NRL finals: Sydney Roosters can shock Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers in premiership race

Don’t believe for a nanosecond the premiership race has been reduced to just Melbourne and Penrith. DEAN RITCHIE goes behind the curtain at the Roosters and reveals how he knew earlier this season that they would be a title force.

The Sydney Roosters will shock the NRL and upset Melbourne Storm this Friday night – and my bold prediction stems from, of all places, Los Angeles.

Don’t believe for a nanosecond that this competition has been reduced to just two sides – Melbourne and Penrith.

Those with knowledge will peddle it’s between the Storm and Panthers – but dismissing the Roosters would be bloody foolish.

I spent a week inside the Roosters camp in Los Angeles before the club’s historic round one match in Las Vegas earlier this year.

You learn a lot about a team when you’re with them every day and watching the club’s focus and professionalism was fascinating.

I sat inside team meetings, learned about their tactics, ate meals with the side, travelled to and from training on the team bus, shared dinner with the players in Beverly Hills and downtown LA, went to a Clippers NBA game, watched the players interact with coach Trent Robinson, studied which players were shy and who was extroverted and even flew to Vegas with them – it was exclusive access to a club built on success.

The Roosters took no shortcuts in their Vegas preparation earlier this year. Picture: Ezra Shaw / Getty

Their meticulous approach was captivating. No one took a shortcut inside the UCLA training facilities. Their entire preparation was built on hard work and attitude.

Without talking out-of-school – the team meetings were off-the-record – senior players took an active role. The mood was intense but not overpowering.

They all seemed on the same page.

Robinson asked the media to front a team meeting where players fired questions inside the Kimpton Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard.

Players were told to be respectful to the media, and they were. Each day, players would greet the media. Manners off-field equates to discipline on-field.

They enjoyed their time in America but you always got the feeling they were there to win – not sightsee.

I saw the players at a team media opportunity at Allianz Stadium just last week.

The Roosters were dominant at Allianz Stadium on Saturday. Picture: NRL Photos

To a man, they walked up and said hello. It’s called respect – respect for the media, respect for their club, respect for themselves.

The Roosters know how to win big games. It’s in their DNA.

I knew back then that this side, with that steely, self-confident edge, would go deep into September and here they are in another preliminary final.

The Roosters are winners and an ambush awaits at AAMI Park.

As the Roosters’ motto suggests: We play for premierships.

I saw that personally in La La Land.

GUS DECLARES FOUR-PEAT IS INEVITABLE

Forget about the rest – it’s the Panthers.

One of the sharpest and shrewdest minds in rugby league, Phil Gould, has given a self-assured NRL premiership prediction by declaring: “Melbourne and Penrith will play in the grand final and Penrith will win.

“It will be a cracking grand final between our two top clubs over the last six to eight years. If (Penrith) stand up, they’re uninjured and they play to their ability, they will be too good.”

Penrith and Melbourne enjoyed the weekend off while the Roosters beat Manly and Cronulla defeated North Queensland.

The Panthers are $2.30 TAB premiership favourites with Melbourne paying $2.40, Roosters ($8) and Cronulla ($9).

Melbourne hosts the Sydney Roosters in the first preliminary final on Friday night with Penrith to play Cronulla in the other grand final qualifier at Accor Stadium on Saturday evening.

“Penrith have the perfect game, they have the perfect finals game. They have been to the last four grand finals and have won three comps so obviously they have the perfect finals mentality,” Gould said.

The Panthers are the only team that can win the comp. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

“They have the best lock forward in the game in Isaah Yeo and they have the best fullback in the game in Dylan Edwards.

“They have the best halfback in the game in Nathan Cleary and I think they have the best five-eighth in the game in Jarome Luai.

“They have really hardworking forwards – James Fisher-Harris, Liam Martin, Moses Leota, all representative class.

“Brian To’o is the best winger in the competition. You don’t have to be Einstein to say who is favourite.”

Gould said the return of injured Cleary has certainly given Penrith a premiership-winning edge.

“When Cleary is fit and well, he just makes sure everything functions so smoothly,” Gould told the Big Sports Breakfast Weekend radio show.

“We have seen Penrith come from well behind, and last year’s grand final was the perfect example, they are never beaten. They are going to be very, very hard to beat.”

“I still think Penrith have the wood on them (Melbourne) now that Cleary is back. We saw the difference that he made to them in week one of the finals. I just think they’ve got the edge over Melbourne.

Canterbury GM of football Phil Gould. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

“Melbourne and Penrith have been sitting back (this weekend). They were very dominant in week one of the finals and I don’t expect that to be any different next weekend when they change partners.

“Look, anything can happen in football, and with the Panthers, no-one is unbeatable, you can beat them. But you’re going to have to get to the front and get Penrith out of their rhythm and that’s not easy to do.

“Penrith don’t try to beat you from their own end of the field. They will respect that and they will do the same because they think they will wear you down anyway, if that’s the way you want to play.

“Of the two (preliminary finals), the Roosters is more likely to upset Melbourne Storm but you would have gone broke over the years betting against the Storm playing in Melbourne. They don’t lose too many down there.”

The Roosters are paying $3.50 to beat Melbourne with the Sharks at a juicy $4 to topple Penrith.

Originally published as NRL finals: Sydney Roosters can shock Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers in premiership race