And then there were six.
After the first week of the finals, the NRL heavyweights are looking a lot thinner as the Newcastle Knights and Cronulla Sharks’ season officially ended with convincing losses in qualifying.
It seems like a fitting result for the Knights and Sharks, who both hobbled into the finals in seventh and eighth place respectively.
While the Sharks’ campaign was crossed by a heavily stretched roster, it’s a far less straightforward picture for the Knights, whose first final in seven years earned a 46-20 walloping by the Rabbitohs.
NRL guru Phil Gould wasn’t surprised by the two early exits as he sent each team out the door with a quick clip for their troubles. If the competition hadn’t been so weak this season, neither side would have qualified for the final, he claimed.
“I always thought that was as far as possible,” Gould told Wide World of Sports. The final whistle.
“I think it was a pretty bad competition. There were about half a dozen teams that were really poor this year, so it gave the Knights and Sharks enough points to get into the top eight.
“They deserved it because every other team had their chance. But I don’t think the Knights or the Sharks have made eight the way they did this year in recent years.
NRL Highlights: Rabbitohs vs Knights – Elimination Finals
“They’ve been way too inconsistent at times with the Knights this year. They’ll be buckled one week, buckled the following week, and buckled the next week. And today, after a brief opening to the game, they lost their resolve and became beaten very badly on the scoreboard.
“They still have a lot to do. I know it’s great for the club to finally get to eight after all these years, but they still have a lot to do to be competitive with the top teams.” the back end of the season. “
In a match in which the Knights ran from the blocks only to be wrapped up by their rivals, Gould believed their form was symptomatic of a franchise that suffered from “mental and physical fatigue”.
“That’s just mental and physical fatigue,” Phil Gould Nine said in a comment.
“They never took the initiative to step early and put pressure on South Sydney.
“The Rabbitohs just wore them out and made gentle tries”
