NRL finals: The X-factor player from every club who could define premiership race
We all know who pulls the strings for each NRL premiership contender. But, who are the X-factors who could blow the finals series apart? PETER BADEL investigates.
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They are the eight wonders of the NRL who will blow open the finals series.
We all know each side has their game managers and string pullers. Reynolds. Cleary. Munster. Hynes. Keary. Hastings. Fogarty and Johnson.
But behind the usual suspects at six and seven are the X-factors, unheralded top-liners or seize-the-moment stars who have the skill set to shake up the battle for the NRL premiership.
As the Broncos and Melbourne prepare to kick off the 2023 playoffs on Friday night, PETER BADEL nominates the men to watch at each of the top-eight finals clubs.
PAYNE HAAS (Broncos)
Reynolds, Reece and Ezra are Brisbane’s Big Three but the magic doesn’t happen without the metre-eating menace of Haas.
The 118kg man mountain is the NRL’s No.1 prop. He is the most freakish physical specimen in the finals. Haas is so good, so dominant, so damn consistent every week that his performances are taken for granted.
If he doesn’t fire, the Broncos can’t win the title. Haas is averaging 188 metres and 28 tackles per game and has missed just one tackle in his past 366 minutes of football. The NSW Origin enforcer is a contender for this year’s Dally M Medal and is primed to dominate the finals.
RYAN PAPENHUYZEN (Storm)
‘Paps’ is back. And while Papenhuyzen is still chiselling away the rust accumulated from 13 months out of rugby league due to a career-threatening knee injury, he will be the Storm’s super sub in the finals.
They say form is temporary, class is permanent. Papenhuyzen oozes class. He showed that in last week’s final-round defeat of the Broncos, moving into the frontline when it mattered to get the Storm late in the championship minutes.
Melbourne have some gaps in their roster but Papenhuyzen is a mega X-factor. The longer the Storm last in the playoffs, the better he will get it. Paps can sweep them to a grand final.
STEPHEN CRICHTON (Panthers)
In a team for the ages riven with big-name stars, Crichton doesn’t always get the attention he deserves. But the Panthers centre is in the form of his career.
He may be bound for the Bulldogs next season, but that gives Crichton added motivation to exit Penrith with a bang. Alongside Joey Manu and Kotoni Staggs, Crichton is a genuine strike weapon out wide and he has produced some sublime skill throughout the year, headlined by his flick pass for Sunia Turuva in last week’s 44-12 caning of the Cowboys.
Crichton has been the first tryscorer in 15 games this season. In the 2021 grand final, it was his intercept try that sealed Penrith’s premiership breakthrough.
DALLIN WATENE-ZELEZNIAK (Warriors)
Is there a more athletic winger in the NRL?
DWZ has the aerial strength and spatial awareness of an Olympic gymnast and his tryscoring strike-rate this season is among the best in history with 21 four-pointers from just 17 games.
Watene-Zelezniak has scored two or more tries in a game on six occasions this season. The Warriors face a daunting road trip to Penrith to launch their finals campaign, but if anyone can fight fire with the fire of Brian To’o, it’s Dazzling Dallin.
CONNOR TRACEY (Sharks)
The Sharks have no hope of winning the comp without a fit and firing Nicho Hynes but Tracey has become a dangerous foil chiming into the backline.
His backfield battle this week with Roosters champion James Tedesco will have a massive bearing on which team tumbles out of the premiership race.
Since his move to fullback five weeks ago, Tracey has charged for 1034 metres at a brilliant average of 206m per game and he has the speed to unlock a Roosters side ominously hitting peak form at the perfect time.
SAM WALKER (Roosters)
It’s hard to believe there were rumblings about the Roosters offloading Sam Walker earlier this season.
Since his return from injury a fortnight ago, the Roosters have, surprise surprise, come alive in the premiership race.
Everything about Walker’s game screams class, X-factor and match-winning potency. He may be still only 21, but there is an aura about Walker that tells you he feels right at home delivering match-winning plays in clutch moments.
He broke the Titans’ hearts in the 2021 finals with a last-minute field goal and the Queensland young gun will back himself to pull off a Bondi title miracle.
KALYN PONGA (Knights)
Ponga’s form over the past six weeks is reminiscent of Jarryd Hayne’s imperious late-season surge to win the 2009 Dally M Medal.
There are few players in better singular touch at the moment. Ponga has the hot hand and while there are injury concerns after he missed last week’s final-round clash against the Dragons, he will put it all on the line against Canberra before a heaving sellout crowd in Newcastle.
Broncos halfback Adam Reynolds believes the Knights are the smokey to go on a finals tear and if they do it, ‘KP’ will be landing the knockout punches.
JOE TAPINE (Raiders)
The Raiders are at long odds to progress to week two but if they do it, Tapine is the Canberra enforcer to drive an unlikely finals fairytale.
Tapine (1399m) is in the code’s top three props with Payne Haas (1427m) and Addin Fonua-Blake (1527m) for post-contact metres and Canberra are banking on his average of 154m per game to set the tone in their elimination final against the Knights.
Tapine was the best player on the park in last year’s week-one finals boilover of the Storm in Melbourne. He inspired a 28-20 boilover with 203 metres, six tackle busts, three offloads and three line-break assists. Smokin’ Joe needs more heroics to keep the Green Machine alive and humming.
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