KEY POINTS:
The destruction of the Warriors at the hands of a far superior Manly outfit in the playoff eliminator last weekend was obviously a big disappointment for all of us who were attached to the emotional freight train as they ran through the NRL finals series.
I felt going into the game that not only could the Warriors beat Manly but that they would do that and then continue on to win the grand final.
Obviously my enthusiasm for their results up to that point overtook rational thought.
At the start of the season most league pundits picked a Melbourne-Manly grand final with the Storm again the runaway winners.
After the way Manly demolished the Warriors, I have to say I can't see Melbourne beating them in this year's title game.
Now while last Saturday night was a big disappointment, the Warriors had already established themselves as worthy finals contenders, they had proved that on their day they could beat any team in the competition including the reigning champions Melbourne, who are now into their third consecutive grand final. This is the second season the Warriors have made the finals and they take all that experience into 2009, when the squad will be boosted by the arrival of backs Joel Moon and Denan Kemp from the Broncos and State of Origin forward Jacob Lillyman from the Cowboys. Those players will strengthen what is already a very good Warriors side.
I'm sure the players will have it hammered into them during the off-season that, regardless of injuries and representative commitments, they cannot afford to let their performance diminish and drop games early and mid-season as they did this year. If they are to push on and take the title they must win at least three and possibly four tough playoff games, so it is incredibly important that they do not have to go through the 12 weeks of sudden-death football that was required this season to make the preliminary finals.
I have no doubt that the stress of facing that sudden-death football for 12 weeks played heavily on the players and took a heavy toll last Saturday. While I thought Manly played a superb game both on attack and in defence, the Warriors looked mentally drained.
This will not be news to the coaching and management at the Warriors and I'm sure it's something they and the captain Steve Price will be impressing upon the team.
The reason I think Manly will beat Melbourne is the Storm have had nothing but disruption throughout the finals series. After they were unexpectedly overturned by the Warriors and forced to play in week two instead of having a week off, as Manly did, the Storm have battled the judiciary. Their captain, Cameron Smith, was banned and the club chief executive, Brian Waldron, was fined A$50,000 ($58,770) for claiming the judiciary was biased. As if that distraction wasn't enough, coach Craig Bellamy was embroiled in a war of words with Cronulla coach Ricky Stuart.
I felt Cronulla capitulated to the Storm last weekend, rather than Melbourne producing anything brilliant, whereas Manly looked like the best team in the comp.
I wouldn't rush out and put the house on it, but I think the recent form of both teams speaks for itself and gives a great pointer to the 2008 victor.
