NRL Match Thread Finals Week 1 - Sunday : Souths v Knights

[Graham]

Cam Smith, cool as a cucumber slots it over from the touchline.

Perhaps his greatest strength is his composure.

[Graham]

Hang on, Eels proving they’ve got life in them yet. Lane over at a gallop!

Great try after bunker deliberation gives them possession

[Graham]

Latest

36-24 Storm

[Graham]

Looks like only me sticking with this

[Futtocks]

Still here!

Munster's injury doesn't look like he'll be straight back next weekend.

[Graham]

Sadly for Storm Cam Munster is off with a bad looking knee injury. Limping with big ice pack applied. Looks like that him out of the finals maybe?

[Graham]

1 minute ago, Futtocks said:

Still here!

Munster's injury doesn't look like he'll be straight back next weekend.

Good lad! I hate the sound of my own voice echoing round an empty auditorium, or sitting room, as I call it.

[Graham]

Full time

Melbourne Storm 36-24 Parramatta Eels

Despite losing, that’s been a pretty good performance by Parra who were in the game for a long time there after a great start.

[Graham]

Storm having rested a lot of players in R20 took some time to get back into shape. Eels took advantage and put themselves into a good position. Even when Storm got into gear, the Eels battled on.

[Clogiron]

Another fast, open game unfortunately we won't see anything of the like on the BBC this afternoon. The game overhere especially since lockdown has sunk to a alarming level whereas the NRL has opened up dramatically. Parra put in a huge effort keeping the ball moving and creating openings but lost their contol when RCG and Paulo were off the field.

[Spotty Herbert]

Season enders for Sivo and Ferguson means Parra will struggle next week (specially if the Bunnies win tomorrow as I would expect). Hope its not as bad as it looked for Munster, as Qld cannot afford to lose any more players for State of Origin.

 

[Dunbar]

And then there were 7!

The Sharks were better than I expected them to be (and the Raiders worse, particularly the first half) but you always felt they wouldn't have enough.

If there is an upset this weekend with a lower rated team winning it may be tomorrow.  The Knights have two of the best front rowers in the game in Klemmer and Daniel Saifiti, a schemer in Pearce and a couple of game breakers in Bradman Best and Ponga but I do feel that the Rabbitohs will have too much for them 1 to 17. 

[Graham]

41 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

And then there were 7!

The Sharks were better than I expected them to be (and the Raiders worse, particularly the first half) but you always felt they wouldn't have enough.

If there is an upset this weekend with a lower rated team winning it may be tomorrow.  The Knights have two of the best front rowers in the game in Klemmer and Daniel Saifiti, a schemer in Pearce and a couple of game breakers in Bradman Best and Ponga but I do feel that the Rabbitohs will have too much for them 1 to 17. 

I’ve tipped Souths and I still reckon they’ll win. So far as you say the three winners are the ones expected to win. Usually at this stage there’s a surprise winner. Is that an omen in Knights favour? Maybe, but I’ll stick with Bunnies.

[Graham]

So who’ll be watching tomorrow’s game live?

The UKers will be tested to the limit on this one. Look at the kick off time for viewers in the UK:

I will be sleeping easy at that time. 
Hopefully somebody out there will follow the game for us.

What’s the kick off time in Australia?

Sunday, Oct 4th Rabbitohs vs Knights. ANZ Stadium 4:05 pm 

Hope it’s another good game. The ones before it in the first week of the finals have been great.

[Graham]

South Sydney can't be expected to repeat the brilliance they displayed last weekend, but even 80 per cent of that might be enough for Wayne Bennett's side to advance to week two of the finals.

Cody Walker enjoyed arguably the best performance of his career in Round 20. The Knights should consider themselves warned.

Team news

Rabbitohs: Second-rower Jaydn Su'A will return from suspension, allowing Cameron Murray to return to lock and Liam Knight to the bench with Hame Sele out. Steven Marsters and Troy Dargan were omitted from the squad 24 hours before kick-off. The Rabbitohs have won their past four finals games at ANZ Stadium.

Knights: Lachlan Fitzgibbon is named to return from a groin injury in the second row, pushing Sione Mata'utia to the bench and Brodie Jones to the reserves. Tex Hoy has been included on the extended interchange following a hamstring injury and provides utility cover. Gehamat Shibasaki and Brodie Jones were trimmed from the reserves list on Saturday. The Knights have conceded 140 points in their past four away games.

Well in our forum NRL tipping competition we’ve all gone for a Souths win.

Will this be the upset this first week tends to throw up, or like the three before it will it go as expected?

[George Watt]

12 hours ago, Graham said:

So, this has been a ‘game of two halves’ with Sharks winning the first half and Raiders dominating the second. 
 

Wonder if the match review committee will pick up the trip by Bateman on the Cronnulla chaser in the lead up to the Townsend try attempt? A sneaky one but not raised by the commentators who thought that the contact was minimal even though the Cronulla player fell after the incident.

[Graham]

Match Review:

Newcastle started their elimination final against South Sydney by scoring 14 points in quick time and it looked like a big Week 1 upset on the cards at ANZ Stadium.

Then Rabbitohs stars Cody Walker and Damien Cook took control of the game and the Bunnies romped in 46 unanswered points in one of the most dominant finals displays you’ll see.

Walker scored a try and had two assists and Cook did exactly the same as the two tore the sorry Knights apart to end their season in a 46-20 thumping.

Result:

South Sydney Rabbitohs 46 - 20 Newcastle Knights

 

C. Allan 16, C. Walker 20, A. Johnston 24, C. Murray 36, T. Tatola 62, A. Johnston 69, T. Tatola 74, D. Cook 76	Tries	H. Hunt 2, B. Best 7, H. Hunt 80
A. Reynolds 21, A. Reynolds 38, A. Reynolds 63, A. Reynolds 71, A. Reynolds 75, D. Gagai 78	Conversions	K. Ponga 3, K. Ponga 9, A. Guerra 80
A. Reynolds 48	Penalty Goals	K. Ponga 12

[Graham]

That's one to watch on catch up in the UK, especially if you're a Souths fan.

Even watching the highlights, hopefully with all the scoring, that should be a decently long viewing.

I wonder if Wayne Bennett manage a smile by the end of the game?

[Dunbar]

This Souths team can really pile on the points when they get on a roll.  Cody Walker continues his sterling form.

Predictions for both of next weeks games will take some thinking about!

[DavidM]

Big mistake by Newcastle scoring a couple of early tries and looking threatening . Just made Souths mad . 
Four great games there , that’s finals football 

[DavidM]

On 04/10/2020 at 09:24, Graham said:

I wonder if Wayne Bennett manage a smile by the end of the game?

He did , some big smiles . 2020 really is the weirdest year 

[Graham]

2 minutes ago, DavidM said:

He did , some big smiles . 2020 really is the weirdest year 

Are you sure it wasn’t just wind?

[DavidM]

10 minutes ago, Graham said:

Are you sure it wasn’t just wind?

Could be , Demetriou was slapping him on the back ...