Saturday, October 5, 2013

Epic backrow clash will ignite the Sydney Roosters v Manly Sea Eagles NRL grand final

With the count down on to Sunday's NRL Grand Final, we take a look at the brutal back rowers who will go head to head on ANZ Stadium.
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    THE grand final backrow battle will feature some of the greatest speed, skill, strength, aggression and hole-running the big day has ever seen.
    Frank Paul Nu'uausala and Anthony Watmough will charge through the middle, cutting in behind the markers and adding as many metres as they can.
    The only difference between these two players is the game time they usually receive, with Nu'uausala a sprinter and Watmough a stayer. But make no mistake, both are brutal runners and even harder hitters who will be out to dominate the ruck.
    Then you have Guerra and Horo, two deceptively strong, wide-running backrowers who know how to hit a hole.
    Roosters Sonny Bill Williams Sea Eagles
    Sonny Bill Williams will be out to dominate the battle of the backrowers for the Roosters in the grand final.
    Aidan Guerra was superb last weekend. He ran 219 metres, making four line breaks as well as 32 tackles.
    But Horo won’t just allow him to stroll into the backfield like he did against Newcastle. The Manly back rower averages 20 tackles per game and has also been a revelation in attack this season, scoring nine tries and making seven line breaks.
    Finally, there is the marquee match-up: Glenn Stewart versus Sonny Bill Williams. Both men have the ability to break the line, offload, ball-play like a third half and kick in behind the defence.
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    Anthony Watmough celebrates after winning the NRL Preliminary Final match between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. Picture: Getty Images
    They have been the cornerstones of their teams’ success in 2013 and stood up again last week to put their respective sides into the decider.
    Glenn Stewart not only rolled out that pin-point, momentum-swinging grubber for his brother Brett to pounce on for a try, but also accrued 28 possessions, nine hit-ups and 31 tackles.
    SBW created attacking opportunities all over the field, throwing a season-high five offloads in addition to making 90 metres in 64 minutes.
    Sonny Bill and Choc Watmough have been the real stat monsters this year, so we've put them head to head below.
    Backrowers match-up
    Source: DailyTelegraph
    Sonny Bill Williams
    Age: 28 (August 3, 1985)
    NRL Games: 96 (CBY 73, SYD 23)
    NRL Points: 156 (39t)
    NRL Finals: 9 (W6, L3)
    NRL Grand Finals: 1 (W1, L0)
    Tests: 7 (NZ)
    *SBW quickly quashed any thoughts he was no longer up to the physicality of the NRL, establishing himself as the most dangerous edge second-rower in the competition.
    *He leads the NRL in line-break assists for forwards and has made the second most offloads.

    SYDNEY ROOSTERS' RUN TO THE GRAND FINAL2:35

    It was a season of high hopes for the Roosters and they duly delivered, claiming the Minor Premiership in style and heading into this weekend's NRL Grand Final as the deserved favourites.
      Anthony Watmough
      Age: 30 (July 10, 1983)
      NRL Games: 265 (NE 8, MAN 257)
      NRL Points: 284 (71t)
      NRL Finals: 20 (W11, L9)
      NRL Grand Finals: 3 (W2, L1)
      Origin Games: 12 (NSW)
      Tests: 16 (AUS)
      *Watmough leads the Sea Eagles forwards in terms of metres gained and offloads this season and sits only behind Matt Ballin in terms of defensive work load.
      *He will be one of six Manly players to have played in all four of the clubs Grand Finals since 2007.
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