NRL great PAUL GALLEN writes exclusively for Wide World of Sports and will appear on Nine's 100% FOOTY on Monday night, debating rugby league's big issues alongside Phil Gould and James Bracey. Watch from 10.10pm AEST!
This is such a great grand final match-up that right now, I honestly can't say who I think will win.
My head says Melbourne.
They've been a benchmark club in the NRL for the past 15 years. They completed at 88 per cent on Friday against Canberra and you'd expect a similar performance in the grand final because that's exactly what the Storm do. They give you nothing.
They still have the NRL's best player in Cameron Smith, possibly playing his last-ever game, plus other guys who have been there and done it before.
Phil Gould and I have been arguing all year about whether they've got another gear or not. I don't think that's an issue at all this season; it's there, thanks to fresh faces like Ryan Papenhuyzen.
But then there's Penrith.
They've answered every question asked of them so far. They're confident to the point of being fearless. Nathan Cleary has been the best player in the competition this season.
If they win the grand final, they will have gotten past the back-to-back premiers in the Roosters, Wayne Bennett's Rabbitohs and yet another outstanding Storm team. They will have won 18 games in a row and lost just one this year, an incredible effort.
For me, it's hard to get a form line on Penrith. Some of their performances you wouldn't say are overly impressive, yet they just keep getting the job done and winning.
On Saturday against South Sydney, they had a 72 per cent completion rate and bombed four deadset tries. It's easy to say that if they do that against the Melbourne Storm they'll get beaten, but we've been saying things like that about Penrith for a while and they've won 17 straight.
Then you look back at the fact they've won three minor premierships and the past two times, they went on to win the grand final … it almost feels inevitable. There's a sense of timing and fate to it.
And they're just so confident. There's absolutely no way to write them off after what they've achieved this season.
One thing that was significant on the weekend: the winners got their defence in order, with Melbourne conceding only 10 points and Penrith 16, despite the early high-scoring trend in the finals. Even under the new set restart rule, defence wins big games.
It's a big plus for both sides and the team with the best defence on Sunday will likely be the one left holding the trophy.
BEATING THE STORM
Back in 2016, our Cronulla team played Melbourne in the last round for the minor premiership; whoever won finished first.
After 10 minutes, we had a penalty goal right in front to lead 2-0. As captain, I decided to take it … and we didn't score another point until the 68th minute, when we were down 20-2, before losing 26-6.
Honestly, the Storm hammered us, physically and verbally. They scored a try right at the end through Jesse Bromwich, when Will Chambers ran past me and said, "That's gotta hurt, Gal, that one."
I'll never forget those words.
I sat in the change room with Mick Ennis at the end of the game, not really even talking. We were a bit stunned, upset with the result and the way we'd played.
Eventually, I said to Mick, "F---, I'd do anything to play them again in the grand final."
Then when the opportunity comes around again, you think, 'Careful what you wish for!'
Chad Townsend got head-highed right in front of the posts only seven minutes into the game. Penalty kick for a 2-0 lead and I'm thinking, 'F---, what do I do here?' The things that were going through my head on the field … it was a big decision.
Looking back, it was the best possible decision. We won by two points, 14-12.
The most pleasing thing for us was that when we got behind, after leading 8-0 at half-time, we managed to come back.
I'll never forget the words of Jimmy Maloney during the second half, either. Jimmy, as we know, is a bit of a rascal who doesn't necessarily have a reputation for leadership. Yet I've never seen a bloke flick the switch like he did in that finals series and especially the grand final.
When Chambers scored for Melbourne mid-way through that second half, with Cameron Smith converting for a 12-8 lead, I was out on my feet; I told the boys to suck in a few breaths while thinking about what I was going to say.
Then Jimmy Maloney pops up, it's probably the first thing he's said in the huddle all year, and goes: "Boys, if we thought we were going to have this our own way, we're f---ing kidding ourselves."
That sparked me. I said, "Yeah, boys. I promise you, we'll get another opportunity and when it comes, we've got to take it."
I didn't know it was going to come in the next three or four minutes. Andrew Fifita scored his great try, Jimmy converted, and we had to hang on those last 10 minutes to win the club's maiden premiership.
A TRUE CULTURE OF SUCCESS
Melbourne have managed to go from Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk, all-time greats in key positions, in those grand finals just a few years ago to Ryan Papenhuyzen and Jahrome Hughes now in yet another decider. They've made four grand finals in five years. It's an amazing record.
I reckon 'culture' is such an overused term in rugby league but to Melbourne's credit, they have undeniably built a culture of perpetual success. Players learn so much from other players and the Storm have Ryan Hoffman, Ryan Hinchcliffe and Billy Slater as important parts of their set-up; club greats and in Billy's case, one of the best players we've ever seen.
Guys like Stephen Kearney, Robbie Kearns and Jason Ryles have all be involved; guys who have bled for the club and know exactly that it takes to be a Melbourne Storm player. You can't get better teachers than the blokes who have been there and done it.
That's an underrated part of why Craig Bellamy is so good. Yes, he's a great coach and a master at managing the whole system, but he's got the perfect people underneath him teaching his players the specific little extras that make a big difference.
Who could possibly be better to teach Ryan Papenhuyzen how to play fullback for the Storm than Billy Slater? Not even Craig Bellamy, and he knows that.
A young player like Papenhuyzen hangs off every work a legend like Billy says. He's spent a lot of time with Billy on the phone and on Zoom this season, so even with the bubble restrictions, he's used that knowledge to take his game to another level.
He's a freak at the moment, a gun, and he has the best teacher imaginable. He's given an excellent team an exciting new edge, Papenhuyzen, and was one of their early try-scorers against Canberra.
Melbourne are great front-runners. Once they get to a lead, they're very good at controlling the game from there. Cameron Smith is an absolute master at it, while Cameron Munster has really matured in that regard, too.
They have experienced forwards like the Bromwich brothers and Nelson Asofa-Solomona to keep laying the platform. They are so good at grinding out wins; they complete their sets, kick long, bash you up in defence. Very rarely do you come from behind to beat the Melbourne Storm.
We did but as I said, we took every opportunity. Again, Penrith on the weekend bombed four deadest tries. You'd be lucky to even get four opportunities against the Melbourne Storm, so you certainly can't waste any.
Or so you'd think. I've waited for Penrith to falter at times this season and they never have. That's a huge credit to them and even more so if they beat a team like Melbourne on Sunday.
FRESH AND FEARLESS PANTHERS
The Panthers beat the Storm earlier this season. They're so young and enthusiastic. Their confidence levels are huge.
The way to beat Melbourne is to move the ball, not try to go straight through the middle. The Storm eat up structured footy. But if you hit their edges, move it back inside, pop a few offloads – that's what can be effective and it's something Penrith are very good at.
One thing the Panthers did really well on Saturday was aiming up in defence on the first few tackles when South Sydney were coming out of their own end. They drove them backwards constantly, five or 10 metres, on at least one tackle in the first three.
That really stifled the Rabbitohs. They were on the back foot and couldn't move the ball. That's something that may not bother Melbourne as much as Souths, given they don't move the ball as much, but if you're dominating in tackles like that it's very hard for the opposition to get out of their own end.
Josh Mansour and Brian To'o were enormous again, getting the Panthers' sets started. They are the best wingers in the NRL at getting out of their own end.
But match-ups are key and they're not tall men, where the Storm have Suliasi Vunivalu and Josh Addo-Carr, who can jump. If Melbourne get the opportunity to put a high ball up to one of those wingers, it's going to be a big ask for the Panthers players.
It will be very interesting to see what Ivan Cleary does with his team, particularly at centre. Brent Naden didn't get off the bench against Souths and Tyrone May went to right centre, because Cleary said that it was his best defensive option; yet that's where Souths scored all their points.
That edge, of course, is Addo-Carr's, along with Justin Olam. That's a deadly, in-form edge for Melbourne.
Perhaps Naden goes back to the centres and May to the bench, with Mitch Kenny dropping out given May can cover hooker. Then Viliame Kikau goes straight back in at left-edge back-row, after Kurt Capewell started there against Souths.
To beat the Melbourne Storm in a grand final is a huge effort. They've played so many and they're such a well-drilled side.
If you want to beat them on grand final day, you must be at your best. Melbourne Storm rarely, if ever, beat themselves. They won't give you anything.
The Panthers have proven they've a terrific side. They've been the best attacking and defensive team in the competition. They've made it all the way to their club's first grand final in 17 years.
The final test of Penrith's champion qualities comes on Sunday. Even against a club like Melbourne, which is so used to making grand finals, there's a sense of destiny about the Panthers and they just can't be written off.
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/paul-gallen-column-nrl-grand-final-preview/ea9bb846-08a9-40a6-9c69-496db885ec36
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