The stage is set for one of the most anticipated grand finals of all time, with the two best sides of 2024 in Melbourne to play Penrith next Sunday night at Accor Stadium.
The big talking point in the lead up will be the status of Panthers half Nathan Cleary, who will enter the decider with a suspect left shoulder.
The Storm booked their ticket after a demolition of the Roosters, with a couple of in form stars setting AAMI Park alight. The win begs the question if Melbourne have any chinks in their armour.
Watch the best coverage of the 2024 NRL finals, with expert analysis and every game until the Grand Final LIVE with no ad-breaks during play, on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >
IMAGINE WHAT YOU COULD BE BUYING INSTEAD. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.
Read on for the Talking Points for the NRL preliminary finals.
Meanwhile, the Sharks tried hard but were outclassed late by the Panthers, with Nicho Hynes having another up-and-down game. Is change in the halves on the horizon for Cronulla next season?
DO MELBOURNE HAVE A WEAKNESS?
That is the question Yvonne Sampson posed to Fox League’s panel following the Storm’s demolition of the Roosters in the preliminary final.
“I didn’t see one tonight,” league legend Greg Alexander said.
“There wasn’t much there to look back on (and) say there’s a chink there.”
Indeed, such a thought is a scary prospect.
An even scarier prospect is the fact such thoughts aren’t misguided in any way, and may well be correct beyond doubt.
Melbourne undoubtedly boast the NRL’s best spine, led by Dally M favourite Jahrome Hughes, who has taken the mantle from Cameron Munster as the club’s No. 1 attacking option this season.
Harry Grant is just about the best hooker in the game, a belief ratified by his four try assists against the Roosters – more than any other forward in NRL history.
As for Ryan Papenhuyzen, involved in three tries against the Roosters, injuries may have seen the rugby league world forget just how good he is.
In the prelims, we were all reminded of his stellar talent that, fitness permitting, could take him to the very top of our game.
Their forward pack is physically imposing, industrious and skilful all at once, led by Nelson Asofa-Solomona’s power but built upon the effort and hard work of the likes of Josh King and Trent Loeiro.
Xavier Coates and Will Warbrick are as good as they get on the wing, dangerous at both ends of the field, while their inside men – Nick Meaney and Jack Howarth – proved against the Roosters they belong on the game’s biggest stages.
In fact, it was those two, Meaney and Howarth, who were perceived as the Storm’s biggest weaknesses heading into tonight, with some believing pre-game that Joseph Manu and Joseph Sua’ali’i’s class would break the game open for the Roosters.
Yet Meaney continued to prove why he is one of the first names on Craig Bellamy’s teamsheets week in, week out, while Howarth proved belongs in the NRL.
While the prodigious centre scored a try and ran for 165 metres, his most notable contributions to the game came without ball in hand, restricting Manu to just 66 metres all game.
And at the helm of it all is arguably the greatest coach of all time: Craig Bellamy.
Bellamy’s brilliance is that he instils the basic fundamentals into his team – hard work, discipline, being team first – without stifling the creative talents of the likes of Munster, Grant and Hughes.
It’s a scary formula that’s got them to an 11 grand final, and, if all goes well, could see them win a fifth on Sunday.
Bellamy all praise for Hughes in prelim | 18:12
MORE NRL NEWS
‘WAYNE IS RIGHT’: Ivan unloads on Bunker over baffling call in big GF warning
‘HURTS SO BAD… JUST F**K’: Proud Fitzy’s slip of tongue in summing up Sharks
RATINGS: Cleary near-perfect as milestone man shines; Sharks’ standout, costly flops
CAN CLEARY GET THROUGH ONE MORE GAME?
Panthers half Nathan Cleary came from the field in the latter stages of Penrith’s win over the Sharks on Saturday night, leading to cause for concern over whether his troublesome shoulder will make it through what is likely to be a bruising grand final.
Cleary assured the rugby league world he’ll be fine, and had Penrith not had the game wrapped up, the halfback probably stays on the field against Cronulla.
However, Penrith are near certainties to carry halves insurance cover on the bench for the second straight grand final in case.
Last season, Jack Cogger came off the bench for the injured Jarome Luai to help Penrith come from behind and beat Brisbane. Brad Schneider will likely be the man to wear the No. 14 against the Storm.
Cleary first suffered the injury in the preseason and it flared up against the Storm in Round 24 which forced him to miss the last three games of the regular season.
Sports physiotherapist Brian Seeney, who provides injury analysis on social media site X under the name NRLPhysio says Cleary’s shoulder is a “ticking time bomb”.
“It could pop out in one tackle and his game is over,” Seeney told the Daily Telegraph.
“The real risk is re-injury.
“That’s the risk that they run but we know it’s Nathan Cleary so it’s worth the risk. It can come down to luck.
“That shoulder, inherently, is not as stable as an uninjured shoulder so it is more susceptible to popping out or subluxing again.”
Seeney explained what the Panthers will need to do with Cleary over the next six days in order to limit the likelihood of disaster striking.
The star halfback just needs to get through one more game, and is set to undergo surgery in the offseason.
“Penrith will want to minimise that happening at training and they will cross their fingers and toes,” Seeney said.
“The club will work on falling and tackling techniques to try and restrict him landing on the arm away from his body – that is a risky position.”
Cleary laughs at shoulder concerns | 00:35
THE SIMPLE FORMULA TO STORM’S SUCCESS UNDER BELLAMY
Even as Melbourne surged to the minor premiership, finishing four points clear of the second-placed Panthers, Craig Bellamy was never comfortable. Never completely satisfied.
Which is why after the Storm fell 18-16 to the Dragons in August, the Storm coach picked that moment to admit in his post-game press conference that he was concerned some bad habits were creeping in.
Potentially the same bad habits that brought Melbourne’s premiership push undone last year?
“The teams that have success are the consistent teams and we’re not that at the moment,” he said at the time.
Which sounds funny for Bellamy of all coaches to say considering no team does consistency quite like the Storm, who on Friday booked their spot in an 11th grand final.
Next Sunday, meanwhile, will be Bellamy’s 10th trip to the big dance — equalling the most as Wayne Bennett. So, is there a secret to the coaching mastermind’s success?
According to former Storm halfback Cooper Cronk, it is far more simple than most people expect.
“Everyone is looking to know what the secret sauce of Craig Bellamy is. With all due respect, it’s pretty basic,” Cronk said on Fox League after Melbourne’s 48-18 win over the Roosters.
“It’s hard work and humility. That’s what he bases everything around. It’s work harder than the opposition. It’s give a team-first mentality.
“When you do those things from 17 players, even down to player number 30 on your list, I think you get a lot of people rowing in the same direction and the consistency piece, they’ll always be there for the big games, it’s really up to the big players to start delivering titles and I think they did that tonight.”
A frank Bellamy conceded to ABC Sport after Friday night’s win that he “wasn’t convinced” the Storm would “go this far” and yet here they are, on the verge of another premiership with some already established stars and other emerging ones who have thrived under his coaching.
For Corey Parker, Melbourne’s success comes down to the “non-negotiables” that have been at the club as long as Bellamy and the rest of the coaching staff.
“There’d be some standards at the Melbourne Storm that are just not negotiable,” he said.
“Don’t even bother asking – just non-negotiables, when done for long periods of time, it just generates success and they don’t deviate from that.
“We’ve seen over a long period of time, from when Cooper was at Melbourne to the team we’re seeing now, they have evolved their game and they have thrown (in things) a little bit different to what we’ve seen over yesteryear. But those non-negotiables have always been there.”
Storm advance to GF in dominant fashion | 02:37
LUAI LESSON NICHO MUST LEARN AS SHARKS GO THROUGH ‘TRANSITION’
While Nicho Hynes wore the No. 7 and Braydon Trindall the No. 6 in Cronulla’s 26-6 loss to the Panthers, a couple of Fox League experts believe it’s clear who is running the team.
As he has during the back end of the season, Trindall did much of the steering of the side on Saturday night, perhaps giving an insight into what the Sharks may do next season.
“Something has changed with the Sharks and that’s Braydon Trindall has become the halfback,” Greg Alexander said.
“He’s the one that touches the ball the most, he’s the one who does all the kicking. He’s taken over.”
Michael Ennis noted that Trindall kicked the ball 13 more times than Hynes. While the Sharks has looked like a more cohesive unit this season with Trindall playing point, Ennis and Alexander believes another switch has to be made.
“Braydon Trindall had 17 kicks tonight. Nicho had four,” Ennis said.
“If he’s going to kick all the time, he’s got to play on the right hand side. When he’s going to do 17 kicks, he has to be on that right side of the ruck as much as possible.”
“They sometimes ran into a corner and he had barely 15 metres and then the sideline and he’s stuck on the left hand side as a right foot kicker and that’s not what you want,” Alexander added.
Hynes’ form has been highly scrutinised since he returned from a serious foot injury just before the end of the regular season.
Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga says it’s clear that Hynes isn’t playing with confidence, which is a reason why Trindall has been handed the keys.
“It is (a halfback switch) has been made official internally,” Meninga said.
“Nicho’s not playing with confidence. He’s not being dominant or assertive or getting the ball away from Braydon as well so that’s got to come.
“It’s all around the confidence of Nicho. He can make a difference if he wants to and that’s the transition I reckon.”
Ennis pointed to Panthers playmaker Jarome Luai as an example that Hynes can turn things around in a new role by playing to his strengths.
Luai enjoyed a career year in 2024, playing a leading hand for Penrith with Nathan Cleary sidelined. Luai had to adjust his game to allow him to be the main man for the Panthers while Cleary was out, but still lean on his best attributes of improvising and taking the line on.
“Nicho tonight struggled and I feel like what we said about Jarome Luai and what he’s done with his game would be something beneficial for Nicho,” Ennis said.
“He’s such a great ball runner and when he’s taking on the line at the right times, he can be such a threat.”
‘Braydon Trindall has become the No.7’ | 02:55
HUGHES SHINES AS STORM SPINE SIZZLES IN STATEMENT
The Storm have the best spine in the NRL bar none and Jahrome Hughes is the best of the lot of them on his way to a near sure first Dally M Medal on Wednesday.
Hughes received a perfect 10 in the Fox League player ratings on the back of his 63 run metres, six tackle busts, two linebreaks, a linebreak assist, a try assist and a scintillating hat-trick to lead the Storm to a 48-18 preliminary final win.
Cooper Cronk believes Hughes is the elite halfback of the competition because he has no weaknesses in his game.
“When you are talking bout being a gun halfback of the competition, you have got to be great at a lot of different things,” Cronk said.
“You have got to be a good kicker, organiser, running threat, defensively you have got to hold your gloves up and you have got to be able to communicate and run the team.
“He does all of them almost nine out of 10. And this guy’s confidence is through the roof.
“I love the fact that when he runs the football he is a threat. When he is kicking the ball it is because the team needs that right kick and defensively he hardly ever gets found out.
“So there is three areas of the game that make him elite. The confidence that he has right now with that inner swagger that he carries around at the moment is pretty impressive.”
Greg Alexander lauded Hughes’ decision making and ability to use the right option almost every time.
“His pass, kick selection is just first rate too,” Alexander said.
“Who he hits with the pass, with the short kick and his kicking game has been underestimated for quite some time, but it is as good as any.
“And then we saw two tries where he is just running space. he is running like a back-rower and scores two tries just with his power close to the line.”
Cronk believes the connection Hughes has with the rest of the Storm spine players is what makes them the most dangerous combination in the NRL.
“I think they are a good example for every other spine in the competition, that their connection and reaction, when one of them moves, the rest follow,” Cronk said.
“It is almost like they have an anchor tied to everyone’s leg and once Harry Grant moves, the two halves moves and that forces Papenhuyzen to be that support player and he is the one that always chimes in for a linebreak.
“The fact is the footwork, the speed and connection they put together, it is going to take a very good defensive performance next week to stop them.”
Corey Parker agreed the Storm have the best spine in the game bar none.
“Easy without doubt,” Parker said.
“There are some very good ones like Penrith, but no disrespect to Mitch Kenny, when you are comparing Kenny to Harry Grant they are two very different players.”
Hughes hat trick is “Joey Johns like” | 00:44
Discussion about this post