Parramatta’s recall of the outcast Nathan Brown makes perfect sense when you consider the style of game the ex-NSW forward will bring into Sunday’s grand final.
The Eels have done their best to deny there was a blow-up between coach Brad Arthur and Brown over his non-selection but we’ve had plenty of people tell us the pair definitely had words about why the firebrand forward was left out of Parramatta’s best 17.
Casting an eye over the Penrith forward pack – led by James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota and Spencer Leniu – there’s no question Parramatta will require the punch and energy of Brown off the interchange bench.
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Even though the Eels forward hasn’t played NRL since round 17 there’s still a strong case given the magnitude of the game he’ll be up for the occasion.
The Eels are expected to start the grand final with x-factor enforcer Marata Niukore in the middle and the versatile Ryan Matterson reverting to the bench.
The tactical ploy from Eels coach Arthur has worked brilliantly over the past two weeks of the finals and been a key element of the Eels surge into rugby league’s showpiece game.
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While Niukore compliments the Eels front-row pair Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Junior Paulo to start the game, Matterson can then be injected after the opening 20 minutes and cause immediate problems with his ball-playing and offloading ability through the middle.
There’s no question the Eels need to grab hold of the opportunity they’ve given themselves in the decider given Niukore, Reed Mahoney and most-likely Isaiah Papali’I will all depart the club following the grand final against premiers Penrith.
Read on for all the latest NRL news in Jimmy Brings.
MIX OF VETERANS AND ROOKIES IN MENINGA’S KANGAROOS SQUAD
Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga will name a 24-man Kangaroo squad on Monday with Josh Addo-Carr, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Jake Trbojevic all expected to be part of the green and gold touring party for the World Cup.
Current form and State of Origin form are key factors in terms of Meninga’s selections, with the NSW trio having endured a mixed bag in terms of the Blues Origin campaign this year.
Addo-Carr and Trbojevic were initially overlooked by the Blues before Jake Turbo was recalled for Origin II at the expense of Eels prop Campbell-Gillard.
The way RCG has performed in the finals he’s guaranteed to be the first front-rower picked for Australia with Addo-Carr also expected to earn a representative recall for the Kangaroos after a flying finish to the season for Canterbury-Bankstown.
Trbojevic was also a model of consistency for Manly even when the Sea Eagles season went up in smoke off the back of the rainbow jersey fiasco.
From a Queensland point of view young gun North Queensland Cowboy trio Reuben Cotter, Jeremiah Nanai and Murray Tualagi are all expected to be on the plane bound for the World Cup in the UK along with Wally Lewis Medal winner Pat Carrigan.
If Parramatta backrower Shaun Lane produces another performance like the preliminary final against the Cowboys in the grand final then he’s also every chance of winning an Australian jumper.
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PANTHERS’ $3.5 MILLION ROSTER HEADACHE
The Panthers have done an outstanding job in setting up the club’s pathways system into the NRL with no less than eight local juniors set to feature in Sunday’s NRL grand final.
Nathan Cleary (Brothers Penrith), Brian To’o (St Marys), Stephen Crichton (St Clair Comets), Jarome Luai (St Marys), Spencer Leniu (Minchinbury Jets), Moses Leota (St Marys), Izack Tago (St Marys) and Mitch Kenny (Windsor Wolves) have all come out of the Panthers junior system.
Phil Gould laid the foundations initially and then Brian Fletcher and coach Ivan Cleary have continued to ensure the system propagates.
The Panthers greatest challenge beyond facing Parramatta in the grand final will be trying to retain the bulk of the club’s outstanding roster beyond 2023.
Viliame Kikau and Api Korisau will depart after Sunday before the Panthers will front the delicate balancing act of having upwards of $3.5 million in talent off contract in the form of Brian To’o, Spencer Leniu, Stephen Crichton, Liam Martin, Scott Sorensen and Charlie Staines.
All will be free agents as of November 1 this year with rival clubs already sharpening their pencils to try and swoop.
There is strong mail Martin will join the Parramatta Eels in 2024 with his cousin Trent Barrett to become the Eels assistant coach for 2023.
The positive for the Panthers is they’ve got the junior system humming so well there’ll be a host of young gun local talent ready to step up into the NRL from rugby league’s biggest junior nursery.
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IRONY IN PANTHERS’ FAVOURITISM AS WEAKNESS EXPOSED
The irony out of the battle of the west grand final is the last time a team was considered such a lay down misere leading into a grand final was all the way back in 2001 when the Eels were rolled by an Andrew Johns and Ben Kennedy-led Newcastle side.
Back then, Parramatta had broken all sorts of records as one of the best attacking teams in the NRL era on their way to the biggest game of the season.
This time around it’s the premiers Penrith who most experts are declaring morals to become the second side in the NRL era to go back-to-back.
If there’s a weakness in the Panthers line-up it’s the match-up on Penrith’s right wing where Charlie Staines has the job of trying to contain Parramatta powerhouse Maika Sivo.
The Eels winger is deadly from close range scoring 13 tries from 15 games since returning from a knee injury mid-season.
South Sydney outlined the blueprint on how to try and expose Staines in last weekend’s preliminary final with Richie Kennar scoring an early try.
Staines finds himself in this year’s grand final after Taylan May succumbed to a hamstring injury forcing Brian To’o to switch from the Panthers right edge to the left.
To’o was in superb touch against the Rabbitohs and will no doubt be putting all sorts of pressure on Eels right winger Waqa Blake when Nathan Cleary sends up the aerial assault aimed at trying to bring the Parramatta flyer unstuck.
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PANTHERS’ CLASS OF 2003 REUNION
Penrith’s 2003 grand final winning team will host a reunion in Balmain on Saturday with a host of champion players from the club’s second premiership set to attend.
Watching a replay of the game on Fox League this week it was one of the all-time classic grand finals when the Panthers prevailing as heavy underdogs.
Scott Sattler’s cover tackle on Roosters winger Todd Byrne and Luke Priddis winning the Clive Churchill Medal were the headline moments but the opening to the contest was absolute brutality at its best.
Roosters forwards Adrian Morley and Michael Crocker went kamikaze for the opening 20 minutes before Priddis started to cut the Roosters apart through the middle of the ruck.
Penrith captain Craig Gower also submitted a brilliant all-round kicking display combined with some big defensive plays and finished the game looking like he’d been in a brawl out the front of the Grey Gums Hotel.
