Yes, we now know our 2016 NRL Grand Finalists and it's a fair reflection of this season which is all you can ask for. Melbourne have been a dominant force all season long, combining a strong forward pack, their typical classy execution and a splash of flair while Cronulla went on that massive win-streak which has been largely led by a grizzly group of veterans who are simply leading by example.

This weekend's two preliminary finals however showed two ways to lose and it's a funky little avenue to go down in your head; would you be more gutted to save your worst performance for this stage of the season or would you rather the 'so close, yet so far' sort of loss? That's what we were graced with as the Cowboys were nothing short of horrible in their loss to Cronulla, making a vast number of uncharacteristic errors which only piled the pressure on them and when you've got a Cronulla side who are already in a highly energetic, rampant mood, gifting them so much ball and in-turn plenty of confidence or momentum is only going to end one way.

Canberra played far better in defeat, proving to be a menacing challenge for Melbourne through the middle and then hitting their edges via a bloke like Josh Papalii who was as emphatic as he has been all season with 15 carries, 141m, 3 tackle busts and 3 offloads in 80 minutes. The Raiders are a team designed to thoroughly test Melbourne as they have a forward pack who can maintain parity with Melbourne's, if not dominating a few sets and then they have attacking funk with offloads, tackle busts and weapons out wide or through the middle to help break up the Storm's defence. 

With that in mind, this game played out kinda as expected with the difference being the blokes in key positions. Josh Hodgson is a Dally M favourite (not quite up there with the 'Players Champion' award but evidence of Hodgson's influence), up against Cameron Smith and the Storm's hard-working ruck defence though Hodgson wasn't quite as dominant as he had been. 

The Storm are a great defensive team because everyone is constantly engaged, they are switched on and never relax on their duty to cover the middle by sliding across to the side that the ball is on. Hodgson loves to get crafty around the ruck, luring in defenders here and there but the Storm kept bodies in front of him and forced him to play more as a distributor than a play-maker. Plus, Hodgson conceded three penalties against him which was the most of any player in this game and perhaps a sign of him trying to emulate Smith's work in the ruck or trying to frustrate Smith.

Hodgson is a great dummy half, however there's a reason why Smith is the best. There are a group of hookers who are fantastic, with Hodgson joined by Michael Ennis, Issac Luke and Robbie Fraha in that group. Smith exists in his own space though and it's hard to argue that this isn't the same situation with Cooper Cronk and Aidan Sezer.

This doesn't include Blake Green and Blake Austin because they are very different, reflecting the way the two teams play; Green does a simply job very well, Austin's a run and gun half.
Cronk and Sezer do the same job, with Cronk putting Sezer in the shade as you'd have to expect. Sezer had more runs and running metres (7/73m vs 5/68m), although Cronk picked his moments better and scored the try via a strong run. The Raiders forced no goal-line dropouts while the Storm forced six, as the Storm with Cronk and Smith steering their ship and ensuring that they were always in control with regards to territory, keeping the Raiders coming off of their try-line.

It shouldn't be viewed as a negative that the Raiders probably over-achieved this season and the minor details that saw them lose this game, are an example of this. Only a fool would believe that this Raiders side is at their peak and they will benefit greatly from having another full off-season together; Melbourne are already there and have been building towards this point for a few seasons while Canberra have just started that journey.

This leads me to feeling as though the way the Cowboys went out, would be far more painful. Nothing about this game resembled the Cowboys at their best and this was a combination of Cronulla not allowing the Cowboys to play their best, as well as the Cowboys inexplicably playing pretty shit. 

Last week, Jason Taumalolo did the 20/200m double as well as Matt Scott and James Tamou both running well over 100m. Against Cronulla, Taumalolo had 11 carries/98m with Scott putting up 9/99m and Tamou 11/73m. No Cowboys forward ran over 100m in this game and five Sharks forwards did so, which needs to be remembered when we sing the praises of James Maloney especially and also Chad Townsend; life is a lot easier playing behind a forward pack who blatantly dominating their opposition.

Cronulla also showcased what I consider to be their best asset which is speed. The Cowboys don't have a whole lot of speed besides Taumalolo's relative speed for a lock and while a lad like Kalyn Ponga is quick, he's more of a hot-stepper. Cronulla have speed, more importantly though they use that speed by simply running hard. Whether it was their outside backs like Sosaia Feki or Valentine Holmes who aren't overly big, but are quick and use that speed to generate power or if it's a smaller bloke like Maloney who ran with a clear intent; Maloney picked out bigger blokes and ran hard ... just not directly at them. 

Luke Lewis and Wade Graham are both quick for their position, while Andrew Fifita and Paul Gallen are freakish in terms of their speed. Cronulla showed what we should all love about the 2016 NRL season and how the NRL will look from now on with the reduced interchange as speed is crucial. This was evident in Taumalolo's success over the past two years as his speed gave the Cowboys immense go-forward around the ruck; Cronulla have blokes who are quick and run like their lives depend on it across the park.

Pour some out, light one up for the Cowboys and Raiders. Both were extremely entertaining to watch this season, borderline must-watch territory yet in losing to the Sharks and Storm, both also showed their limitations...

The Cowboys shot themselves in their feet with errors, but were also slow and clumsy.

The Raiders lacked a touch of polish, or class which comes with experience of big-game footy.

Stay tuned as I'll attack Sharks vs Storm - our 2016 Grand Final - each day this week as we get knee-deep in Grand Final fever.