Phil Gould has given an extremely detailed insight into Dylan Edwards' defensive prowess as he prepares to face Reece Walsh on Sunday night — and declared the Penrith fullback's superb organisation could prove the difference in the result.
Nathan Cleary's battle with Adam Reynolds, James Fisher-Harris' match-up against Payne Haas and Stephen Crichton's showdown with Kotoni Staggs are shaping as mouthwatering one-on-one encounters in the NRL grand final.
But perhaps the most enthralling one-on-one clash will be the contest between the reigning Clive Churchill Medal winner and Brisbane's brash and electric young gun.
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Gould gave a thoroughly detailed assessment of Edwards' exceptional defensive game on Wide World of Sports' Six Tackles with Gus podcast.
"He's got to contend with the dummy-half, [Billy] Walters, the forwards — Haas and [Thomas] Flegler and [Patrick] Carrigan and these sort of blokes," Gould said.
"[He'll be saying], 'All right, where's Reynolds? Who's he got near him? Has he got Ezra Mam with him? Has he got Reece Walsh with him? Where is Reece Walsh? What's Reece doing there? Why is he over there? Why isn't he over there? How deep are they on that side? How flat are they on that side? Who was in that tackle? Fisher-Harris and [Moses] Leota and [Isaah] Yeo were in that tackle. All right, well who have I got? You need to come back here, you need to be in this position, you need to be in that position'.
"He's done it for years. It's phenomenal and that's why their defence system is the best in the game."
While Edwards is set for his fourth consecutive NRL grand final appearance, Walsh is a grand final rookie.
"Then what they call their spaces, the width of their shapes and the direction [in which] they come off their line and who defends who in an instant … on the edge of the field where they're running those decoy runs at you, whether they're going to give it to the first runner, they're going throw it out the back," Gould added.
"So Dylan Edwards over the years develops into the best defensive fullback in the game not just because he can tackle, and if it breaks down there and they come through the line Dylan Edwards is normally right there to affect the tackle."
Edwards reawakened memories of Scott Sattler's legendary 2003 grand final tackle in Penrith's thumping of Parramatta in last year's decider, racing after Eels centre Bailey Simonsson and dragging him into touch.
It epitomised the Penrith No.1's exceptional ability to appear from the blue and snuff out danger — and what's even more freakish is he's produced tackles of that ilk on several occasions.
"He saves more tries than any fullback in the game," Gould added.
"And he's always there and he's organising people and as they retreat back in defence, forwards will have a quick look at him and he'll say, 'You need to go to that side, you need to go to that side, you need to stay where you are, you need to turn'. He'll have little signals to them and they won't question it. If he says, 'You go that way', they'll go that way.
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"Some forwards in some teams will say, 'Aw, I'm not doing that. I'm happy here'."
Then came Gould's slap-down of Walsh.
"Reece Walsh is not doing that for the Broncos; not to Dylan Edwards' [extent]," said the former NSW State of Origin coach.
"That's why I see the difference in the two defensive lines. That's what I see as the biggest factor here; they're both great attacking teams, but the inexperience of the occasion and the knowledge part of it lies with Dylan Edwards."
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