THREE REASONS WHY YOUR TEAM SHOULD WIN THE NRL PREMIERSHIP
SYDNEY ROOSTERS
* Experience counts: Of the sides left in the competitions, the Roosters have the most finals experience with a collective 251 games. A big jump up from North Queensland (208), Melbourne (188) and Brisbane (182).
* Fire power: Trent Robinson’s boys lead the league in points scored (24.5 per game), tried scored (4.2), linebreaks (5.6) and tackle busts (31.6).
* Roger Tuivasa-Sheck: The red-hot No.1 has run for an average of 215 metres this season (the next best being Paul Gallen with 196) for a total of 5589, an all-time competition record.
BRISBANE
* Discipline: Brisbane concede the least penalties (4.9 per game) and miss the fewest tackles (19.5).
* Ben Hunt: If there’s one halfback who can hold a candle to Johnathan Thurston this year, it’s Hunt. He’s second in the league for try assists (25) and linebreak assists (29).
* Goal line defence: Brisbane boast the best record for defending their line. Opposition teams take an average of 19.4 tackles inside the Broncos red-zone per try, the most of any team.
NORTH QUEENSLAND
* Go forward: Simply, the Cowboys make the most metres (1589 per game) and concede the least (1329). With an all-Australian Test front-row, it’s not hard to see why.
* Johnathan Thurston: He’s having a career year and is a shoo-in to claim a record fourth Dally M medal next week. He also leads the competition for try-assists (32) and linebreak assists (31).
* Finishing strong: The Cowboys have scored 382 second half points, 67 more than the next best, and have scored the most points in the final 20 minutes (246).
MELBOURNE
* Ball control: The Storm top the statistics for completion rate (79.2 per cent) and fewest handling errors (8.7).
* Jesse Bromwich: Craig Bellamy has done an outstanding job getting value from his no-frills pack this year. But Bromwich has stood head and shoulders about his teammates, sitting fourth in average run metres (146) behind Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Paul Gallen, Andrew Fifita and Aaron Woods.
* Been there, done that: Since 1998, the Storm have appeared in six grand finals, the most of any club, equal with the Roosters.
