NRL Finals 2021: Key players under pressure for preliminary finals | Crawley Files

Torn apart by the Melbourne Storm in week one of the finals, now it’s the time for Daly Cherry-Evans to deliver, writes PAUL CRAWLEY.

They are the four players under the most pressure heading into this weekend’s NRL preliminary finals.

Here’s why Melbourne’s Cameron Munster, Penrith’s Nathan Cleary, South Sydney’s Damien Cook and Manly’s Daly Cherry-Evans have the most to prove, and potentially lose, in the season’s penultimate weekend.

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Cameron Munster says everyone is jealous of Storm’s success, so he’ll look silly if they bow out in the prelims. Picture: Getty Images.

CAMERON MUNSTER

Age: 27

Games: 150 (114 wins)

Finals record: 18 (13 wins – 4 grand finals for 2 premierships)

Salary: $1 million

I put my hand up, I love Munster’s swagger.

He’s got a confidence that borders on arrogance, but stops just short.

It reminds me a bit of that old Muhammad Ali saying: “It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am”.

Munster certainly put a few noses out of joint with his comments earlier this year about wanting to be the face of the NRL’s new Brisbane franchise (despite being contracted at Melbourne until the end of 2023).

Then this week he came out in the media having a crack at how everyone is apparently jealous of the Storm’s success, while turning the heat on the Panthers by declaring his team “deserve” to be in the grand final because “we have been the best team all year”.

But what Munster’s also shown in the past is that he can back up what he says through his performances.

He did exactly that going into last year’s State of Origin series when he came out and said that he wanted to “own” Origin just as Wally Lewis and Darren Lockyer had done wearing the Maroons’ famous No. 6 jersey. Then he went out and won the Wally Lewis Medal as the series’ best player.

And while his comments this week might be an added motivation for the Panthers, it’s like Munster sets out to challenge himself because he knows it will bring the best out of him.

But I’m not so sure his claims people are jealous of Melbourne’s sustained success has been the case this year.

In fact, I reckon most have watched in awe at Craig Bellamy’s ability to reshape the Storm following Cameron Smith’s retirement, with refreshing characters such as Munster and Brandon Smith leading the charge.

Their confidence seems contagious. Though Munster will still look silly if he doesn’t deliver.

After falling short in 2020, Nathan Cleary will be under pressure to go one better in 2021. Picture: Getty Images.

NATHAN CLEARY

Age: 23

Games: 118 (78 wins)

Finals record: 11 (6 wins – 1 grand final loss)

Salary: $940,000

Nathan Cleary always chooses his words carefully. It’s just a shame his old man wasn’t a bit more careful before he picked a fight with Wayne Bennett.

From that moment it has only upped the heat on his son.

And this week Nathan’s nemesis, Storm prop Christian Welch, chimed in, saying no halfback should be “a protected species”.

Of course, Ivan initiated the stink with Bennett to try and take the pressure off Nathan. He knew the Souths’ coach had taken his complaints to the referees boss Jared Maxwell about the fact the Panthers were using illegal blockers to give Nathan just that fraction of a second more time to prepare his monster bombs.

But by trying to swing the conversation about supposedly fearing an illegal “ambush”, Ivan inadvertently put Penrith’s illegal tactics in the spotlight.

Which leads us directly to the challenge Welch has pre-empted with a spot in the grand final up for grabs.

The Queensland enforcer is known as the best in the business when it comes to putting kick pressure on halfbacks, and he had success targeting Cleary in last year’s grand final and also in Origin.

If Welch gets his timing right he is entitled to crunch Cleary just as he is any other playmaker.

And for a bloke who gets up in the morning to eat halfbacks for breakfast, he would no doubt be licking his lips knowing Cleary is also carrying a bung shoulder.

We saw in last week’s win over Parramatta that Cleary is obviously playing through significant pain and in doing so he is showing Cooper Cronk-type qualities just to be out there.

If he can go out and carry Penrith into the grand final — and let’s not kid ourselves, if they get there it will be on the back of his performance — this will go down as Nathan’s finest achievement so far.

Damien Cook has come up with some bad missed tackles in finals matches of years past and he’ll need to be at his best for the Rabbitohs to beat Manly. Picture: Getty Images.

DAMIEN COOK

Age: 30

Games: 145 (87 wins)

Finals record: 12 (6 wins — 0 grand finals)

Salary: $700,000

For South Sydney’s star dummy half this week is about putting to bed the ghosts of past preliminary finals.

At his best Cook is the competition’s most explosive No.9.

But let’s call it for what it is, he hasn’t played anywhere near his best in the last two preliminary finals, and two crucial moments in particular would have haunted him since.

Under pressure: Damien Cook has to face the ghosts of finals past in the Rabbitohs’ preliminary final against Manly. Art by Boo Bailey.

The first was when Josh Papalii bulldozed Cook in the 2019 grand final qualifier for Canberra’s match-clinching try.

Then last year Cook came up with a shocking miss when he grabbed at Isaah Yeo who went through to send Dylan Edwards screaming away for the match winner.

I’m not disputing Cook has played some wonderful games for NSW but from a club point of view this has to be the season he delivers on the finals stage.

If Souths are to beat Manly to go past where they have been the past three years they need all their best players to stand up.

But Cook could really be the X-factor everyone seems to have forgotten about if he goes out and has a cracking game.

It’s fair to say he’s had a steady season where some of his individual performances have torn teams to shreds.

Yet then there’s weeks where he feeds the ball but he hasn’t injected himself like you know he can.

Tom Trbojevic may be Manly’s secret weapon, but it’s DCE who needs to step up if Manly are to make the Grand Final. Picture: Getty Images.

DALY CHERRY-EVANS

Age: 32

Games: 260 (144 wins)

Finals record: 17 (8 wins – 2 grand finals, 1 win, 1 Clive Churchill Medal)

Salary: $1.175 million

The NRL’s highest paid player needs to own his price tag, and Cherry-Evans should take personally criticism that the Sea Eagles can’t win unless Tom Trbojevic is on fire, and that they are flat track bullies.

But what they dished up against Melbourne in week one of the finals certainly made that criticism justified.

Come Friday night against Souths it’s time for the $10 million man to stand up and take some of the heat off his superstar fullback.

You can put a line through last week’s win over the Roosters because it wasn’t a fair fight given all the players the Roosters are missing.

At his best DCE is as good as any halfback in the comp and he has done pretty much everything there is to do in the game throughout his career. From winning a grand final in his rookie season to a Clive Churchill Medal in the 2013 grand final loss to the Roosters, to captaining his club and state.

But he certainly didn’t have one of his best games against the Storm a couple of weeks back when his right edge that also includes young Morgan Harper and Haumole Olakau’atu was cut to pieces.

If the Sea Eagles are to upset the Rabbitohs they need more than Turbo to fire.