Well I got my wish and both Queensland teams (The Broncos (Brisbane) and The Cowboys (Townsville)) will slug out this year’s NRL Grand Final in Sydney on Sunday 4oct2015 – and it is the first time ever that TWO clubs outside of Sydney will do battle in Rugby League’s homeland.

After winning this year’s State of Origin (again) this was a great way for QUEENSLANDERS to finish a season, but, of course, it became New South Wales’ footy fans greatest nightmare, though the N.R.L. won’t have to worry about filling the stadium as Queenslanders have infiltrated the state in droves – despite the cost that the airlines have imposed on them.   Australian airlines at that.

It is a fairy tale ending for Queensland footy fans, and I don’t think that either team will hold deep seated grudges if they lose – and the fans who back the wrong team on Sunday aren’t going be as upset as they may have been in other years because of who is playing.

But fairy tales can come true and this match has plenty of the ingedients required.

The Cowboys have been assessed as being robbed by poor umpiring decisions on several occassions over the past few years- decisions that prevented them from being in a grand final, but this year the gods of fair decisions have been on their side – and Johnathan Thusrstan, having won the PLAYER OF THE YEAR award for the fourth time, is well on his way to proving the experts right in their thinking that he is the greatest player in the modern era.   As the Cowboys ‘Captain he appears destined to lead the Cowboys to their first ever Grand Final win – and I doubt that one Queenslander would complain should he do so.   But the question that hangs low in the air is ‘Is he still carrying an injury?’ which had been the reason for his none attendance at the N.R.L. awards earlier this week (or so the rumour goes).

Well. whatever – Good luck, Cowboys.

But the BRONCOS have also had a fairy tale ride into the finals, including beating the Cowboys  two weeks earlier in the first semi’s round, then annihilating the Minor Premiers (The Roosters) 31-12.   They too have an injured Captain (Justin Hodges) who also narrowly escaped a penalty that would have punished him with a one game suspension (which would have been the grand final) because the gods of reality looked after him.    And , not only do they have GRAND FINAL experience (their last win was 8 years ago, they have the Messiah in their corner, possibilly the greatest COACH ever,  ‘Wayne Bennett’ who has only recently returned to the club – and although the expectation was that he would whip the team into shape for a tilt at the final in roughly two to three years, such was his inspiration and expert guidance they made it to the finals in his 1st year.   Go Broncos.

The omens:  COWBOYS: Johnathan Thurston won the Player of the Year award).   Johnathan Thurstan is possibly carrying an injury.    The Cowboys are going into the game as favourites (but they only finished the season third and the semis 2nd).    New South Wales footy fans are (in the majority) backing the Cowboys to win.    Newcastle has added a Cowboy HAT to a large portrait of The Saint painted on a mountain wall by uni students as a prank 50 years ago.  (BRONCOS)  The prodigal son has returned to the fold (Wayne Bennett).    The main reason most punters are hoping for a COWBOYS win is because they have never one won one.

Whichever way it goes I will be happy.

I doubt that I will find to time to watch the game, but my prediction is BRONCOS by a reasonable margin.

Talking about the gods of luck and chance,Freemantle (W.A.) PLAYER Nat Fyfe the BROWNLOW MEDAL winner,(the ultimate prize for an indiviual player in the A.F.L. – a best and fairest award with points awarded to 3 players from each team each week as judged by the umpires) did so without his team making the finals … and he not only won the competition, but he did it without even playing out the season.   He was scoring maximum points every week until week 9 where he damaged his pelvis to the point he couldn’t play any more this season – yet he still managed to accumulate (overall) 3 points more than his nearest rival and claim the medal at the end of the season – and broke the all time record for obtaining the most consecutive points along the way.

But no GRAND FINAL for his team this year.

Did you hear where ‘family’ grocery store ‘Woolworths’ are now giving ‘loyalty cards’ for use with poker machines in their many pubs with pokies in Victoria.

The way Tony Abbott is still whinging to anybody that will listen and replay his ramblings about being chucked out of the leadership role and the way other loyal members of the liberal party are  self destruction I wonder if we will have an election before Christmas.

DOCTOR WHO ALERT

More important than polytiks, did you realise Doctor Who’s Peter Davidson (the 5th doctor) played a self sacrificing cow that offered itself as the main course at the Restaraunt at the End of the Universe (long before Homer Simpson’s pig existed) in a guest spot in the last episode of the original tv series of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Well, that’s it for now,

Best to all

Tony S