Newcastle have ripped up the script, now the Roosters face a team that refuses to die
Newcastle’s courage has broken the formula
Newcastle have reached the grand final because they possess something most sides coach out of themselves: courage. Down 14-8 and reduced to 12 men, they should have folded. Instead, they kept defending, attacked from anywhere and scored all four tries from their own half.
That is Justin Holbrook’s triumph. He looked at his fast wingers and powerful centres, stopped pretending Newcastle could copy Penrith or Melbourne, and built a game around opportunity rather than field position. The Dom Young try captured it: fifth tackle inside their own half, Penrith set for the kick, Newcastle spotting the shortage and tearing straight through it.
Most teams kick because the coaching manual protects everyone from blame. Newcastle ran because they had trained for the moment and trusted what they saw.
The connection with the town matters too. Holbrook took the players into the mines, but the excursion itself was not the magic trick; his message made them understand who they represented. Newcastle are at their best when the fence between club and supporters disappears. It has disappeared now. That energy is real, and the Roosters will have to survive it.
The hip-drop excuse is dead
The tackle that shattered Nathan Cleary’s leg was illegal. Spare me the accident defence. The injury was unintended, but the technique is outlawed precisely because it can produce this sickening result.
Cleary suffered a double compound fracture, with both shin bones breaking through the skin. Penrith staff had to hold his leg on the medicab, and without prompt surgery the blood loss could eventually have threatened his foot. This was the game’s best player facing a career-ending catastrophe.
The NRL must use the off-season to attack the technique, not hide behind fatigue. Fatigue is a cop-out. Modern tacklers lock around the waist and swing their body weight through the ball-carrier, a method brought into rugby league with jujitsu. Players are trained to do it, so clubs must be forced to train it out through severe penalties.
J'maine Hopgood is already gone for the season with an ACL injury. These tackles cause long-term, career-threatening damage. I believe Phoenix Crossland will receive six weeks and has no hope of playing the grand final. That is desperately sad, but sympathy cannot override safety.
Penrith lost their leader and then lost their heads
Penrith did not merely lose Cleary. They lost every trace of attacking composure.
I think Cleary should have played despite the existing foot problem, which was revealed after the game as a broken metatarsal and also requires surgery. Newcastle’s pressure probably forced him onto the field earlier than planned; had Penrith established a comfortable lead, he might not have appeared at all.
Once Cleary left, Penrith dropped their lollies. There was no structure, shape or shared understanding, while the attempted Thomas Jenkins chip from a scrum on first tackle and around 40 metres out was the final act of panic. Against a 12-man defence, the smart play was to apply pressure and drain Newcastle. Penrith reached for a trick instead.
Ivan Cleary’s honesty afterwards deserved respect. He had his son’s horrific injury and a season-ending defeat crashing together, yet still congratulated Newcastle. Eventually Penrith will probably view this brilliant season as an opportunity missed.
Blow up the bunker
The bunker is not improving rugby league. Blow it up.
Ashley Klein was moved into the bunker and two enormous weekend decisions followed. I can almost cop the Mark Nawaqanitawase ruling, although I thought his foot was out and the movement also contained a forward pass missed on the field. The Jamayne Isaako incident was worse: one angle was unclear, another showed what happened, yet officials relied on the murky vision and called the evidence inconclusive.
That is madness. Technology exists to correct obvious mistakes, not manufacture explanations that insult everyone watching.
The NRL says 98 per cent of bunker decisions are correct. So what? Referees probably would have landed around 94 per cent without it, while the bunker continues producing weekly failures in the decisions that actually matter. Two weekend howlers survived the supposed safety net. The stubborn refusal to reconsider this system is now indefensible.
The Roosters are primed, but Newcastle own the week
The Roosters are built for this grand final. Newcastle are built to wreck it.
Trent Robinson has done a magnificent job timing their run after they entered the finals carrying four consecutive losses, including a 50-point defeat involving what was technically their reserve-grade side. I thought Robinson might have left the charge too late, particularly after the Dolphins manhandled them, but the Roosters are now primed for Sunday. They purpose-built this squad to win the premiership and recruited Daly Cherry-Evans for precisely that job.
Newcastle still have the style to upset them. They attack without seeking permission, embrace unorthodox calls and keep winning despite every reason they should have stopped weeks ago.
They also own the emotion. Merchandise sold out so quickly the store announced at 6am that it had been cleaned out, before I think it restocked and reopened around midday. The NRL gambled by having no pre-game entertainment while the AFL’s pre-game audience rose 20 per cent, but I think Newcastle’s fairy tale will save the occasion by pulling in viewers who simply want to know whether the Knights can finish the job.
The Dolphins have arrived, keeping them together is the fight
The Dolphins are no longer a developing novelty. In their fourth NRL season, they became tough, dangerous and capable of winning ugly as well as attacking from anywhere. They were a delight to watch.
Now comes the hard part. They are hopeful of keeping the nucleus together, but losing Jamayne Isaako leaves a massive hole. He scored 310 points, compared with 218 for the next-highest scorer, and replacing that kicking production will be brutally difficult because converted tries change games.
Keep the core intact and this season becomes a launch pad, not a peak. A Dolphins-Newcastle grand final next year might be fanciful, but after what both clubs produced, it is no longer ridiculous.
