Bulldog's Ben Barba injures his foot. Source: Gregg Porteous / News Limited
IN his weekly column, Fox Sports expert and Canberra assistant coach Brett Kimmorley offers his thoughts on round 25 of the 2013 NRL Premiership season.
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Rabbitohs v Storm at ANZ Stadium
South Sydney had to respond in this game following the minor premiership lost to the Roosters the week before. I still think South Sydney are favourites to win the competition. They used the physicality of their side to their strength. The whole side played extremely well with Issac Luke claiming man of the match. Adam Reynolds looked like he lost some of his stability and ability to build pressure over the last couple of weeks but against the Storm it all returned for the halfback. Greg Inglis looked a lot fitter then he has in previous weeks and having the week off will only do his body the world of good.
Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith was quite honest in the press conference after this game. He said the Storm have been slow in their starts for the last half of the season have been extremely poor and Friday night was no different. The Storm were brilliant in the second half but unfortunately they had too many points to chase. Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater and Smith played extremely well but the other players didn't perform to a standard that would allow the big three to win the game. There was a horrible incident involving Sisa Waqa where he landed on his head, while it was an accident, I hope he is alright. The Storm now faces the Newcastle Knights on Saturday and after watching their win over Canterbury on Sunday, I am confident they will certainly challenge the Storm.
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Sharks v Cowboys at Allianz Stadium
North Queensland will return home from the finals gutted for the second year. Last season it was a forward pass call and this year it was an incident involving a seventh tackle. The touch judge, referee or video ref should have intervened and they corrected the count on the run. They lost the tackle count and the Sharks call on tackle seven. The Cowboys have every right to feel enormously gutted. Cowboys coach Neil Henry should be very proud of what he achieved after being told he was not wanted. The Cowboys almost stole the victory on full time with Kane Linnett's foot finding the touch line before he could plant the ball on the line. Matt Bowen deserves congratulations on an amazing career. He has been a pleasure to watch him and I certainly get reminded about him regularly thanks to one moment we shared in our State of Origin careers. For a bloke of his size and stature to be so successful for such a long period of time goes to show you don't have to be six foot and 100 kilos to be a football player.
For Cronulla, Todd Carney's fitness is their major issue. Their forwards were very good and will challenge Manly next week however they need Carney to be a chance of winning the match. While we will have to wait and see how he recovers, one thing I do know is that Friday night is sure to be a physical bash-a-thon.
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Roosters v Sea Eagles at Allianz Stadium
I wrote the Roosters off a few weeks ago saying their halves wont win the big games for them. The key to winning big games is your key players and in State of Origin Mitchell Pearce and James Maloney did nothing to prove that they are big game players. I thought they would struggle through the finals but last week Sonny Bill Williams carried them and this week it was the team's defensive traits which got them through. If you don't have to score many points, it is easier to win the game and they have been the best defensive side all year. The Roosters defended the house down and now after a rest they will welcome back Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and possibly Boyd Cordner which will make them an even stronger side. This club has so much athleticism and the best player in the world at the moment in Sonny Bill Williams, which has given them the makings of a team who can claim the title.
I will admit, I have my doubts over whether the Roosetrs can win the premiership but I am starting to think the Roosters may prove me wrong.
Manly were very good but without Brett Stewart they lacked that killer blow. Kieran Foran was brilliant, while Anthony Watmough was a little bit rusty after having a couple of weeks on the sideline. He will return to his brilliant best next week when they face Cronulla.
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Bulldogs v Knights at ANZ Stadium
Newcastle played like a classic Wayne Bennett coached side on Sunday. They were defensively tough and frustrated the Bulldogs when they tried to go forward. The Bulldogs then tried to go around them and that has been their issue over the last few weeks. They played too lateral and forgot about going forward. The Bulldogs haven't reached the heights people would have thought. Ben Barba suffered a syndesmosis injury and sometimes that means they have to pin the ligament to the bone. If that's the case he could arrive to Brisbane as the prize signing and not even see the football field next year. Jarrod Mullen's kicking game deserves some praise while the starts of the show were Beau Scott and Jeremy Smith. The Knights were scrutinised for buying old footballers but they are tough players who know how to win big games. I think Newcastle can challenge Melbourne and can possibly beat them. Don't write Newcastle off as a dark horse in this competition.
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