SYDNEY - The captains of the National Rugby League finals sides are tipping the Sydney Roosters and Bulldogs to be in the grand final but deny the premiership is a two-horse race.
Seven of the eight finals captains were polled yesterday - with Sydney Roosters lock Luke Ricketson standing in for
Brad Fittler - and they unanimously endorsed the Roosters and Bulldogs as the premiership favourites.
St George Illawarra's Trent Barrett, North Queensland's Travis Norton and Ricketson expect their sides to meet the Bulldogs in the premiership decider.
The Bulldogs' Steve Price, Canberra's Simon Woolford and Penrith's Craig Gower said the Roosters would be their grand final opponent while Brisbane's Gorden Tallis and Melbourne's Stephen Kearney couldn't separate the top two.
"I can't split the Bulldogs and Roosters," Tallis said.
"You only have to look at the way the Roosters have been for the past two years and the Bulldogs, we saw how lethal they were in Brisbane two months ago."
Woolford, however, was in no doubt.
"It would have to be the Roosters," said the Canberra rake, who hopes to lead his side into a qualifying final against the minor premiers on Sunday.
"I just think they are proven big match players, their coach gets them up for big matches and they rarely misfire in the big games."
But the captains bristled when asked whether the competition was a two-horse race.
"It is but you look back to 2001 and it was a one-horse race," Tallis said.
"No one was going to beat Parramatta were they?
"There's a lot of footy to be played before the grand final. But there's still hope out there for the other six teams in the finals series."
Price was equally dismissive.
"It's easy to say that but once semifinals start everyone is on a level playing field," he said. "On their day, any one of these eight sides can win. It just depends on your attitude."
The captains were also decisive in their selection of the dark horse heading into the finals - St George Illawarra.
Melbourne and defending premier Penrith also won support but the Dragons were the standout selection.
"It has to be the Dragons," Tallis said.
"I think we all know if they click on the day you can't really beat them, can you?"
Gower agreed.
"I suppose St George Illawarra would be the dark horse," he said. "They have so many good players. When they get on a good run they can really play some entertaining footy."
The captains were also asked to nominate a player from their own side and a player from a rival finals team who could make an impact over the next month.
As expected, Bulldogs' sensation Sonny-Bill Williams was nominated while Brisbane's Darren Lockyer won support.
Ricketson also threw 21-year-old teammate Anthony Tupou in the mix.
"He's a young kid looking forward to his first finals," Ricketson said. "He's only getting better and better. I probably think we haven't seen [Brisbane's] Darren Lockyer for three or four weeks.
"He can step into that team and make them contenders."
* Newcastle trio Danny Buderus, Matthew Gidley and Ben Kennedy were yesterday named in the Australian train-on squad for the end-of-season Tri-Nations tournament against New Zealand and Great Britain.
The Kangaroos play the opening Tri-Nations game on October 16 against the Kiwis at Albany.
- AAP
SYDNEY - The captains of the National Rugby League finals sides are tipping the Sydney Roosters and Bulldogs to be in the grand final but deny the premiership is a two-horse race.
Seven of the eight finals captains were polled yesterday - with Sydney Roosters lock Luke Ricketson standing in for
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