It would be rude not to focus on the epic Grand Final rematch between Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys. I've thoroughly enjoyed the opening rounds of the NRL, I've loved the competitiveness that is now status-quo and I found great joy in the other games this Easter weekend, with that being said, the Broncos' win over the Cowboys showed just how damn good these two teams are compared to the rest of the NRL.

Perhaps the Broncos and Cowboys are the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors of the NRL?

It was an epic game, full of drama and all but it's only round 4, so where does this result and the performance of both the Broncos and Cowboys leave either team?

First though, there was a bit of drama at the hand of the Bunker, as there was throughout the round and throughout the season so far. I will write about the Bunker this week but I want to clarify my position on these issues, issues that lame as mainstream media tend to focus on. 

There have been shitty decisions made by referees for yonks and there will continue to be for a long, long time. Get over it.

At the Niche Cache we focus on the nitty gritty, so if you're looking for a whinge about those dramas, go read something else. If anything, all those bad calls or whatever only adds to the spectacle and I'm all for that so who cares.

So the Cowboys lost and haven't quite started the season as well as they would have hoped, when you consider how they started last season though, this is nothing new. I was a bit weary about the Cowboys rolling out the same team as last season, mainly because the other teams in the NRL's Upper Echelon have upgraded their rosters while the Cowboys stayed stagnant.

Just look at the Broncos who picked up James Roberts, a massive bonus for a team that was already stacked.

The Cowboys are obviously benefiting from the consistency in their roster which allows for greater understanding and more of a reliance on instinct instead of stuttering through structured play like the Warriors are. What's scary about the Cowboys though is that guys like Ethan Lowe are growing into their role within this strong Cowboys team.

Lowe gives the Cowboys a genuine threat on either edge with Jonathan Thurston and Gavin Cooper's famed combination on the left and Lowe on the right, key to this is Lowe's ability to roll through 80 minutes. Against the Broncos both Lowe and Cooper played 85 minutes, which you'd expect from a steely campaigner like Cooper but to have Lowe there as a steady presence out on the edge allows the Cowboys to juggle their middle forwards while Lowe and Cooper hold it down.

After 3 rounds, Lowe was averaging more hit ups and more metres than he did all last season with 14.33 hit ups and 124 metres vs 10.88 hit ups and 90m. Against the Broncos, Lowe kept up his great start to the season with 111m from 14 carries, with 3 tackle busts and an offload to go with 36 tackles, just for good measure. 

Other teams in the NRL who struggle to stop Thurston will be slightly worried about what the Cowboys are brewing because they are far from a one-man show, as was evident last season and as is blatantly obvious this season. Lachlan Coote loves to get down the left edge, using his left boot to good effect against Brisbane with 4 kicks for 130m and Michael Morgan is tied with Anthony Milford for the best No.6 in the competition. 

Milford had 9 tackle busts, Morgan had 5 and I'm struggling to find a weakness in Morgan's game (and Milford's). One could say that Morgan isn't the best kicker in the league, but Thurston and Coote take care of the long kicking so Morgan can focus on running the footy, putting on set-plays like this one below from which our man Lowe scores. Matt Scott's passing ability as a prop, Thurston's wizardry, Morgan's strength in running the footy and a great job running the decoy by Lowe, plus his support play all contribute to a slick try.

The Cowboys have great threats on the edges with Thurston, Coote, Morgan, Lowe and Cooper all strong ball-players or runners and this is perfectly suited to what I see as the Cowboys' main strength; up the guts. Scott and James Tamou rarely have a bad game and play big minutes, typical of their representative status but they also offer something slightly different to their comrade up the guts, Jason Taumalolo. Scott and Tamou have 6 offloads between them this season and got an offload out each against the Broncos, we can't ignore Scott's slick passing either while Taumalolo is the biggest benefactor of the strong edges that the Cowboys have.

You'd be a fool not to pay the Cowboys' edge threats the respect they deserve, which plays into Taumalolo's hands nicely. We all know what a beast Taumalolo is with a unique combination of power, endurance and size, combine this with how he runs back in behind the ruck area and the Cowboys are almost guaranteed metres. Defences stretch themselves to get more numbers out wider to cover the threat of Thurston/Morgan etc, leaving a nice bit of space for Taumalolo to beast on into.

Taumalolo has ran the ball more than any other Cowboys player (61 times) and has more metres than any other Cowboys player (654m) this season. It shouldn't come as a surprise then that Taumalolo had 211m from 20 carries in only 57 minutes of footy. 

The Cowboys will kill you up the guts and kill you out wider, this is why the Broncos are perhaps the only team who can genuinely stop the Cows when they wake up on the right side of the bed.

There are obvious aspects of the Broncos play that makes them so good, good enough to get the bickies over the Cowboys, mainly that Milford bloke. Ben Hunt is at his best when he is also running the footy but the joy of the Broncos is that Hunt can have a quiet game, taking control of the kicking (11 kicks for 332m), allowing Milford to stamp his mark. The Hunt x Milford isn't about who's the better player, who's more dominant, who does more than the other, it's just about them working together to get the best result for their team which should be the envy of many NRL teams.

Milford operates on the left side of the field with the Broncos playing like most NRL teams with a left and right sided half. What gives the Broncos a bit of funk is that Milford is free to roam when he sees fit and more importantly, the Broncos are prepared for this, they have moves for when Milford creeps over to the right and are able to put these moves into motion without much preparation on the field. 

Watch how Milford crabs across field, gives Corey Parker a hit up and then moves into first-receiver on the right, turning James Roberts under for a line break.

It goes without saying that the Broncos have great depth, Sam Thaiday coming off the bench is the best example of this but we've kinda slept on their depth in the outside backs. Jordan Kahu is key to this as he can play both centre and wing equally well, however Kahu wasn't at his best this weekend, instead it was all about James Roberts. We all know Roberts is the mantis though (173m off 14 carries, 5 tackle busts, 3 line breaks), what about Greg Eden and Lachlan Maranta who wouldn't be a part of a full-strength Broncos side? 

Corey Oates started the season in beast mode on the wing for the Broncos, with Jack Reed at centre as well. Both of them are injured and Uncle Wayne can trust in Eden and Maranta to do a simple job while moving Kahu to centre.

This game showed that these two teams are still fairly close, regardless of how their respective teams have changed or not changed and perhaps that's an overlooked factor here. The only reason why the Broncos haven't fielded the same side that they did in the Grand Final like the Cowboys is because they grabbed Roberts and are suffering injuries, which has only allowed the Broncs to flex their depth muscles. Other than that, both teams are extremely settled in who is playing and how they fit into either team.

Think of the team that you support, if it's not the Broncs or Cowboys and ponder the changes to your team over the summer. Many NRL fans and media expect teams to automatically become Premiership contenders with big signings, when you have the same blokes training together for a few off-seasons and throughout a season or two, you start to see the unique combination of defensive solidarity and a cheeky bit of razzle dazzle in attack. The Broncos and Cowboys have both aspects sussed and it's no surprise that we keep discussing them as being the two best teams in the NRL as they continue to roll out the same/similar line ups each week.