Matty Johns selects the players who can make a difference in the race to the NRL finals
EACH NRL team has their key man, someone who carries more responsibility and drives the team to victory. MATTY JOHNS names the players who will define the race to the NRL finals.
Opinion
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I CANNOT remember a tighter competition. Momentum seems to be shifting from week to week.
A few weeks ago the Warriors looked cooked, but they have now rebounded back and it’s the Dragons who now appear to be on the ropes and ready to be KOd.
But come Monday, who knows how we will view all these contenders: a big win, a loss or a crucial injury can change everything.
Each team has their key man, someone who carries more responsibility than the others. If he fires, his side wins; if he’s contained, so is the team.
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ROOSTERS: COOPER CRONK
At the start of the season you could see the difficulty Cronk was having with his new teammates.
It takes miles on the clock in the heat of battle for combinations to form properly, and early on you could see Cronk’s ball runners were always a fraction too late, a fraction too wide, just not where he needed them to be.
Opposition defenders took advantage of the unfamiliarity, rushing Cooper from the inside. It was, as it appeared, hard work.
But one of Cooper’s strengths is his ability to school teammates, to get them to do what he needs them to do. And suddenly in the middle of the season, things changed with the Roosters …
In the past month Cronk has returned to being one of the most dominant playmakers in the competition. He has the Roosters firing and expect them to be even better when Luke Keary returns.
SOUTHS: SAM BURGESS
The most crucial factor in what the Roosters did in their 18-14 victory over Souths last Friday was contain Sam Burgess.
Controlling Burgess means you go a long way to containing Damien Cook. Cook just couldn’t get into the game last week because his yardage men didn’t make metres and couldn’t generate quick play-the-balls.
Burgess is the Bunnies’ forward leader. When he starts punching through the middle defence, it triggers everything. It gets Cook out of dummy half, it pushes Cody Walker up on to the ball and it gives the outside men time and space.
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STORM: CAMERON SMITH
When Cameron Smith walked off the field late in the Souths game with a possible Achilles tendon injury, suddenly the Storm premiership hopes hinged on an MRI scan. Luckily, it wasn’t nearly as serious.
Smith, 35, has huge presence among his peers. He is an intimidating figure based on what he’s achieved and what he does in big games.
Players of Smith’s age usually start to take on a reduced role, but Cameron has never done more.
In the absence of Cooper Cronk, Smith is playing a little bit of first receiver and even second receiver in Melbourne’s attacking structure.
Billy Slater will be looking for a big finish to his incredible career and Cameron Munster has proven himself to be one of the game’s best big-game players, but Smith is the man who pulls everything together.
PENRITH: JAMES MALONEY
James Maloney’s knee injury has him sidelined up until the finals and saved coach Cameron Ciraldo from having to make a tough decision.
Maloney desperately needed a break before the finals, but with Penrith fighting for a top-four spot it was going to be a brave call from the coach.
Maloney has the experience and the big-game instincts that this young Penrith side need come week one of the finals.
Maloney’s confidence and self-belief bleeds into every team he plays in.
DRAGONS: TYSON FRIZELL
The Dragons’ best performance of the season was their 34-14 thumping of premiers Melbourne. The image I have of that victory was Tyson Frizell’s brute-force physicality.
He led the Dragons all day, looking to inflict damage on his opponents not just defensively but by the manner in which he was running the football.
The Dragons are in a hole and while a lot of fingers are being pointed at halfback Ben Hunt, if forwards aren’t dominant, the halfback may as well stay in the sheds.
Yes, the Dragons look a tired football team, but from experience I know that when the finals start, it genuinely feels like a new competition and you get a kick.
The way out of this hole for the Dragons is through their forwards and Frizell is the pack leader.
SHARKS: VALENTINE HOLMES
Valentine Holmes is in incredible form. The Sharks are a genuine threat for the title because they are a hard-nosed, experienced team who are comfortable in a sustained arm-wrestle, which is what finals are all about.
Holmes provides the flair and attacking brilliance. One of the modern game’s greatest tryscorers, Holmes is getting better and better in the fullback position after a shaky start to the season.
His ability to score a try out of nothing turns contests.
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WARRIORS: BLAKE GREEN
Blake Green or Blake Evergreen, as he should be known, continues to get better as each grey hair appears.
Green has been so good for Shaun Johnson and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, who are brilliant reactive footballers. Having Green in the middle, directing and creating, has freed them up to play their natural games. His performance last weekend was superb.
BRONCOS: ANTHONY MILFORD
There’s no doubting Anthony Milford’s ability to torment a defence with his running game, but the Broncos need more from him. They need direction and game management.
To be fair to Milford, he may just never be that type of player. But at the moment, without a strong natural No. 7 who can take on that responsibility for the Broncos, Milford is the man most likely.
TIGERS: LUKE BROOKS
In all of the Tigers’ really great performances this season, Luke Brooks was dominant and decisive.
He needs to understand that Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah can’t sit back hoping he takes control of the team. No player is gifted the control of the football team — they must take control. They are vocal, they are dominant, they blow up if they don’t get the quality possessions. This is the next step for Brooks.