NRL Mug’s Guide to the Grand Final
ST GEORGE-ILLAWARRA v SYDNEY ROOSTERS, ANZ Stadium, Sunday 5:15pm
Storylines: The leading storyline here is the 31-year premiership drought for the St George faction of the St George-Illawarra merger. Despite being a force over the past three decades, with the Dragons making five deciders and a further three preliminary finals, the club had lost its ability to win titles.
The first title for Red V diehards under the age of 35 is only a win away, while it would be the first premiership for those in the Illawarra portion of the club. Wayne Bennett and Brian Smith have a rivalry stretching back to the 1992 and 1993 Grand Finals, with Bennett and Smith combining for the most premiership matches and most premiership wins by two Grand Final combatants.
Brian Smith is the longest serving coach never to win a premiership and could end that drought in his 23rd year in the top grade. The Roosters could become the first team since Western Suburbs in 1934 to go from wooden-spooners to premiers in the space of a year.