Grand Final Preview

As the Roosters and the Dragons start to prepare for the biggest game of their lives, I thought I'd take a quick look at what both teams will bring to the game and what we can expect to see.

The Roosters

The fairytale continues for the lads from Bondi - it's easy to forget that they nabbed the wooden spoon with some atrocious footy last year. I've asked myself a few times what could have led to this dramatic change and I've got two answers - Brian Smith and Todd Carney.

Some may look at Smith's time at Newcastle and say "he's useless" but if you cast your eye further back to when he coached St George and Parramatta, his pedigree becomes more obvious. He led them to four Grand Finals - sure they lost them all but you can't get there without being somewhat successful.

As for Carney, I've always said he is one of the most natural ball players that I've seen in a few years. He was a moderately successful fullback but he has really come into his own at five-eighth. This season proves that once he stops setting peoples pants on fire, he can be as devastating as anyone in the NRL.

The Dragons

There's not much more to say about the Dragons that hasn't already been said. The obvious factor is Wayne Bennett, the super-coach that led my beloved lads to six premierships. What I will say is that I don't think the Dragons have as many impact players that can split the opposition apart compared the Roosters. The Roosters have Carney, Pearce, Minichello, SKD. The Dragons have Creagh and Morris...anyone else see the problem? The Dragons make up for it with consistency across the park - the only weak link I can see is Ben Hornby. I don't rate the guy one bit. Watching him against the Tigers, his only achievement was a few smart grubber kicks. Soward was left to handle the attacking workload and he did so, barely.

The Usual Grand Final Controversy

Almost like clockwork, there is minor controversy leading into the decider. Dean Young is embroiled in a racial slur drama which is sure to provide some distraction to this weeks preparation. Apparently he called Robbie Farah a "f**king wog". Farah was content not making a complaint on the field however it was clearly detected by the on-field microphones. I just hope that the appropriate punishment is given as racial slurs have no place in this game.

My Prediction?

I won't lie, I don't like the Dragons. Not one bit. Wayne coaches them, we beat them in numerous Grand Finals and Illawarra had Rod Wishart for god's sake. I'm not a big fan of the Roosters either, case in point is Phil Gould. So from a fan's point of view, I want the Roosters to win. From a neutral point of view, these two are hard to split. On one hand you've got the most consistent team in the NRL vs. arguably the most exciting team. My prediction is the Roosters by 14.

As the dust settles...

Apologies for the absence of posts recently, again life has taken me away from my beloved blog. As the dust settles on the 2010 season for the Broncos, it's as good a time as ever to do a bit of a post-mortem on the year and look at the good and the bad.

Player of the Year

The best player of the season was clearly Sam Thaiday. Recently named the best Second Row player in the NRL, his barn-storming runs and stiff defence were his trademarks this season. No other player showed more commitment to the cause than Sam - it's safe to say that without him we wouldn't have been able to blow our shot at the finals because we would have been down near the Cowboys on the table. Brisbane and Queensland fans are indebted to him for his heroics this season.

The 'Pack your shit because you are fired' Award

The worst player of the season for mine was Peter Wallace. I know I'm raising a few eyebrows by saying this but this was the season that Wallace was meant to show us that he can steer the ship without Locky. He is still one of the best defensive halfbacks in the game, dealing out brutal tackles for a bloke his size, but his kicking game and passing game left much to be desired this season. It was only in 2008 that he was the NSW Halfback before his brutal ball-tear and since then he hasn't been the same.

Rookie of the Year

Easily this one goes to Matt Gillett. The Best A Man Can Get showed experience beyond his years by being versatile enough to play multiple positions and excel at them. His best position is clearly Second Row and just the raw effort this kid puts in is phenomenal. Worthy winner of the Dally M Rookie of the Year.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's look forward to next season. I'm still a little annoyed at the way we ended the season and missed the finals for the first time in almost two decades but hey, it had to happen eventually. Our line-up will look something like this:

1. Josh Hoffman
2. Jharal Yow Yeh
3. Greg Inglis
4. Justin Hodges (pending Achilles situation, otherwise we'd be looking at someone like Beale)
5. Denan Kemp
6. Darren Lockyer
7. Peter Wallace
8. Ben Hannant
9. Andrew McCullough
10. Nick Kenny
11. Matt Gillett
12. Sam Thaiday
13. Corey Parker

14. Scott Anderson
15. Shane Tronc
16. Ben Te'o
17. Ben Hunt/Corey Norman

If that isn't one the best forward packs in the NRL then I don't know what is. The great news for us are the depth that we have outside of the 17 players above - Josh McGuire, Dale Copley and Lagi Setu to name a few (although I wouldn't be surprised if Setu gets transferred).

We could sit here and rant that Henjak is a gronk and has no clue but that doesn't do us much good. The worst season to start a Broncos blog has ended and while it didn't match our normally high standards, it did give us plenty to write about. Now that the season is winding down the blog will be slowing down as well (not that it hasn't been slow lately, damn you real life), we'll still be reporting out on the Four Nations at the end of the year and any other Broncos news that comes to hand.

Until next season, you stay classy Red Hill Ranters!