A Grand Final rich in possibilities

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YOU start the week curling your lip at this devil or deep blue sea Grand Final. You end it licking your lips having remembered why you love Grand Final day so much.

Especially at the end of a season when drugs scandals and issues of integrity and mismanagement have cast long shadows.

Off-field scandals that have removed, for some, the lustre from a sport which deserves to be celebrated for its incredible athleticism and unrivalled brutality.

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Yes, in prospect, Manly v the Roosters seems like Saddam Hussein v Yasser Arafat. Delta Goodrem v Geri Halliwell. Queensland v Queensland.

But as the players talked the talk on various stages during a new and much improved Grand Final week, you didn't have to love the teams to love the dogs in this fascinating fight. The passion, the stories, the breathtaking skill and - Grand Finals being what they are - the sense of menace they will bring down the tunnel.

Manly coach Geoff Toovey is part pit-bull, part poodle. With his admirable slow talkin', pig shootin' skipper Jamie Lyon, he has been part of an unexpected image makeover for the reviled Sea Eagles.

From Toovey's heart-on-the-sleeve passion to the brave manner in which prop Richie Fa'aoso dealt with the pain and disappointment caused by the broken neck that ended his Grand Final dream, Manly has been - dare we say it - heartwarming. The Silvertails are creating fairytales.

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Although the disturbing image of Manly cult figure and unreal-sized model "Gorgeous George" Rose wearing his "leopard skin cougar bait budgie smugglers" is best banished from the mind at meal times.

The Roosters? The chaos usually created by the Bondi Burglars' premiership raids has been replaced by a calm professionalism.

In the image of their young and assured coach Trent Robinson and polished captain Anthony Minichiello, the Roosters have been friendly but focused. Happy to play their part, but refusing to accept they will have achieved anything until the final hooter sounds.

Even Roosters' chairman and long-time benefactor Nick Politis talks as if he will be ploughing into the Manly pack, not watching from the expensive seats. "Not this week," he says, when asked to talk about his influential role. "We've got a game to win."

The Roosters' most intriguing story belongs to Sonny Bill Williams, who has been seen but not heard. An extension of the ultra-professionalism that has had a strong influence on his teammates? A snub to those who ridiculed "Money Bill" when he fled the Bulldogs? A sign he is, as most expect, about to pack his bags again?

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With 28 degrees forecast, it will be unusually warm evening that should enhance the thirst at Grand Final barbecues and test the fitness and resolve of the players.

During three arduous finals, Manly seemed to be driving across the Nullarbor with the fuel gauge flashing. But either Narrabeen has the healing powers of Lourdes, or the Sea Eagles are fitter than we thought. Given a nine day break, they should be running on fresh legs.

Is Manly strong enough to crack the Great Wall of Bondi? Incredibly, the Roosters have held their opposition scoreless in 19 halves and six full games. Manly did not score in the first half of their three defeats to the Roosters this season, the most recent a tortuous 4-0 semi-final loss.

But the pressure and unpredictability of Grand Finals can radically alter any script, and Manly boasts a lethal attacking artillery marshalled by brilliant halves Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran. The Roosters will need to show considerable enterprise, not just stoic resistance, to beat them again.

It is a game delicately poised, one rich with possibilities. Which means you don't have to love these teams to love this Grand Final.  

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