THE BIG FOUR ARE READY TO RUMBLE
SALARY CAPPED sports are supposed to level the playing field.
In theory, every team should have an equal chance of finishing bottom or top of the ladder.
But it is simply that - a theory.
You have to go back to 2005 to find a time when either the Storm or Roosters were not in the top four or made the grand final.
Of course, that includes some years in which Melbourne, it was later discovered, were rorting the salary cap.
But it also begs the question of whether or not we are witnessing an ever-increasing separation from the haves and have nots in the NRL.
In soccer’s Premier League, there has long been the “Big Six” (Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool).
Sure, in English football terms, the “Big Six” can outspend each other as they wish. But could we possibly see something similar beginning to develop in the NRL?
Last year’s top four of Melbourne, South Sydney, Canberra and premiers the Roosters seem to have either strengthened or the losses they have sustained will not be insurmountable going into the new season.
Looking further down the ladder and one feels that the likes of Manly, Parramatta, North Queensland and Cronulla, are only an injury or suspension away from their season falling over.
Brisbane you sense still have some maturing to do and the Wests Tigers will finish ninth for time immemorial.
Newcastle, Penrith, Warriors and St George Illawarra will continue to flatter to deceive, while the likes of the lowly Gold Coast and Canterbury look like they have not recruited sufficiently to change their position on the ladder.
So as we head into a new NRL season, it is worth asking whether we are seeing an emergence of a top four which will dominate for the beginning – or even the whole – of the next decade?
RABBITOHS IN THE HEADLINES
Wayne Bennett strolled into the post-match press conference at GIO Stadium following South Sydney’s finals exit to Canberra and delivered a typically blunt message to his players.
“They were here this time last
