Ian ConstantineNRL&AFL - Minor Premiers seeking ultimate glory. It’s 1vs2 for football's greatest prizes
September 26th 2007 11:53
It is the best weekend on the Australian sporting calendar, well, as far as footy goes. It is the culmination of our two football codes. We have Geelong set to take on Port Adelaide on Saturday (in Twilight) & then the NRL’s showpiece with the Storm taking on the Sea Eagles on Sunday night.
Both competitions have a clear-cut favourite, a team that has decimated all before them, a team that deserves to win the ultimate prize. Geelong and Melbourne by rights should lift silverware this weekend.
The Storm finished 3wins clear of 2nd placed Manly and 6wins clear of 3rd place. Proof of their sheer domination and brilliance. With a backline oozing class they have embarrassed teams this year; names such as Inglis, Slater, Smith, Cronk & King are as big as they get. On paper they win most games by 20 points.
The Cats finished 3wins clear of 2nd placed Port Adelaide and have been the stand-out team all year. They have the Brownlow medal winner and a famous son - Ablett Jnr, who is bringing the good ol times back to skilled Stadium.
But will these clinical seasons end in triumph or disappointment? Melbourne learned the hard way last year, they cruised into the Grand Final and were expected to waltz away with the cup; problem was that Brisbane and Lockyer hadn’t read the script. The Storm were shattered, their ‘perfect’ season had gone down the drain and they were labeled chokers.
The perfect season is a myth, I have no doubt Broncos fans will tell you that 2006 was the perfect season. Nobody remembers or cares how you got there, if you win on that last weekend in September, your immortalized forever. Take Manly in 1997, remember their season, nope, not surprising. Remember Darren Albert scoring after the siren, how could you forget? Manly went into that game almost un-backable favourites. They had toweled the Knights in the regular season and the final was expected to be a mere formality. The rest is history. De ja vu? Eels vs Knights?
That is the beauty of Grand Finals, it is why they capture the imagination; they are pure theatre. Lovely, gruesome theatre. Can you believe that Penrith were the last Premiers to win the GF?
The Storm and the Cats deserve to win respective titles, but how will their nerves stand-up? Geelong are no strangers to Grand Final misery, having lost 4 in relatively recent times. This is a different team, but will history repeat?
It’s 1 vs 2- Bigdog vs underdog, but stranger things have happened and on Grand Final day anything can happen.
Both competitions have a clear-cut favourite, a team that has decimated all before them, a team that deserves to win the ultimate prize. Geelong and Melbourne by rights should lift silverware this weekend.
But will these clinical seasons end in triumph or disappointment? Melbourne learned the hard way last year, they cruised into the Grand Final and were expected to waltz away with the cup; problem was that Brisbane and Lockyer hadn’t read the script. The Storm were shattered, their ‘perfect’ season had gone down the drain and they were labeled chokers.
The perfect season is a myth, I have no doubt Broncos fans will tell you that 2006 was the perfect season. Nobody remembers or cares how you got there, if you win on that last weekend in September, your immortalized forever. Take Manly in 1997, remember their season, nope, not surprising. Remember Darren Albert scoring after the siren, how could you forget? Manly went into that game almost un-backable favourites. They had toweled the Knights in the regular season and the final was expected to be a mere formality. The rest is history. De ja vu? Eels vs Knights?
That is the beauty of Grand Finals, it is why they capture the imagination; they are pure theatre. Lovely, gruesome theatre. Can you believe that Penrith were the last Premiers to win the GF?
The Storm and the Cats deserve to win respective titles, but how will their nerves stand-up? Geelong are no strangers to Grand Final misery, having lost 4 in relatively recent times. This is a different team, but will history repeat?
It’s 1 vs 2- Bigdog vs underdog, but stranger things have happened and on Grand Final day anything can happen.
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