The similarities between Cronulla's win over North Queensland last week and then how they went about dismantling Melbourne in yesterday's Grand Final were rather creepy. The Storm certainly weren't as bad as the Cowboys were a week before which is just another reason to praise the Sharks as they piled on the pressure without relying on mistakes, yet the way the Sharks did pile on that pressure against two very good footy teams is deserving of an NRL title. 

What I found creepy though - in a really good way - is how this Cronulla team played 80 minutes at such a high level of intensity and how they have done so for much of the season.

The NRL is rugby league at it's very best and the margin for error is slim, so for this Sharks team to play with more energy, enthusiasm, aggression, power and skill than the rest of the NRL is quite some feat. The foundation of Cronulla's game plan in the Grand Final and the 2016 season must surely involve things like running harder and hitting harder than their opposition, because that's exactly what they did here and they did it against a Storm side who pride themselves in taking care of those 'one percenters' the best.

While Cronulla dominated the first-half, it never quite felt as though they had enough points and as long as Melbourne were within 6-10 points, I was cautious. There's so much to appreciate about this Sharks side, however their control in this game only showcased how effective Melbourne's defence is and that the Storm were only down 8-0 after that opening exchange was thanks to their great defensive effort. Melbourne ensure that there's always purple jerseys around the footy and Cronulla tested them by putting the likes of Luke Lewis and Wade Graham under, running back to the middle of the field as well as firing shots in the wide channels either via Andrew Fifita running wide or using their slick handling to shift the ball to an outside back.

For much of this Grand Final, Melbourne plugged the gaps on their inside shoulders and didn't let those channels open up while also making a huge effort to get across and cover behind their own outside backs who often shot up off their line. As a rugby league nerd, this defensive performance had me frothing and often we are caught up in the razzle dazzle of attack without appreciating the other side of the game.

We only need to look back at what the Sharks did to the Cowboys to really understand the Storm's defensive nous because this Sharks side is just as freakish as they are creepy. In a league where every team tries to pride themselves in the 'one percenters' (running hard, tackling hard, kick-chase, support play etc) the Sharks showed that they are the best and in a league full of freak-a-zoid forwards, Andrew Fifita stands head and shoulders above the pack (10 tackle busts from 24 carries!). To the point where you knew when Fifita was off the field because the Sharks just lacked that extra bit of oomph, sure the likes of Paul Gallen and Matt Prior did a great job carting the ball forward but Fifita is different.

Fifita didn't just run it hard and straight, nor was he solely given the footy out on the edges. Blokes his size shouldn't be as fast or have the endurance of Fifita and perhaps the best sign of Fifita's unique talents were his diagonal runs - often a run that a winger does when returning the footy - as he's quick enough to get on the outside of forwards and his angled run means he ends up on the edges where smaller blokes defend. Some blokes might be as big as Fifita, but they can't run like he can and if someone can, they can't do it for 60 minutes and take 24 carries.

The other aspect of Cronulla's performance that stood out for me was how their outside backs were lethal coming out of their own end, before always being ready for a shift to the edges later in the set. This really hit me when Melbourne had a great defensive set and looked to have pinned Cronulla in their own 40m line on the last tackle, only for Cronulla to shift to their left edge and go for a little run before putting a kick in. 

For me this sums up the sort of footy team Cronulla are; you can do your best do slow them through the middle, then they test you out wide. Skillful ball-players who can read the situation and then execute are required, however the Sharks always tended to shift the footy around halfway, on the back of some gritty work from their outside backs. These lads also sum up the sort of footy team that the Sharks are in a different way as Ben Barba (16/102m), Sosaia Feki (10/78m), Jack Bird (16/146m), Ricky Leutele (12/104m) and Valentine Holmes (16/159m) aren't big outside backs but they are quick and run extremely hard at the defensive line. They got the Sharks out from their own end of the field and their speed around the ruck hindered the Storm's ability to get numbers into the tackle and slow things down, then you had Fifita, Gallen and Prior on the back of that. 

In any Grand Final winning team, the whole team often plays at their best but I really loved the work of Jack Bird in this GF. Having the arm injury definitely influences things and it should put him in a similar conversation to Sam Burgess (slightly less amazing because it didn't happen in the first carry), as Bird somehow made tackles and ran the footy with a bung arm. Not only did he play through the injury, but Bird stood out every time he touched the footy and pretty much showcased why he's had such praise heaped on him so early on in his career. Bird showed how and why he can play a bunch of different positions and to do so in a GF is the best reflection of his talents; he ran like a lock and made metres like a lock but was also a threat with his skill and footwork out on the edge.

As a sports fan, these last few years have been amazing; Leicester City won the English Premiership in football, we had Golden State and then Cleveland winning the NBA while last season we saw North Queensland clinch their first NRL title. Cronulla's victory only follows that script and I'd suggest that the rest of the NRL watched on with various levels of fear as this Cronulla side simply does all the things that other clubs say the want to do well, far better.

We've also been given a beautiful example of how NRL footy is now played and what works the best; speed. Melbourne's best work came from their quick blokes and then Cronulla's dominance came from speed through the middle and out on the edges. Whether it's the outside backs, athletic edge forwards or the odd-couple in Andrew Fifita and James Maloney; Cronulla have speed across the park relative to the position and now they have their first ever NRL title.