The Knights deserved better, but fairy tales won't shift the Roosters' pack
Newcastle must find the edges
Newcastle cannot win this through the middle, so the Knights must attack the edges rather than bash themselves senseless against the Roosters' strength.
They haven't beaten the Roosters since 2022, which I think is a concern, but Justin Holbrook has changed their football and tightened their defence. This year's defeat was by one point. I reckon the older history probably belongs in the rubbish bin, not around Newcastle's neck.
My player comparisons favour Kalyn Ponga over James Tedesco and Bradman Best in the centres, but the Roosters take over through the halves and forwards: Daly Cherry-Evans, Sam Walker, Lindsay Collins, Reece Robson and Victor Radley. That's where this probably gets decided.
Trey Mooney, Jacob Saifiti and Phoenix Crossland are out, along with Newcastle's marquee halfback. The Roosters' only question mark is Connor Watson, who we're led to believe was seeing a neurologist; at recording time, no decision had been announced.
Watson's wishes cannot settle it. Players need protection from themselves because internal pressure makes them feel obligated to play, while concussion can reveal itself through delayed reactions rather than an obvious injury.
Newcastle's defence is greatly underestimated, and the Dolphins have shown how to dismantle the Roosters out wide. Start well, stay close and let that emotion work. But the Roosters are settled, loaded with firepower and, I think, still improving. I think they win; I can see them winning by 30, although I don't know which version of this grand final we'll get.
Give the players their night back
The Dally M ceremony has become a television production with the life sucked out of it. The award still matters; I think the ceremony is losing prestige.
I thought the venue was terrible and too big, with half-empty tables around the edges and no atmosphere. Don't pin that on the presenters. Basically only nominated players attend now, where clubs once came together to farewell the season.
The players' disengagement isn't new. They formed their own awards in response to the Dally Ms and explicitly questioned its prestige. That relationship has been mended, but I don't think it's fully healed.
Changing the date alone won't repair that. Get player buy-in, make it their night out again and film the celebration instead of manufacturing one.
Holbrook was short-changed
Justin Holbrook deserved coach of the year, and shutting the voting before the finals robbed the award of the evidence that mattered most.
Andrew Webster took the Warriors to second and improved them. His award is defensible, and I sympathise with him because I think accepting it with Holbrook in the room felt awkward. This isn't an attack on Webster. It's an attack on a system that stopped watching after round 27.
Holbrook took Newcastle from last to a grand final, while the Warriors didn't win after the votes went in. Let voters recast their decisions on the Monday around grand-final week. A safety net beats an embarrassing shrug.
James Fisher-Harris did a great job as captain, too, but Ponga's leadership through three finals wins demands recognition. Newcastle took home nothing. That doesn't condemn their grand-final chances: the Knights won in 2001 without a Dally M that year either.
Cleary is the best. Stop the Immortal rush
His first Dally M Player of the Year was right, alongside the players' champion award, Wally Lewis Medal and Brad Fittler Medal. Celebrate that clean sweep without demanding another coronation.
The Immortals began in 1980 as a port promotion devised by John Fordham through Rugby League Week. Commercial origins didn't prevent the honour becoming precious. The National Rugby League bought the concept and has shown no discipline protecting its scarcity.
I think Cameron Smith will and should become an Immortal; Johnathan Thurston is line ball for me. That's precisely why time matters. Brett Kenny remaining in the conversation 30 years after playing strengthens his case, while Glenn Lazarus has slipped out of it despite being widely regarded as the greatest front-rower ever.
The Australian Football League limits its Legends to 10 per cent of Hall of Fame membership. Rugby league needs that discipline. Judge the honour by the quality of those excluded, and stop letting Immortal chatter bury the Hall of Fame.
Souths must buy output, not reputation
South Sydney are right to put availability ahead of star power. I think this is good governance, not hostility towards their biggest-name talent.
Talis Duncan and Brandon Smith have re-signed despite the club saying only Duncan would be negotiated with before November 1. Reading between the lines, I think there's a chance Souths are encouraging their star to explore alternatives while there's time.
My recollection is he's played fewer than half his available games over the past three years. That's not value for money when he wants top dollar, however gifted he is.
He's a positive influence inside the club, and neither Best nor Jack Bostock matches his talent. They play considerably more games, though, and that belongs in the calculation. A desperate club might want a circuit-breaker signing, but the risk remains. Premierships aren't won with the salary cap sitting on the sideline.
Ramsey's story deserves its own spotlight
Cody Ramsey's comeback deserves far more attention than it's getting amid Newcastle's fairy tale.
He had half his intestine removed, spent months in hospital and fell to 60-odd kilos, losing his muscle while his survival was at stake. Football looked finished. Now he's playing again and hopefully gets onto the grand-final field. That's a story worth stopping for, whichever jersey you favour.
The Roosters also have a player rugby league should fight to retain in Mark Nawaqanitawase. He's a class act, and unlike most players heading for rugby union, he's one I'd try to stop leaving. Ramsey's resilience and Nawaqanitawase's quality deserve appreciation beyond the argument over who lifts the trophy.
