Sonny Bill Williams in action for the Roosters. Source: Matt King / Getty Images
IN his weekly column, Fox Sports expert and Canberra assistant coach Brett Kimmorley offers his thoughts on round 26 of the 2013 NRL Premiership season.
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Broncos v Bulldogs at Suncorp Stadium
Brisbane were a side motivated after copping a lot of criticism and Scott Prince's last match, which doubled as the night he joined the 300 club. He played well in a game which will be one to remember. He must be congratulated on what has been a great career. The Broncos made a great statement on Thursday night that when their attitude is correct they are a good football side. Their coach Anthony Griffin must have been left asking, 'Where has that been all year?' while Canterbury-Bankstown were off the pace. Losing poorly one week out from the semi-finals is something no club can afford to do. Ben Barba's return was exciting but he failed to really inject himself into the game. It has to be an extremely quick turnaround for the Bulldogs to get ready for their semi-final. They must make fewer errors and turn their form around quickly.
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Rabbitohs v Roosters at ANZ Stadium
The result shocked me. I expected South Sydney to win the match. The scores changed throughout the first half and in the second half the Roosters' dominance came to fruition. The Rabbitohs made some errors and were unable to use their size and aggression to their advantage. It was an enormously physical battle. Sam Burgess has come under scrutiny for some questionable action while Jared Waerea-Hargreaves may be in some trouble for an elbow to the throat of Chris McQueen. It was a great battle of the halves with Adam Reynolds going against Mitchell Pearce while James Maloney bagged two tries. The star of the night was Sonny Bill Williams. He has the ability to come up with big plays and that's what he did on Friday. The Roosters halves may not win them the grand final but Williams putting a stamp on the game with some of his brilliance.
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Dragons v Warriors at WIN Stadium
It's hard to imagine the Warriors playing as poor as they did with everything to play for. They produced a 50-point win against Canberra last week and expected the Warriors to win the game comfortably. Instead they left us all scratching our heads in a year they let slip. The Dragons were extremely poor and for a coach who is under pressure in Steve Price the team has done nothing to help him secure his job for next season. It was a gutsy effort for them to dig deep and get a win in their last home game and send Nathan Fien and Mick Weyman out of the club on a positive note.
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Storm v Titans at AAMI Park
This was one of the best games I have seen in a long time. Melbourne struggled in the first 40 minutes. They were trying to be physical and get their defensive patterns back. The Titans chanced their arm and played some second phase football. Dave Taylor was brutal on Saturday. He left Brett Finch with a bruised sternum after trampling him. Greg Bird was another star and played a crucial role in getting the game into golden point. The pace of the game increased in the second half and the Storm's grittiness showed. John Cartwright is right, golden point has to go. There was a crucial call where a ball was touched by a hand and while many are up in arms over the decision, I am happy for it to stay the way it is as there is no way to conclusively determine whether the player is making a play for the ball or not. The Titans were brilliant and gutsy but if they had been that way all year they wouldn't have been desperately fighting for eighth place.
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Cowboys v Tigers at 1300SMILES Stadium
I couldn't believe the score at fulltime after such a tight first half. Benji Marshall said the Wests Tigers turned up to play but the second half turned into the Thurston-Bowen show and they blew the Tigers away. There would be a lot of nervous sides looking at the Cowboys. They have a big, physical forward pack, one of the best players in the world in Johnathan Thurston and Matt Bowen with a spring back in his step. It was great to see Bowen get the send-off he deserved. The Tigers showed they have 40 minutes of good football in them so now the challenge for Mick Potter is getting them to last 80 minutes. Marshall now leaves the game to embark on a new career in rugby with a new half to come into the club next season as they look to re-build.
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Sea Eagles v Panthers at Brookvale Oval
Manly were cruising at 16-0 after unearthing some of their junior players who have made their way up through the ranks. The hardest part for the Sea Eagles would have been knowing they were in the finals series and they may have been guilty of putting the cue in the rack. The Sea Eagles had a number of players missing and lacked focus. Penrith had plenty to play for with a number of players leaving the club. Luke Walsh showed a lot of class in his last game in the NRL before leaving for the English Super League. Penrith deserve a huge pat on the back. They have improved from last season but to deem the club a success they will need to make the finals next year.
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Knights v Eels at Hunter Stadium
The Newcastle old boys club carries a lot of history. Parramatta went there hoping, with Jarryd Hayne, they would have been able to cause an upset - and with reports that Ricky Stuart would no longer be the coach of the Eels - but it was all about someone who is about to become a former old boy, and that is Danny Buderus. He was absolutely brilliant and led by example. The Knights were obviously able to score an enormous amount of points, but they were also defensively very tough and that's what Wayne Bennett builds his football sides on. It's a nice time for the Knights going into the finals because not too many sides are going in, in form. The Knights are probably one of the teams not being spoken about but they've shown they've got a lot of strike. And if any coach knows how to win, it's certainly Wayne Bennett.
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Raiders v Sharks at Canberra Stadium
The Sharks had a lot of players out either rested or carrying injuries, and they were already guaranteed a home finals spot. They finish in fifth spot and with a positive for and against, which is a nice way to round out a 26-game season. The big news will be whether Andrew Fifita's calf scare during the game turns out to be a serious injury because you need all your players playing at finals time and we saw how much of an impact Fifita can have during Origin. It was a very good game of football, very physical Sunday. There was a lot of end-to-end action. It's probably the most physical the Raiders have played for a number of weeks. Tyrone Peachey was very good off the bench and - without some of their superstars - the Sharks were still able to score 38 points. For the Raiders, it finishes a disappointing year that had on- and off-field dramas, but there was good character shown. And congratulations to Shaun Berrigan, who's played the final game of an outstanding career and was very good Sunday - I thought he was their best player, so it's good to see another legend finish on a good note.
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