NRL 2020: The key players who can make or break the hopes of every finals team
Nathan Cleary has the chance to steer the Panthers to new heights but he faces a stellar opponent on the other side of the field. PAUL CRAWLEY delivers his verdict on each team’s most crucial finals players.
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Nathan Cleary has the chance to steer the Panthers to new heights but he faces a stellar opponent on the other side of the field.
Paul Crawley nominates each team’s most crucial players for the finals.
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NATHAN CLEARY
Panthers halfback
Age: 22
The healthiest roster always has an added advantage heading into any finals campaign.
The Panthers have been blessed this year, with young winger Charlie Staines (hamstring) the only player on their injured list.
Yet their worst-case scenario would be if something was to happen to Nathan Cleary.
Sure, Jarome Luai has showed he can direct the team in Cleary’s rare absence. But there is no denying the star halfback’s calmness and control has been the backbone to their minor premiership success.
Before this season, Cleary was rated a good young playmaker known for his special ability to handle pressure, but it was almost always playing that support role to James Maloney in big games.
Now Cleary has stepped out of that shadow, he has to back it up when it matters most.
While he looks ready to handle the challenge, I expect that won’t stop opposition forwards really going out of their way to try and unsettle him in the coming weeks.
RYAN PAPENHUYZEN
Storm fullback
Age: 22
Everyone knows how great Cameron Smith is, but I reckon Ryan Papenhuyzen’s speed is irreplaceable.
No question injury or suspension to Smith would be huge, but at least Storm coach Craig Bellamy would have Brandon Smith as a back-up dummy half.
In the halves, Cameron Munster is equally important but Ryley Jacks can do a quality job, especially if Smith was still playing chief conductor.
But while Nicho Hynes is a talent, no one possesses Papenhuyzen’s lethal speed and that genuine X-factor, which makes him one of the real excitement machines heading into the finals.
MITCHELL MOSES
Eels halfback
Age: 26
Saturday’s clash at Suncorp Stadium is shaping up as the clutch moment in Mitchell Moses’s career.
I haven’t forgotten Parra beat Melbourne 14-0 in round 15. But that was against a Storm side without Smith and Munster. Prior to that, the Eels were lapped 32-0 in the finals last year and 64-10 in Magic Round at Suncorp.
Now 26, Moses really needs a big scalp like the Storm in a finals game to silence his critics. Otherwise the noise just continues to grow louder.
While Dylan Brown’s return from injury relieves some of the pressure, the Eels’ hopes of ending the NRL’s longest premiership drought rely most on the bloke on the biggest pay packet.
It has been that long now we have gone too far past talking about the great search to find the next Peter Sterling.
But that doesn’t mean it’s still not a burden on whoever is wearing the Eels’ No.7 jumper.
While Moses is undoubtedly the club’s most talented playmaker since Sterling, what he needs to show over the next month are those same qualities that made Sterling great all those years ago. It’s not about being brilliant, but playing with poise and patience.
LUKE KEARY
Roosters five-eighth
Age: 28
As crucial as James Tedesco is, it’s the fearless five-eighth who is most critical right now given the Roosters’ lack of other experienced halves.
If Tedesco was unavailable, Trent Robinson could still call on either Joey Manu or Brett Morris to wear the No.1. Without Keary, the load would have to be shared between young Kyle Flanagan and either Drew Hutchison or Lachlan Lam.
With respect, Keary is a three-time premiership winner and Clive Churchill Medallist who just can’t be replaced by anyone else in this squad.
Last week’s embarrassing 60-8 loss to Souths has also heaped a lot more pressure on the Roosters, and in particular Keary.
But given Keary is such a fierce competitor, it only adds to the anticipation ahead of his match-up with Nathan Cleary on Friday night.
JOSH PAPALII
Raiders prop
Age: 28
Big Josh Papalii and Jack Wighton shared the Mal Meninga Medal honours during the week as the Raiders’ best this year. But if it came down to who ranks as most important right at this moment, I reckon Papalii would just edge out Wighton as the one Ricky Stuart could least afford to lose, given the cover Sam Williams showed he offers in the halves last weekend.
Already, the Raiders are without middles Corey Horsburgh (foot), Emre Guler (ankle), and now Ryan Sutton (knee).
That’s why the decision to rest Papalii (who has been carrying a shoulder injury), along with a stack of others last week, could prove crucial.
CODY WALKER
Rabbitohs five-eighth
Age: 30
It was a 10-out-of-10 performance from Cody Walker in the demolition of the reigning champs. Walker’s ability to sniff out an opportunity is why Souths can beat any team if they turn up on the day this finals series.
The knock on Walker has been he has never performed at his best in the big games. This finals series is his chance to close down that conversation.
KALYN PONGA
Knights fullback
Age: 22
Mitchell Pearce was brought to Newcastle for this specific reason: to lead them back to the finals. But that’s not to say Kalyn Ponga isn’t the player who makes the opposition most nervous.
The fullback has been involved in a third of the Knights’ 75 tries this season, with 15 assists and 10 tries. Pearce has 16 assists and two tries. In what’s been a pretty inconsistent season for Adam O’Brien’s team, Ponga at least has been their most dangerously consistent threat.
WADE GRAHAM
Sharks second-row
Age: 29
It’s no wonder that without Shaun Johnson, the Sharks are $151 outsiders.
What’s also forgotten is that only three players remain from Cronulla’s 2016 grand final team: Wade Graham, Chad Townsend and Andrew Fifita (now playing off the bench).
If the Sharks are to have any hope against the Raiders on Saturday, Graham has to provide the inspiration. Not that I can see even that being enough to cause a boilover.
Originally published as NRL 2020: The key players who can make or break the hopes of every finals team