And so it comes down to eight. It would be five if the NRL finals system was a meritocracy that awarded the minor premiers a week off, and those teams in second and third another chance while fourth and fifth face sudden death. That is how it was for many years, but not any more and now there are eight.
For in these modern times the almighty god of television decrees that the more clubs involved in the finals, the more people will watch. Television, of all the “stakeholders”, is the loudest voice in the room. And the more eyeballs on its product, the happier the NRL.
In a way, that is understandable. Yet the purity, if not integrity, of the NRL’s 16-team competition is compromised when the win-loss record of the seventh-placed team (Cronulla Sharks) is 12-12 while the eighth-placed team (Brisbane Broncos) lose more games than they win. They have been rewarded with a place in the finals for a less then middling season.
Ask television types, NRL suits and corporate turf accountants, and they would argue for a top-10 or top-12, even a post-season knockout involving everybody. But as it is, eight is enough, particularly after the system produced a final-round fixture between Wests Tigers and Cronulla that promised more drama than a boardroom takeover at the Sydney Theatre Company, all of it played out on the stage of Leichhardt Oval.
Leichhardt (and it is most always just Leichhardt, without the Oval) scrubs up magnificently on a sunny afternoon, particularly with a full house, as it was on Sunday. Indeed it was heaving and a fine advertisement for rugby league’s slightly vexed, rose-coloured glass view of suburban grounds and their facilities which nod to 1952.
Only the staunchest curmudgeon could not appreciate Leichhardt for what it was over the weekend. The two-tone greens of the grass, the crisp white markings, the thick Moreton Bay figs framing the northern end. And 19,491 people jam-packed into the old boiler – it was indeed a beautiful thing. In a final round, sudden-death match between two Sydney teams playing for the last spot in the eight, the game approached “event” status.
And then Tigers fullback Corey Thompson injured his Achilles tendon in the warm-up, allowing Robbie Farah to pull on the No 21 jumper, despite breaking his leg less than a month ago. Farah is a tough, ornery critter who once made 53 tackles in a State of Origin match with a broken shoulder, but break your leg and you’ll limp a month later. Yet the fates conspired and a fairytale loomed for a 302-match great in his last game at his club’s spiritual home.
As it was, before Farah even got on, Cronulla had put the match to bed with three tries in 10 minutes after half-time. When Farah did take to the field there were 20 minutes left and the Tigers were down by 20 points. The hooker fed Luke Brooks who hit second-rower Luke Garner who hit a hole, stepped Josh Dugan and ran like a gangling young Clydesdale to score. But the Tigers, like Farah, were done. The great rake joins John Sutton, Matt Scott, Paul Gallen, Michael Gordon and Cooper Cronk on a fine list of retiring NRL players at the end of this season.
It’s not over yet for Gallen – who potted a last-minute field goal to ice the Sharks’ 25-8 victory – just as it isn’t for Sutton and Cronk who will butt heads in a blockbuster at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday night after the Raiders rested four players and lost 24-20 to the Warriors in Canberra.
Elsewhere the Roosters lost to Souths on Thursday night with Luke Keary, Brett Morris, Mitchell Aubusson, Sio Taukeiaho and Jake Friend on the sidelines. Souths were very good, particularly in defence. But their captain Sam Burgess will not play in the qualifying final after pulling the hair of rookie winger Billy Smith. It was a nonsensical play from a prop forward whose discipline has cost his team again. In Souths’ favour is that Roosters enforcers Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Zane Tetevano were also on report.
And so rugby league rolls resolutely into September with eight clubs a chance of lifting the Provan-Summons Trophy on Sunday 6 October. Two of those clubs have the best chance – Roosters and Storm. Two have a pretty good chance – Raiders and Rabbitohs. One club – Parramatta Eels – has a slugger’s chance at best. The other three – Sea Eagles, Sharks and Broncos – have effectively had their death knell delayed before they’re cast into the abyss with everyone else.
