The NRL season comes to an end on Sunday with Manly Sea Eagles taking on the unfancied New Zealand Warriors in Sydney.
Not one person would have predicted a Manly-Warriors Grand Final at the start of the season, but here it is and it should be an absolute cracker.
The Sea Eagles, who ended the regular season in second place, were the first team to reach the Grand Final thanks to a 26-14 win over Brisbane Broncos.
While many neutrals were hoping the Broncos would win to allow skipper Darren Lockyer a fitting farewell, but it was not to be and Lockyer was forced to watch his NRL career come to an end as he missed the semi-final with a fractured cheekbone.
The Sea Eagles outscored the Broncos by five tries to three with William Hopoate (2), Matt Ballin. Kieran Foran and Brett Stewart crossing for Des Hasler’s side, while Peter Wallace, Jharal Yow Yeh and Dale Copley responded for the Broncos.
In the second semi-final New Zealand Warriors caused a major upset by defeating Minor Premiers Melbourne Storm 20-12 on their home patch to reach only their second ever Grand Final.
Melbourne hit the front with a try from Sika Manu, but the Warriors hit back to lead 12-6 thanks to tries from William Tupou and James Maloney.
The Storm looked to be going in all square at the break thanks to a Beau Champion try, but Maloney slotted over a penalty on the hooter for the Warriors to lead 14-12.
The second half was a tense affair and the only try came with three minutes to go when Lewis Brown crossed over and Maloney’s conversion sealed the win.
For Sunday’s Grand Final Manly welcome back forward Glenn Stewart following his three week ban for fighting, while prop Darcy Lussick is also expected to return.
Centre Steve Matai has been cleared to play after avoiding a ban for using his knees against the Broncos.
Warriors head coach Ivan Cleary has unsurprisingly named the same squad that defeated Melbourne although second row Feleti Mateo and hooker Aaron Heremaia will start the game instead of warming the bench.
Luxbet have the Sea Eagles as the favourites and they can be backed at 1.48A$, while the Warriors are on offer at 2.70.
Luxbet have opened up a wide number of markets to see who will be crowned as the NRL Champions for 2011.
One popular market is the line handicap and you can back Manly -6 at 1.92, while New Zealand Warriors +6 are on offer at the same price.
This NRL Grand Final has the makings of a classic with plenty of tries being scored so why not taking a risk of the total match points being 51-60 points at 9.00.
First try scorer options include William Hopoate (8.00), Brett Stewart (8.00) and Jamie Lyon (10.00) for the Sea Eagles, while Manu Vatuvei (8.00), Bill Tupou (9.00) and Krisnan Inu (11.00) look good for the Warriors.
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