NRL 2021 finals LIVE updates South Sydney Rabbitohs v Manly Sea Eagles
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It’s been a testy opening five minutes: plenty of bruising defence, little room in the middle of the field, high kicks and not much room for either team.
But there’s a major flashpoint: Manly prop Sean Keppie is knocked senseless after attempting a tackle on Mark Nicholls. He gets up and tries to go on, but he can barely stand. Referee Ashley Klein has let play go on for a couple of tackles, and it only stops when three desperate Manly defenders try to stop Jaxson Paulo and hold him up over the line.
How does the referee not stop the game for a serious head injury there? I know we had the drama of last week with Penrith utility Mitch Kenny in back play, but that is as obvious as you get of a case where you stop the game. That was just dangerous, Keppie trying to stop Paulo with no idea what was going on.
He’s finally taken from the field and he won’t be back tonight.
Enough of the pre-game drama, we’re underway in the first grand final qualifier at Suncorp Stadium on a huge weekend. Manly trying to make the decider after an abysmal 0-4 start to the season and the Rabbitohs trying to ensure Wayne Bennett, Adam Reynolds, Dane Gagai, Jaydn Su’A and possibly Benji Marshall farewell Redfern with a grand final appearance.
Daly Cherry-Evans kicks off for Manly and Blake Taaffe drops it ... but it goes backwards. Crazy start.
Buckle up...
A Rabbitohs fan shows her support.Credit:Getty
Not long until kick-off, and the first of the grand final qualifiers.
Most experts are predicting this as an almost toss-of-the-coin game, but many are siding with the Rabbitohs given their fresh legs. I’m going to swim against the tide and tip the Sea Eagles to qualify for their first grand final since 2013. I’ll take them by 4 points with South Sydney’s Dane Gagai to grab a try.
Who are you tipping?
I’m glad to report the Manly bus has made it safely to Suncorp Stadium, but perhaps an hour later than what they had hoped. The Sea Eagles players have still found time for a few pre-game interviews and are now warming up on Suncorp Stadium.
I know it might not sound like much, but NRL players are all different and many are fastidious about their routines. Some won’t like being a little rushed once they got to the ground, no matter how much they deny it. How will the late drama affect both teams?
Want to know a wacky stat? Des Hasler has never lost a preliminary final as either player or coach. That’s one helluva record for a guy who has been around the game for so long.
Wayne Bennett’s response? He reckons the stat is “a mythâ€. Love it. Can the master coach put a black mark on Hasler’s record in his home state?
Read about the by-play between the two coaches here.
Just away from the Rabbitohs-Sea Eagles game for a minute, it’s been another dramatic week for the Panthers and there’s been a late twist.
Prop Moses Leota is a late withdrawal with a calf problem, replaced in the starting team by Liam Martin with young gun Spencer Leniu coming onto the bench. But Ivan Cleary insists Brian To’o and Viliame Kikau are ready to go.
Regardless, it’s going to take a mighty effort for the Panthers to topple the rested Storm, favourite to win another title after last year’s farewell to Cameron Smith.
Moses Leota is out of the grand final qualifier for the Panthers.Credit:Getty
For the fourth year in a row, the Rabbitohs are into the grand final qualifier. But they are yet to go further to actually make the grand final.
There are two ways you can look at it: they have been remarkably consistent to be in the final four years running, a feat only achieved by the Storm in the same period.
The other way is, they’ve got a problem trying to jump this hurdle to make the decider. But crucially, this is the first time out of those four preliminary finals they’ve had the week off beforehand courtesy of their upset win over the Panthers in week one of the finals. Every other year they’ve had to battle their way through week two.
Will the rest be enough to gift them the edge?
Wayne Bennett’s renowned sports psychologist Phil Jauncey had his say on the Rabbitohs’ preliminary final record, and how they got over last year’s loss to the Panthers. You can read it here.
Unsurprisingly, there’s a couple of changes for Manly. We already knew about one, Moses Suli coming into the centres for Brad Parker, who was ruled out on Thursday with a hand injury (despite Des Hasler saying hours earlier he would be right to play). Sean Keppie will come into the starting team for Martin Taupau, who reverts back to the bench.
Wayne Bennett has had a very Wayne Bennett preparation for the Rabbitohs’ biggest match of the year. His South Sydney team is 1-17.
Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler is one win away from another grand final.Credit:NRL Photos
Of all the compelling storylines heading into this game, maybe the fact it could be Benji Marshall’s last NRL game is the most significant.
The South Sydney utility thought his career was done earlier this year after a bitter exit from the Tigers, but is only 80 minutes away from a second grand final appearance 16 years after his first. It would be quite some story.
You can read Michael Chammas’ wonderful piece on Benji here.
Benji Marshall with then five-year-old Lleyton Giles during the 2010 season.Credit:NRL Photos, Brendan Esposito
If you thought this was going to be a night of drama, you’re right - and we haven’t even got to kick-off yet.
The NRL has announced the match will start 15 minutes later than scheduled ... because the Manly bus has been struck in traffic travelling from the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane. They’ve even had the help of a police escort. The game will now begin at 8.05pm.
No such problems for the Rabbitohs, who only had to travel up from the Gold Coast. I guess Queensland is the only place in Australia right now that can legitimately have traffic - and maybe Wayne Bennett has found a way to stop Tom Trbojevic.
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