Only a few days away now, so I thought I'd get the Whiteboard out and have a looksie at our two Grand Final sides. On paper you'd have to say that the Rabbitohs have a bit more talent, they've got the talent in their forward pack, talent in their halves and copious amounts of talent out wide. But as you'd expect with a Grand Final, their opposition, The Bulldogs are also pretty much the complete package. Ooh, she'll be a goodun'.

I'm going to start with the dummy half situation where Apisai Koroisau will take Isaac Luke's place and I'm picking Michael Ennis to not play. Genius huh? So how does that impact each team? Well Koroisau is pretty similar to Luke, just a little bit less of a nugget. He's nifty out of dummy half and will keep markers honest, which is super important with the Bunnies. They like to pack the middle of the field, so if Koroisau scoots out of marker, expect to see Greg Inglis nearby and/or a few Burgess brothers there as well. The Bunnies attack straight up the guts with a combination of speed and power so as long as Koroisau's got his dancing boots on, they should be ok.

The Doggies on the other hand don't quite have the same luxury. Ennis is one of a kind and whether Moses M'bye of Reni Maitua goes in to dummy half (maybe both), they won't offer what Ennis did - the niggle, the toughness, the crisp distribution and running at the right times. However, Ennis doesn't really have a huge variety of tricks. This isn't a bad thing as the Dogs don't need a super duper dummy half, they've got the talent elsewhere which will make it easier for M'bye or Maitua to slot in. 

Who's got the better of this shitty situation? I reckon the Bunnies.

Right, the Bunnies. Don't expect too much to change. Instead of pulling a bluff on the Doggies, I reckon they'll attack them through the middle with as much intensity as they have all season. The order of the day will be getting the Burgess Bros, Dave Tyrell and even John Sutton and Ben Te'o, get them good ball and they'll get you quick play the balls. The Bunnies love to surge off the back of quick play the balls with their dummy half and Inglis rampaging up the guts. 

I can't quite decide whether the Bunnies might try run the Doggies around a bit - attack out wide then go through the middle or just through the middle. They will be out to test James Graham, get him tired, limit his effectiveness but also get him tired and attack him with multiple options. 

The reason I'm contemplating an edge assault by the Bunnies is because they have their top ranking edges in place. John Sutton and Ben Te'o will play alongside centres Kirisome Auva'a and Dylan Walker. Both Sutton and Te'o are big, mobile and have skills so in partnership with Auva'a and the amazing Walker, they could be very dangerous. 

That brings us to Inglis. First things first, expect him to carry every kick return like his life depends on it. That gives his team a massive boost, he's a huge lad so he gets quick play the balls with ease. Then he'll hang around the ruck, waiting. As MF DOOM says - "lay in the cut like a panther on the prowl". Inglis will wait for the right moment, then burst up in support of anyone who makes a break. Lastly with Inglis, he likes to get on the left to use his massive right fend ... now we've seen Walker being given the opportunity to float around, away from his right edge over to the left. Keep an eye on Walker using his awesomeness to get Inglis a half chance on the left, it'll be nearly unstoppable.

Over to the Doggies. We've all heard enough about James Graham, so I won't bore you with that. Just expect him to be a monster, but a monster with skills. 

It's hard to break down the Doggies because they don't really have too many individuals to isolate. Maybe I could look at how Sam Perrett has perfected the art of getting the ball out the back of a block play, setting up his outside men? 

While that's important, Perrett's doing what nearly every fullback in the comp does. What he's benefiting from is a group of forwards who are very well rounded. In fact, maybe the only group of forwards who are better, are the Bunnies. The Dogs have the muscle to match up, especially with Dave Klemmer, Dale Finucane and Tim Browne coming off the bench. Shit, talk about impact (M'bye and Maitua have been named on an extended bench, so if Ennis is out, either one of those two replaces him in the starting line up for 80 minutes, or one starts and the other pushes a big bopper off the bench).

For me, what gets me going about the Bulldogs is having Greg Eastwood, Tony Williams and Josh Jackson in great form. Eastwood is low key one of the best locks in the game, there's no one with his footwork so he can make defenders miss + the obvious, that he's big and strong. T-Rex, well we've seen it all from him this season, but on Sunday expect him to just run the ball. He's looked like he did at Manly many times this season when he tucks it under his little T-Rex arms and runs. If he runs, he will either attract defenders to stop him or he'll get a quick play the ball - both are beneficial. Josh Jackson? Well besides looking like Action Man, he's super mobile ... which brings me back to Graham.

Graham's ability to pass gives the Dogs the opportunity to get Williams, Eastwood and Jackson either 1 v 1 or in to holes through the middle third of the pitch. If you over commit on Graham on your inside, expect to see one of those three zoom past you on your outside as you wave a shitty arm tackle in their direction, which will have no effect as they're simply too big.

The halves. There haven't been many Grand Finals in which you could say that both halves pairings aren't the most important players. There's so much skill out there that Adam Reynolds, Luke Keary, Josh Reynolds and Trent Hodkinson could get overlooked. While other players might have a greater positive impact, if anyone of these guys is off their game it will have a huge negative impact. They need to get their team down the other end. They need to be comfortable and patient with the grind, then pounce when momentum swings their way. Look to run the ball first, execute kicks perfectly and make no mistakes.

I don't think I've been this excited for a Grand Final in a while. These two teams match up perfectly, there's enough talent to get you out of your seat while there's also no weak players who look like they could be overcome by the occasion. Bring it on!