History looms: teams outside top four make title case
Scott Bailey |
The NRL’s bottom-four finalists have declared they are ready to defy history, with Nathan Cleary revealing how he never lost hope that Penrith could still fight for a fifth-straight title.
Not since Canterbury in 1995 has a team won the premiership from lower than fourth spot, with that side and the 1993 Broncos the only teams to do so.
But rarely have the cards been stacked as they are headed into this first weekend of finals.
While Canberra are the new premiership favourites after topping the ladder for the first time since 1990, there’s a long list of genuine contenders below them.
Both Melbourne and the Bulldogs have serious injury headaches ahead of their qualifying final on Friday, while Brisbane loom as a threat in fourth.
All three could be forgiven for looking over their shoulders, with Cronulla, the Sydney Roosters and Panthers genuine hopes alongside an injury-ravaged Warriors.
Last on the ladder as recently as round 12, Penrith players have made no secret of the appeal of now winning the competition in a different way this year.
“It is an exciting prospect,” Cleary said at the NRL’s finals launch on Monday.
“Obviously, it’s a lot different to what we’ve had to deal with in previous years.
“But there’s been a number of times where we’ve been written off in previous years as well. So, it’s no different (in that sense).
“Being able to turn our season and get into the finals and give ourselves a shot has been something that we’ve been happy with, but obviously not content with.”
Cleary was hesitant to talk premiership hopes on Monday, revealing Penrith had only began playing good football when they stopped worrying about their chances.
“A lot of the time we were thinking too much about the finals, if we could make it, doing all the calculations,” Cleary said.
“As soon as you let go of that, you relax a bit and just take it one week at a time and focus on winning those games.
“There’s was a bit of head scratching going on and sort of wondering what was going on. It was pretty frustrating.
“But I knew that we had the calibre of players and also the mentality to do something good.
“We’d won a game in Magic Round against the Broncos. We’d won in Vegas against the Sharks. So I knew we could turn it on when we needed to.”
Beyond Penrith, Cronulla have won the most games of any team over the past two months with a 7-1 record since round 19.
They easily accounted for Canterbury on the weekend, sounding an ominous warning for the other title contenders.
“That game was a blueprint of how we can perform if we get it right,” Sharks captain Blayke Brailey said.
“We’re building really well.
“We have been there in finals games before and we’ve learned a lot from our wins and losses. We know what works and doesn’t work.”
First the Sharks must get through a red-hot Roosters on Saturday, who have the finals experience and strike to also put on a run through September.
“The comp is pretty open this year. Anyone can beat anyone,” Roosters captain James Tedesco said.
“Obviously the top four helps, if you win you get a week off. But to win you have to beat everyone, you have to beat the best teams.
“We’ve had do-or-die games for the past six weeks, we’ve got everyone healthy … and having that plus everyone in form is really important.”
FINALS WEEK ONE:
* Friday, September 12
Qualifying final: Melbourne v Canterbury – AAMI Park, Melbourne
* Saturday, September 13
Elimination final: Warriors v Penrith – Go Media Stadium, Auckland
Elimination final: Cronulla v Sydney Roosters – Shark Park, Cronulla
* Sunday, September 14
Qualifying final: Canberra v Brisbane – GIO Stadium, Canberra
AAP
