By Andrew Webster
Can you smell that? Take a big whiff, through both nostrils, like you’ve just scored a try and you’re standing in a huddle with your teammates as the conversion attempt is being lined up.
That, my friends, is the intoxicating aroma of the NRL finals, just around the corner.
We’re six weeks out from the finals and if you can tell me, with any certainty, how it will play out then you are a better judge than me.
(Then again, that’s not particularly hard).
Ladder-leaders Canberra might find weird and wonderful ways to win matches but are the most consistent team in the competition, two points ahead of Canterbury and with a bye up their sleeve.
The Bulldogs are an intriguing team because of the bold decision from coach Cameron Ciraldo to bite the bullet and make Lachie Galvin his starting halfback.
For some, Galvin didn’t show them enough in the controversial win against St George Illawarra — which is strange for a player who scored a try and threw the match-winning pass.
Melbourne, the premiership favourites before the season started and remain so with the bookies, are struggling to find the consistency for which they are known. Craig Bellamy must do at least 20,000 steps per match just walking from the front to the back of the coach’s box.
If the Warriors are to win their first title, they’ll need to do so without halfback Luke Metcalf, who has torn his anterior cruciate ligament.
Maybe they just need to throw the ball to backrower Leka Halasima following his incredible last-minute try against the Knights. That left-foot step was Fittler-esque.
Andrew Webster’s men need to keep the wins clicking over if they’re to keep Brisbane out of the top four. All the dysfunction the Broncos displayed earlier in the season under new coach Michael Maguire has seemingly evaporated.
Then there’s the four-time defending premiers Penrith, who are surging down the outside like a Melbourne Cup fancy at Flemington off the back of six straight victories.
Can they do the impossible and win a fifth straight premiership after being last two months ago? Ivan Cleary isn’t old enough to draw Bart Cummings comparisons — yet.
Meanwhile, Manly look like an entirely different team to the one won took the field just a few weeks ago. With Jake and Tom Trbojevic on the verge of re-signing, the Sea Eagles are a side not to be taken lightly.
The eighth-placed Sharks round out the eight. They’re the only other team in the eight, along with Canberra, that has a bye up their sleeve.
They can’t rest on that. The Dolphins (ninth) and Roosters (tenth) are one win out of the eight and can easily force their way into the finals in coming weeks.
The Dolphins have the equal-best attack in the NRL alongside Melbourne, but that means nought if you can’t stop tries. That is surely Kristian Woolf’s focus in the run home.
As for the Roosters, it says everything about the club that they’re knocking on the door of the eight in a “rebuilding” season.
Trent Robinson’s men need to get the job done against Melbourne at Allianz Stadium on Thursday night.
Again, if you can tell me with certainty how that match will play out, you’re a better judge than me!
