It's Thursday and this week is creeping along nicely.

Have you made plans yet? The only thing that is pissing me off as the resident Grandpa of the Nichey Niche is the time of this bloody Grand Final - she's gonna be a late one. But oh well, that only means that Sunday is going to be filled with anticipation because I've already got this feeling in my loins that this could be one of the best Grand Finals of all time.

It's not only because of the players on display because there's some epic storylines that will play out over the 80 minutes of footy, or that have already played out. There's no better way to spark up Grand Final week with some judiciary controversy, otherwise known as the perfect marketing strategy. Every man and his dog has an opinion on Justin Hodges, whether smart or dumb and throughout the early part of the week it was all anyone was talking about. Considering that there's that Rugby World Cup thing and the AFL season also climaxing, it was a gift from the Immortals.

There's the Jonathan Thurston yarn - will the best player ... ever, will he get a ring?

There's Uncle Benny as well. Everything he touches turns to gold and he's already turned the Broncos to gold, but can he do what nearly every other NRL coach struggles to do?

One storyline that might not get the attention of those above, just because it isn't as good a yarn as Thurston, Benny of Hodges is the battle between the two forward packs. I love forwards, as should you as an NRL fan - everything starts with the forwards after all. Tomorrow I'll explore two of the most ruthlessly good props in the game, but today I'm exploring two of the most ruthlessly good locks in the game.

Jason Taumalolo and Corey Parker offer a pretty good story themselves. Taumalolo is the prodigy, earning an NRL debut in his teens and has now started to really establish himself in the NRL while Parker is the crafty veteran who has seen it all and has aged like a fine wine.

Understandably, Taumalolo has run for more metres this season as that is his biggest attribute with Taumalolo sitting on 3,182 metres and Parker on 2,787 metres. Taumalolo used to earn his NRL salary by hanging around out on an edge, but last season we saw him play at lock and his staple is carrying the footy in-behind the ruck area. Taumalolo is the perfect player to do this as he's quick and has great footwork so he can make defenders - who are usually trying to keep up with him in the first place - miss and easy metres are made. Blokes as big as Taumalolo simply shouldn't be able to move that easily.

Just on that; Taumalolo is 191cm tall and weighs 113kgs. Parker is 188cm and weighs 102kgs.

The fact that Parker isn't too far behind Taumalolo in the running stats is a testament to how fucking awesome Parker is. Taumalolo avearges 144.64 metres a game while Parker averages 132.71 metres but this has largely come with Taumalolo playing less minutes than Parker as Tauamalolo has been used wisely by coach Paul Green this season.

Parker is much more of a stereotypical lock and his ability to play 80 minutes consistently has seen him make far more tackles than Taumalolo this season - 723 vs 452. While Parker doesn't have the size, speed, footwork or power of the young buck, Parker is a serial off-loader and this is a key attribute for the Broncos.

Parker has squeezed out 44 off-loads this season to Taumalolo's 11 and the constant threat of an off-load from Parker gives the Broncos a spark to their attack. The Broncos' little men - who have been in dazzling form this season - love to run at defences which are scrambling and this comes on the back of an off-load. The Broncos have also caught my eye as being one of the fittest teams in the NRL and love to play at a hectic pace, which is where Parker's off-loads come in handy.

Taumalolo won Lock Of The Year at the Dally M's while Parker won Rep Player Of The Year, which makes them the two best locks in the business ... need I say more?