NRL finals: Death, taxes, gutsy Dragons running out of puff

The Dragons next Monday is likely to be a mad one.

Gareth Widdop is taken from the field after dislocating his shoulder against the Broncos. Picture: AAP

Busy day. Stephanie Gilmore paddles closer to another world title. Novak Djokovic wins another grand slam. Alastair Cook tries to make another hundred. Naomi Osaka and Ashleigh Barty carry themselves in a way that confirms the future of women’s tennis has never been brighter. (An ego-­driven great may not be missed at all). Closer to home, Jack de Belin wears another moon boot. The Dragons from here? Dead in the water.

They were gallant on Sunday and yet the Broncos were as miserable as their coach’s press conference. Whack a red line through the Red V. They’ve run their race. Done their dash. Every team has a player it cannot win the comp without, and they’ve just lost theirs to the surgeon’s knife. No way, no how will the Dragons run the gauntlet through September without Gareth Widdop. Their next Monday is likely to be a mad one.

Here’s what will happen this week. There’ll be tributes to the Dragons’ courage, all justified. Reasons will be aired as to why they’re on the verge of something special. The banged-up, beat-up, big-hearted underdog holds appeal as a storyline, puts backsides on seats, ramps up the TV ratings, makes the world go round.

The Rabbitohs will play ball by praising the Dragons’ wild-eyed forwards, talking up Ben Hunt and doing whatever they can to avoid the mock. But just as the Cowboys were always going to lose to the Storm in last year’s grand final, the Dragons have reached their point of no return. When it was confirmed yesterday that Widdop, their chief playmaker, was out for the season, their premiership campaign went hurtling over the cliff. The off-season beckons. It’s a ­matter of when, not if.

“They’ve got a good pack,” Souths forward George Burgess says with due respect. “A great pack. They were probably the No 1 pack for the first half of the year.

“You saw that come out again against the Broncos. They started to run a bit harder again, get the quick play-the-balls. They played off the back of that and it just seemed easy for them to score points. We’ve got to match them there.”

On Widdop, Burgess adds: “Gareth’s a great leader and he makes a big difference to their team. Whoever they decide to bring in is going to get a big opportunity and you can’t under­estimate someone who is getting a big opportunity like that. We’ve got to prepare well if we want to beat them.”

Yada, yada. It’s the sort of stuff we’ll hear all week. You can’t underestimate them. They’re still dangerous. Anything can happen in sudden death. But there comes a point at which a sporting contest develops a sense of inevitability. Gilmore reaching finals on the world surf tour. Djokovic winning majors on hard courts. Cook being good for a few more runs. Osaka and Barty breaking through in singles and doubles at grand slams.

Burgess and the Rabbitohs are right to tread carefully; Broncos coach Wayne Bennett’s dismissive attitude towards the outsiders did his players no favours.

The Dragons will yet again start like men possessed. Tariq Sims and Tyson Frizzel will again hit and charge like animals. De Belin will see how long he can last on heart and one good leg. Eighty minutes is a long time to run on emotion, however, and it may be half an hour too far.

De Belin fired on all eight cylinders for NSW in State of Origin this year but he appears to have about three-quarters of a cylinder left. Asked in Brisbane by nrl.com about his chances of playing against Souths, he replied: “I’d rate it above 50 (per cent), for sure. I feel it was a lot better than it was this time last week. If it was early in the season I’d definitely be off for a couple of weeks. But when it’s ­finals it’s do-or-die and you want to do everything you can to get it right. If I’m not training all week and just on ice, I’m good with that.”

Souths? Coming off a loss. But they racked up five tries and against the Storm, and so they’re hardly suffering a crisis of con­fidence. Sam Burgess says: “We ended up scoring 28 points against the best defensive team in the competition.” His brother George adds: “There’s a lot of good things we took away from that game. We scored some points. Twenty-eight points should be enough to win a finals game but we just let ourselves down with a little few key areas.”

The Dragons have had a commendable season. Beating the Broncos in Brisbane makes up for plenty of the late-season humili­ations. They were always a chance of coming good in September because Widdop was on his way back. They’re no chance to be the last team standing at the end of September because he’s on his way back out again.

The basic plan for de Belin’s ankle this week is to “ice the shit out of it”. And then see how long he lasts. That approach in itself cannot last. He may get through 20 minutes, 40 minutes, 80 minutes. If the Dragons jag a win, de Belin will go through the same Hail Mary routine the following week. And the one after that.

At some stage for the club and the individual, it has to unravel. Prediction? It’ll happen sooner rather than later.