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Only time will tell if the Melbourne Storm's cold fury over the Cameron Smith grapple tackle furore will carry over to the Grand Final.
They'll be hoping it will after the Storm's clinical dismemberment of a jittery and error-prone Sharks side on Friday night - followed by a
withering burst by Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy against the media, bookmakers, the NRL judiciary, and pretty much everyone and everything except Santa Claus and Mother Teresa.
Storm chief executive Brian Waldron also weighed in - having a poke at Sharks coach Ricky Stuart for his part in the Smith affair; earning a rebuke about "that idiot Waldron" from the fesity Stuart.
Then, to keep Melbourne's pot boiling, the NRL imposed a record $62,000 fine on the Storm for the comments by Bellamy and Waldron.
However, the record fine could be another fillip for Storm - so incensed by Stuart's comments on Smith last week that they took apart the Sharks with unflinching ferocity.
The Storm's sense of injustice over the Smith affair - their captain and playmaker ruled out of the match against the Sharks and now the grand final by his part in a grapple tackle against the Broncos - is such that it might also fuel their final fling.
NRL chief executive David Gallop described the remarks by Bellamy and Waldron as "an unprecedented premeditated attack on the NRL and its judiciary system".
"The accusations that they made were irrational, baseless and at times bordered on hysterical.
"Those accusations attack the integrity of the NRL and its judiciary system and for that reason on Monday they will receive a breach notice for the sum of A$50,000 (NZ$62,000)."
Bellamy marked his side's third consecutive grand final with an explosive press conference in which he questioned the influence of bookmakers on the game and the media on the judiciary.
In the wake of Smith's ban, an angry Bellamy launched a 10-minute diatribe in which he claimed the Australian captain had been singled out because of the Storm's reputation for being the masters of the controversial tackling technique, according to the Australian newspaper.
Bellamy then implied bookmakers had known the result of Smith's hearing before Wednesday night, before backing away from those comments.
"Cameron Smith, 10 minutes after the game last week, was hung out to dry,"Bellamy said. "For four or five days you (the media) ripped into us. There's some sections of the media that have an agenda against Melbourne and certainly on the grapple tackle.
"To pick out a guy at this time of year is very unfair. If you have a look at the semifinal between Manly and St George Illawarra a week before and you see a tackle by Stuart Webb.
"I'm not trying to throw stones at Stuart Webb or St George Illawarra. Have a look at that tackle and tell me that's not worse than Cameron Smith's. Somehow every time we come up it's a grand final."
Bellamy's most inflammatory, however, were directed towards the judiciary's decision to suspend Smith. He claimed bookmakers had framed a market on the day of the judicial hearing which strongly suggested Smith would be suspended.
":The other thing that was very smelly about the whole thing - there was a betting market that had $1.18 for guilty and $4.25 for not guilty," Bellamy said. "That's a fair split in a two-horse race. Bookmakers and betting agencies - they don't guess. They have good info."
Bellamy then backed away from those comments, claiming he had not meant to insinuate the judiciary had already reached its decision before the hearing.
"Why does Cameron Smith get charged? That's what I am saying. He's the Australian captain, the Queensland captain, the Melbourne captain and the Golden Boot winner."
Melbourne chief executive Brian Waldron also weighed into the debate, lambasting Stuart for commenting on the Smith tackle before the judiciary hearing.
Stuart responded to Waldron by branding the Storm boss a "flip".
"I don't know how many times he has to get it through his thick head - Wally Waldron should go and learn the rules before he complains about me making comments," Stuart said.
"Of course I am going to make comments, I'm the opposition coach. I didn't make the tackle and that flip Waldron has to understand that the more flip goes on about it, the more I will go on about it. Tell that idiot Waldron the sooner he understands that, the sooner we can move on."
But while Stuart appears to have no regrets about his Smith comments, Cronulla will have a few over their 28-0 hiding with 41 years of waiting for an NRL title producing a nervy, error-laden display.
Cronulla had tied at the top of the table with the Storm and Manly and many thought they would go all the way. But it seems the late and great coaching genius Jack Gibson was right all along when he said: "Waiting for Cronulla to win a premiership is like leaving the porch light on for Harold Holt."
The Sharks lost composure and execution and it took only three minutes for Storm stand-in captain Cooper Cronk to expose the Sharks' anxiety.
Cronk outwitted the rush defence to get around opposing skipper Paul Gallen and find space before he grubbered ahead for Steve Turner to score.
The next 37 minutes was a football team falling apart. Dropped balls - eight in total - and missed tackles plagued the Sharks and unfortunately for young five-eighth Blake Green, he had a horror match.
Green was called into the team after Brett Seymour's unlucky knee injury last week as the club resisted pleas from sponsors and fans to reinstate Test star Greg Bird.
Bird was stood down last month by the club over an alleged glassing incident involving his girlfriend but, with his court case looking like falling through, the club had been under increasing pressure to let him play.
Coach Ricky Stuart, though, never caved in and instead called upon Green, with just 11 NRL games under his belt, to play the club's biggest game in years. It was a brave decision but it just wasn't Green's night.
The Sharks might have claimed a moral victory by refusing to field Bird, but that's little solace to the loyal fans who had seen a rare chance at premiership success pass them by.
Sharks skipper Paul Gallen said the players must use Cronulla's limp exit from the NRL finals as motivation to go one step further next year.
With halfback Brett Kimmorley (Bulldogs), hooker Isaac De Gois (Newcastle) and prop Danny Nutley (retired) all leaving the club, Gallen said it was important the young players left at Cronulla learn from last night's pain and keep the strong bond which carried them in 2008.
"I think (the experience of 2008) will be great for them but the tough thing will be getting back here really," said Gallen.
"It's taken us six years to get here and that's the hardest thing. Yeah, it's a good experience for us but we have to get back here.
"We didn't deserve to lose the way we did but in saying that we weren't good enough.
"We have to feel the pain we're going through now and when we come back next year don't come back and play the way we did (last night)."
It has been a dramatic year for the Sharks with season-ending injuries to young stars Reece Williams (knee in round two) and Brett Seymour (knee last week) plus the midseason retirement of veteran Lance Thompson.
Gallen praised the efforts of coach Ricky Stuart and assistant Shane Flanagan for keeping the team united through a troubled season.
"It's a testament to the boys the way we all bonded together and became best mates and a lot of that goes down to Ricky and Shane Flanagan," said Gallen.
"What they did for us this year was pretty amazing. Right from round three when Reece Willliams went down it was pretty scary really.
"We don't have any big name players really but the way they got us together after every single thing that happened just goes to show what good coaches they are really."
Future signs for the Sharks are good with former Test five-eighth Trent Barrett returning from Wigan to lead their attack, Australian and NSW backrower Anthony Tupou coming from the Roosters and veteran hooker Corey Hughes to add his experience from the Bulldogs.
The three are handy additions to a team low on star players but Gallen expects a few of the unheralded Sharks players to break into the representative arena in the near future.
"Douggie (prop Luke Douglas) will definitely be there in the future. He is only 22," said Gallen when asked of the representative aspirations of his team-mates.
"I think people might laugh at this but Isaac De Gois - he can't be far off.
"I know he probably won't be (in the World Cup squad) but it won't surprise me if he was if something happened to Cameron Smith and Robbie Farah."
