Will the poor record of minor premiers failing to win a Holden Cup Grand Final repeat itself at ANZ Stadium this Sunday? Manly Warringah Sea Eagles supporters will be hoping so! History shows just two minor premiers (Canberra, 2008) and NZ Warriors (2011) have gone on win the seven Grand Finals contested since the National Youth Competition’s inception in 2008. Facing the ‘omen’ will be the Sea Eagles’ opponents, the Penrith Panthers, who secured the minor premiership in the final round when the competition leaders Nth Qld Cowboys suffered a shock loss. The shocks continued in the eyes of Holden Cup commentators last Saturday when the Sea Eagles caused a ‘huge upset’ to advance to the Grand Final against the Panthers. Penrith will be out to secure their second Holden Cup premiership in three years. Their last grand final victory came in 2013 with a 42-30 victory over the Warriors. The minor premiers were Canberra. The Panthers go into the Grand Final on the back of a crushing 50-16 win over the Warriors last Friday night and have the added comfort of beating the Sea Eagles twice in the regular season. Read More: http://www.seaeagles.com.au/news/2015/10/02/sea_eagles_happy_to_.html
What an upset that would be!! Due to the fact my son in law is a mad Panthers fan, I've actually watched the 20's games v them this year, including our loss to them a few weeks ago. In that game we were all over them for the first 20, and then that was it. We can beat them BUT Heath will have to have a better plan, and our boys heads can't drop as soon as the Panthers score. Should be a cracker game.
If I remember correctly Manly was one of the Under 20's minor premiers losers - going out in straight sets when we had JWH, DCE, Foran, Buhrer, Lussick etc. This current team has some future NRL stars, but to beat the 'Riff they must limit the damage of the opposition forwards, who are bigger and stronger than our blokes. But, as we all know, certain teams can suffer from grand final nerves while Eagles soar...
Man I hope we win this! I have had many haters and a lot criticism this year (as per usual). I would LOVE to prove them all wrong! Manly to win!
Let's look at the positives: There are only two Sydney clubs playing on grand final day - and we are one of them. Ergo, the season was a failure for seven Sydney clubs.
