Eric Grothe had a great game, he made a number of damaging runs and wasn’t the liability in defence that was touted pre-match.  Moimoi was inspirational, I’d like to know how many minutes he played overall, he seemed to be on the park more than usual and gave it everything he had.  But for me the star was as always Nathan Hindmarsh, an amazing 63 tackles and if there is ever a player that deserves a premiership its Hindy. Foxsports did an article that sums it up nicely, you can read it here.  Jarryd Hayne was disappointing, but hopefully the pain of defeat will spur him on to even greater things next season.

The real success of the day from my point of view was the pre-game cooking I did for the family.  Given the NRL grand final was on at the unusual time of 5pm, it was difficult to plan a full barbecue dinner or the like.  So I ended up opting for an appetizer type dish before the game, a recipe I found on taste.com.au called Five Spice Chicken Bites.  I ended up actually cooking them on the BBQ and they came out really well, everybody really enjoyed them and they were a great option just before the big game.  They actually ended up looking very similar to this:

Five Spice Chicken Bites ... tasty!

So that’s it for another footy season … a thrilling run for the Eels but not quite the fairy tale that was hoped for.

So this is it, the biggest game of the season for the Barrow Raiders, my hometown rugby league side, this is the Co-operative Championship Grand Final at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington where the Raiders, in their second final of the year, take on Halifax for the big prize. Barrow played Halifax on the way to this final during the play offs and the Raiders won 35 – 12 while dominating the game with a great performance, this is the final though and I’m expecting a much closer affair.

Halifax made a strong start in the first half and for much of the first 12 minutes or so Barrow barely got out of their own half, after piling on a lot of pressure Halifax eventually got a try scored by Haley, it was 0 – 4 to Halifax. After this try it became a bit more equal with Barrow getting more possession than earlier, it was at times a bit of a stalemate though with not much happening, other than Chris Young having his head busted open in a clash of heads and going off on 27 minutes.

On the half hour mark Halifax put in a cross field kick along the ground which Royston turned into a try which was converted to make it 0 – 10 to Halifax, Barrow hadn’t really got going at this point. Two minutes later though Rooney chipped a nice little kick over the top for Liam Harrison to score the Raiders first try of the game and the conversion made it 6 – 10, Barrow were back in the game.

Then on 37 minutes Barrow broke with a very nice team try with some nice passing play finished off by Andy Ballard, the following conversion made it 10 – 10 and that’s how the first half ended, the score equal and with the Raiders appearing at last to have some momentum.

The second half began quite equal being fought mainly in the middle of the field except for on 45 minutes when a Barrow error led to a Halifax try from Black, during the second half Chris Young did return with his head bandaged.

As the second half wore on the Raiders began to slowly get the upper hand then on 61 minutes Zeb Luisi made a nice pass to Dave Allen who went over for a try and Barrow went ahead for the first time at 16 – 14. Four minutes later Andreas Bauer dived over from a play the ball right on the Halifax line to stretch the lead further to 20 – 14.

On 70 minutes Govin scored a really nice individual try for Halifax pulling the score back to 20 – 18 but on 77 minutes after some prolonged pressure and a nice passing move Andreas Bauer went over for his second try making it 26 – 18 to Barrow.

The final score was Barrow Raiders 26 – 18 Halifax, the Raiders finished the stronger side and for the latter part of the second half had most of the possession, I’d like to mention Zeb Luisi who I thought had a good game and Gary Broadbent was superb as usual, its difficult to pick out anyone else as stand out, I thought they were all pretty equal.

Well done the Barrow Raiders, now the Co-operative Championship Grand Final winners and Championship winners.

Parramatta in the 1980’s; Canberra and then Brisbane in the 1990’s and Melbourne in the 2000’s. The Storm are now officially in the annals of the sport as one of the great modern rugby league sides.

Sentiment wanted Parramatta to win, and while the Storm was not the best side throughout 2009, they got the premiership they deserved for making four grand finals. Their experience showed.

If only it didn’t take Parramatta 70 minutes to truly believe; and if only the two referees got the call right at the crucial moment that paved the way for Inglis’ field goal.

But the result was true. Ruthless. Brutal. Clinical. Their scramble defence was breathtaking; their ability to halt Parramatta’s momentum around the play-the-ball whenever it seemed they were gaining ascendancy, and their structure and organisation was a cut above. While Mortimer looked over his shoulder and time and time again only found air, the Storm had subtlety and variation all over the park.

All the week’s talk had been about catching Eric Grothe jamming in off his wing, yet the first try came as Reddy and Grothe stayed wide waiting for the second man play, but Ryan Hoffman grabbed the pill and ran straight instead, catching Robson and Reddy out. Too good.

Inglis catches a pinpoint Cronk bomb to score while Ben Smith has his hands on his hips ball watching; Parra’s attempts to bomb are defused, with Jeff Lima hustling around the action to block any incoming runs.

Too good. Pick a one-percenter, and Melbourne have been the yardstick for 4 years.

But answer one question: how was Billy Slater man-of-the-match? He might have been the standout of the finals – but that’s not what the medal was for – and he did drop a bomb that could have handed the win to Parra.

For Parra, on the other hand, Nathan Hindmarsh has surely earned himself a Kangaroos recall. Fui Fui Moi Moi must’ve come close to winning the Clive Churchill medal and I’m struggling to think of a better grand final try this decade, including Stacey Jones (02), Pat Richards (05) and Greg Inglis (07).

But Parra lost the grand final in the first half, which flew by without them showing any semblance of the side that has stunned us over the past three months. How long will their drought continue? They should be there-or-there-about again next year, maybe without another dramatic comeback from the doldrums. Mortimer is a young, class act and they’ve signed well in the forwards, but they need to sort out who will play 7 & 9 if they release the incumbents.

Melbourne? They’re just not going to go away. They were supposed to be finished after last year’s comeback, but that nucleus is still there. And they’ll always have their cut price gems that Craig Bellamy turns into grinders, tackle machines and line busters.

And Brett Finch? Not finals material at Parramatta. But at Melbourne …

Its Grand Final day in the National Rugby League, and my team, the Parramatta Eels have made the big game in improbable fashion.  Despite being laden with talent the Eels had a shocking start to the season, and I think at season midpoint were coming second last.  Then somehow, something turned it all around … and they started playing to their potential.  Initially they put a few scatchy wins together, then suddenly they got on a roll.  With seven rounds to go it looked like they needed to win them all just to scrape into the finals in eighth spot, they continued to win and other results fell their way, to the point where with one round to go they had locked up a finals berth.  In the final round they were belted by minor premiers St George 37-0 and it looked like the run might have come to an end.  But into the finals they turned the tables, beat St George, then the Gold Coast, then arch rivals the Canterbury Bulldogs to make the Grand Final.  While everyone in the team has stepped up, the run has been sparked by the inspirational play of this man:

As far as I am aware no team has come from eigth under the current finals format to play, let alone win the Grand Final.  But they are up against the Melbourne Storm, who are making their fourth consecutive Grand Final appearance and are rightly favourites.  The weather forecast is a bit questionable too and if it’s wet that could dampen (ha!) our chances.  It’s been a fairytale run, and a win for Parra would make this run something special that will be remembered for a long time. If they lose I think it will fade into history reasonably quickly.  The key for Parramatta I think is to start well … they’ve been playing on momentum and emotion, and if Melbourne get away early that could all come unstuck.  It’s been 23 years since we won a premiership, so we are definitely due!  Good luck to the Eels and let’s hope the fairytale has the right ending!

Last night Leeds got the win I expected against Catalan in the first Grand Final semi final, it was a good game, possibly the best of the play offs thus far, well I think it certainly was, the final score was Leeds Rhinos 27 – 20 Catalans Dragons, this of course means the Rhinos are once again in the Grand Final at Old Trafford.

Tonight we find out who they are to face in the biggest game of the season. Tonight Saint Helens host the wonderful Wigan Warriors in the second semi, this is going to be a bruiser, I fully expect the Warriors and Saints to knock the hell out of each other, its a derby game, its a grudge match and its the decider to see who goes through to the showcase final, these two sides are gonna mean business. I reckon, and hope, that this is gonna be a scorcher and I’m hoping, of course, for a Wigan win so I can go and see them at Old Trafford in the big one.

This game was played in very windy conditions although this wasn’t used much by either side and played very little part in the game in the end. Wigan couldn’t have really got off to a worst start if they had tried, Francis Meli went over for a try in just one and a half minutes in a break from defence made by Kyle Eastmond, 4 – 0 to Saints very early on.

During the first half Wigan sometimes looked a little disorganised in their play and support was often lacking for runners, all the same from a high Sam Tomkins kick Ade Gardner made a meal of his defensive play and George Carmont was able to take advantage and go over for a try, the conversion made it 4 – 6 to Wigan. During the first half both sides had tries disallowed but on 36 minutes Sean Long went over to make it 10 – 6 to Saint Helens which is how the first half ended.

At the start of the second half Saints once again started well and on 49 minutes an overlap on the wing gave Francis Meli his second try, it was now 14 – 6 to Saints and was starting to look a little like it had got away from Wigan. The Warriors fought back hard though and applied some pressure on the Saints line, but Saints were defending well.

On 70 minutes Wigan had a long break away from their own defence, Joel Tomkins broke away and made a lovely little pass, Pat Richards carried the break on, collecting his own lovely little kick through to score a try making it 14 – 10 and it was game on once more. It was pretty tight from here onward, the Warriors were hunting the mistake but Saints were in no mood to make that mistake and in the end the final score was Saint Helens 14 – 10 Wigan Warriors.

It was a pretty decent game, it wasn’t a classic but it was close and exciting, Wigan weren’t at their best in my opinion, some things just didn’t work for them and like I said earlier they looked slightly disorganised at times and support play was occasionally lacking, Saints played pretty well, they didn’t do much that was spectacular but they were solid and didn’t make many mistakes.

So for the third year on the run the Grand Final well be decided between Leeds Rhinos and Saint Helens, can anybody say “predictable” and once again the Warriors fought hard through the play offs but just couldn’t quite get through.

This will be Brian Nobles last game in charge of the Wigan Warriors and I look forward to see who’ll be taking control next year.

Anyway despite the Warriors not getting through Gareth and I went online and bought our tickets for the Grand Final, we will be there, as neutrals, hopefully enjoying a very good game of rugby on an occasion which is always enjoyable and that has superb atmosphere whoever is playing.

Burgess makes a break against the Kiwis

Bradford Bulls powerhouse prop Sam Burgess will be playing in the NRL for the South Sydney Rabbitohs next season.

At 20 years old it’s a major boost for his career and he’s got an exciting four years ahead living in Australia. I’m glad he’ll be developing his game in the NRL because when he pulls on his England jersey he’ll be a much improved player as a result. It’s also nice to see that clubs in the NRL are interested in our Super League stars. It makes me a little more hopeful that the gulf between the two leagues is not as wide as recent international games suggests.

Whilst it’s looking bright for Burgess and on the international front it spells another setback for Bradford Bulls. After coming through the ranks at Bradford, Burgess stormed onto the scene and was 2007’s young player of the year. He is key to the Bulls’ set up and the loss of a player of this calibre is another chapter in the club’s rapid demise.

Bradford 2006 World Club Champions

Just a few years ago they were Grand Final winners and then went on to defeat West Tigers to become World Club Champions in 2006. Bradford were the team to beat and were one of the most successful sides of the Super League era. Now in 2009 they find themselves slumped in 9th spot sitting out the play offs and with plenty of time on their hands to remember the glory of years gone by and wonder where it all went wrong?

There’ll be a new look to the squad for 2010 with Terry Newton, Matt Cook, Glen Morrison, Ben Jeffries and David Solomona all on their way out. Will the disruption to the squad lead to more poor performances on the pitch and a slide further down the table or will it be the turning point when Bradford rebuild and bid to become the mighty force they once were?

Andrew Voss might rub people the wrong way, but he knows a good statistic when he sees one.

It went something like this:

2007 – Melbourne Victory, Geelong Cats and Melbourne Storm won Australia’s sporting premierships, with the Storm beating Parramatta, Brisbane and Manly en route to the win.

2009? Melbourne Victory and Geelong Cats are already on the board, and guess who the Storm have beaten in the finals? Manly and Brisbane, with Parra to come?

Like the Cats, the Storm have the chance to write themselves into NRL history on Sunday to join the great sides in rugby league history, or go down as a side that lost 3/4 grand finals. The Roosters, despite also losing two grand finals, will probably define the first half the decade, and the Storm the latter. If they win, the decade belongs to them (even though Brisbane also won two premierships; 2000 & 2006).

But the last club to make four grand finals on the trot (1981-4) has the chance to spoil the party and do the unthinkable by winning a premiership from eighth spot.

Vossy’s statistics might be compelling, but why has everyone gone cold on Parramatta all of a sudden?

Here is a side that has only struggled against one side since mid-July (Dragons 37-0 loss) – but came out and belted them the next week – in a run that has accounted for teams 1,2,3 and 4 in the process.

The argument goes that Melbourne can nullify Parra’s pack, upon which they have more structure in the play book, and if worse comes to worse, Greg Inglis is in demoralising form out wide, and Slater wants his Aussie jersey still. They’ll run plays down the left edge to catch out Eric Grothe. Will Parramatta’s kicking game be adept enough to turn Billy Slater around?

Ricky Stuart wrote an interesting piece in The Sunday Telegraph last week. Despite the article being a very public tete-a-tete with Brett Kimmorley, he argued that hype surrounding Kimmorley’s injury masked that he doesn’t have the game to deliver another premiership.

Harsh. Returning from injury, Kimmorley would be the first to admit he didn’t reach the same click as he had been all season, so it’s rough to jump to that conclusion.

But Stuart’s point is, grand finals are not only won on defence, but by the team with an X-factor. Willie Mason, Benji Marshall, Darren Lockyer, Brett Stewart …

And look at these two grand finalists, and they are laced with super star game breakers. Hayne, Inu, Moi Moi, Mateo … Slater, Inglis, Cronk, Smith … It’s pretty evenly matched. There’s not a lot in it.

Melbourne’s watertight defence has been deemed too strong, too efficient, too mobile at the right time of the year. But let’s face it. The Broncos were meek, and so too were Manly. Parramatta aren’t one-trick ponies. They can go out wide to their blistering pace. Luke Burt and Inu are a scintillating duo. If that doesn’t work, they can burst through the ruck or torment with second phase.

I don’t know how people can forecast a whitewash.

It’s an Eels fairytale for me. And another great Sydney club rising from its slumber to reignite the sport in this part of town.

As much as anyone tries to change the face of rugby league or aussie rules as they ‘battle’ for supremacy, it loses sight that these two cities just love two different sports.

Melbourne always buzzes in the last week in September; but its feverish when St Kilda and Geelong are there, and Brisbane and Sydney are not.

It will be hard to top the emotion of last week’s Parra-Bulldogs clash.

It proves one thing – the AFL can stick their Western Sydney Woodducks in a game against the Gold Goast Gibberers out at ANZ Stadium, but they will never eat into the well-worn bloodlines that run deep through Western Sydney.

The tears have dried. But the heartbreak lingers on.

I’m still coming to terms with it, to be honest. Never in my life have been so devastated. An over a FOOTBALL game. The fact that I’m writing this five days after the Grand Final just shows how devastated I’ve been. I got over the worst of it on Monday when I went back to Uni.

And yes, there were tears. Perhaps not as many as I expected, but there was a enough to make me feel completely embarassed. I did not cry at the game. I was extremely tired and emotional though. But I did not cry at the game. I did not cry when I got home. I did not cry the next day at work. I did not go to the Family Day for fear of crying in public. However, Sunday night, when I was at home just about to go and have dinner, the news came on and there was a report from the St Kilda Family Day. Suddenly, the tears I’d been holding back for 24 hours finally came. And boy, did they come. It was an emotional punch in the guts. I was crying, the fans were crying, the players were crying. There was so much crying even the most hardened of people would have shed a tear.

Even writing this, I’m starting to get a little emotional again. I feel so stupid, a bit pathetic.  It’s a game for crying out loud. I wasn’t even playing.

I just wanna say, despite the result on Saturday, I’m so extremely proud of our boys. We should have won that game. It should have been in the bag at three quarter-time. But it wasn’t. Geelong kicked the last two and only goals for the 4th quarter. They won. Simple. But proud as punch. I love this team. More than a lot of people can fathom.

They say a week is a long time in football, and 12 months is an eternity. But the Saints will be back next year. And no matter what happens, so will I.

In a week and a half on Saturday 10th October the Super League Grand Final takes place in Manchester at Old Trafford, so with this in mind I’ve booked a hotel room online this evening. I have booked a room in the same hotel Gareth and I used last year, the Ramada, Manchester, Salford Quays, I chose a twin bedded room for Gareth and I to share.

This means we will be able to spend the afternoon pottering around the quays before going to the game, we will actually travel to Manchester by train on Saturday, go to the hotel, spend the afternoon at the quays, probably, then off to Old Trafford for the game and afterwards back to the hotel for the night. We will leave the hotel and Manchester to come home on the train on the Sunday.

Normally we would already have our tickets for the Grand Final bought, but we’re waiting to see if Wigan Warriors get there, if they don’t we will still be going but if the Warriors do get there then we want to know which end the Wigan fans will be so we can get our tickets for that end, if they don’t make it then it doesn’t matter which end we are in.

Of course before the Final next Saturday there are the semi finals this weekend, Leeds Rhinos are playing against Catalan Dragons, I have to fancy Leeds to win that one which would of course put the Rhinos into the Grand Final to meet either Saint Helens or Wigan Warriors who fight it out in the other semi.

So this Saturday then its Saints against Wigan, this is gonna be a tough one, it will be hard and physical and could go either way, I reckon if Wigan start well and rack some points up in the first half then they will probably nick it, but if Saints hold us then it could just go the other way. I personally think, or is that hope, that the Warriors will get the better of it and go through to the Grand Final to meet Leeds, I hope so, it will be nice to be watching the team I support in the final rather than viewing it as a neutral once again.

Wow – Geelong are good at this cup-lifting thing! Looks like they’ve done it before…

Holy crap – what a day! A massive audience, a classic match and even the pre-match entertainment didn’t totally suck…well, until the Jersey Boys got involved! Yep, a limp-as-a-lettuce-leaf rendition of the national anthem – won’t that inspire to football masses to buy tickets to their crappy stage show!

Chappy deservedly wins Norm…just don’t ask me how he did it!

Anyway, back to the footy and on a wet, cold day at the ‘G, it was Geelong that found their way to the front when it mattered to win a second flag in three seasons. On the verge of two straight grand final catastrophes, the Cats scored three goals to nil in the final term to earn the ultimate reward for their sustained excellence and become a truly great outfit. Look out, Lions!

How would it feel to lead most of the way in a Grand Final and lose? Lenny Hayes pretty much sums it up…

One of these teams was always going to feel unfortunate to miss out on the great prize. Few could have predicted just how devastating defeat would become for the Saints…particularly when things quite easily could have gone their way had they capitalised on their opportunities early.

Broken collarbone, busted nose, dream destroyed…hard to imagine anybody feeling worse than Brendon Goddard must have after the siren!

If there is any consolation for the St Kilda faithful, it seems to lie with the hard-line stance of the coach looking to ensure his club strives to improve and bounce back in 2010. The popular Max Hudghton won’t be back but it will be interesting to see if anybody else joins him on the sidelines…like little twerp goal sneaks who wear number 44, for example.

Max Rooke claims himself some new wheels…might come in handy this week during the celebrations! Wonder if his psychic told him about this as well?

But enough HBF-style hardcore analysis…it’s time to wind down after a long season that again defied all expectations (and defied logic at certain stages) and let our collective hairs down! Then, maybe, we can start worrying about who will be the team to beat in 2010. Until then, may all your Mondays be Mad and your blondes a little better looking than this one!

By CHARLES HAPPELL

The NRL judiciary stands accused of handing down one of the most expedient and spineless rulings imaginable with its clearing yesterday of Parramatta’s Jarryd Hayne for Sunday’s Grand Final.

How else to explain a decision that allows a player to take the field a week after sliding knees-first into another player’s temple, an action that had the potential to cause untold damage? That’s precisely what Hayne did in the preliminary final on Friday night when he crashed into the head of Bulldogs winger Bryson Goodwin after Goodwin had crossed for a try.

The NRL match review panel met on Sunday, understanding full well the gravity of the situation that confronted them – for this was the Dally M Player of the Year they were sitting in judgment on -  and decided after some deliberation that Hayne’s reckless and dangerous act did not warrant a suspension. A 20 per cent loading from an earlier guilty verdict was added to the 100 demerit points for a grade-one dangerous contact charge, but that total was reduced by 25 per cent for Haynes’ early guilty plea, meaning he was left with 90 demerit points – enabling him to play.

What was most worrying over the weekend was the talk from many NRL pundits and luminaries – in print, on TV and radio – who conceded that, had the incident occurred in round 12 or round 17, Hayne would definitely have received a ban of one or two matches. The same people also said what a shame it would be if Hayne, one of the game’s superstars, was not available for league’s showpiece event. And how his absence in the showdown against the game’s other great full-back, Melbourne’s Billy Slater, might cost the NRL 10,000 people at the gate. 

The logic was warped, but the implication clear: penalties in rugby league are malleable and shaped according to the circumstances in which the NRL finds itself. That the competition’s principles are flexible and its morality rubbery:  ‘We’ll come down hard on miscreant players in the middle of the season but lash them with a limp lettuce leaf during the finals series, especially if they’ve got a massive profile’. 

Players miss grand finals through suspension in every sport, every year. And, in the AFL anyway, those suspensions have been handed down without fear or favour (with the notable exception of Barry Hall in 2005). They have hit both the good and the great. In 1951, Essendon’s champion full-forward John Coleman was suspended for a grand final; the same thing happened to Melbourne captain Ron Barassi in 1963 and then to Collingwood’s flamboyant forward Phil Carman in 1977.

NRL match review chief Greg McCallum said he was braced for criticism about the panel’s decision and the apparent preferential treatment given to one of the game’s biggest drawcards. He was also aware of the apparent double-standards after Storm captain Cameron Smith was rubbed out of last year’s grand final for a grapple tackle.

For Melbourne Storm players and administrators, the Hayne decision must have been a difficult one to swallow. Melbourne chief executive Brian Waldron, who lambasted the judiciary after Smith was suspended for last year’s decider, put on a brave face yesterday and praised the decision to clear Hayne. “Great games need great players,” Waldron said. “It’s a great thing for the game.” And he appeared to be genuine – not chewing on his knuckle at the time he said it.

So the NRL has got what it wanted: a Grand Final featuring the two in-form teams and their respective superstar full-backs. But, one must ask, at what cost to the game’s reputation?