{"id":424748,"date":"2024-10-03T21:06:16","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T21:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=424748"},"modified":"2024-10-03T23:09:56","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T23:09:56","slug":"massive-advantage-set-to-end-panthers-dynasty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=424748","title":{"rendered":"'Massive advantage' set to end Panthers dynasty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday's blockbuster NRL grand final<\/a> shapes as a tight, even affair – but there's one area where the Storm<\/a> have a massive advantage that could turn the game.<\/p>\n

And that is why I believe Melbourne are poised to end Penrith<\/a>'s marvellous run of three straight premierships.<\/p>\n

In most positions on paper, there is little between the players that finished first and second in the league\u2026 well ahead of the field.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Stunning exodus four years since grand final laid bare<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Mother of all twists sees grand final feud resolved<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Daniher stuns teammates with retirement news<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

But at hooker – one of the most important spots on the field the way the modern game is played – the Storm have a clear edge.<\/p>\n

Penrith hooker Mitch Kenny is a good solid pro who has won premierships and held up the middle for the Panthers in fine style and this is no sleight on him.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But in Harry Grant, the Storm have the most dangerous hooker in the league and a player capable of unlocking the Panthers' defensive wall.<\/p>\n

A comparision of the statistics of the two dummy-halves tells the tale.<\/p>\n

Kenny played 23 games, made an average of two runs per game and scored two tries in 2024.<\/p>\n

Grant, by contrast, played 22 games, made six runs per game and scored 11 tries.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL grand final live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Kenny had six try assists – Grant doubled him with 12.<\/p>\n

Kenny made just two line breaks and eight tackle breaks. Grant – 13 line breaks and 47 tackle breaks. Wow.<\/p>\n

\"Cleary<\/p>\n

Panthers fans will challenge this by saying Kenny's defence is superior and he did make the third most tackles in the NRL in the regular season.<\/p>\n

But he missed 123 tackles\u2026 Grant missed 82.<\/p>\n

So there you have it – my reason for believing that the Storm will edge out the Panthers in what shapes as a grand final classic.<\/p>\n

I have been wrong before – many times – however I see Grant as the big-match player who will deliver the title to the Storm on Sunday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunday's blockbuster NRL grand final shapes as a tight, even affair – but there's one area where the Storm have a massive advantage that could […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":424752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424748"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=424748"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":424756,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424748\/revisions\/424756"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/424752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=424748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=424748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=424748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}