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Brisbane coach Kevin Walters may look to Vitas Gerulaitis for inspiration if the Broncos defeat Melbourne on Friday night.
Gerulaitis failed to defeat Jimmy Connors for six years and 16 matches on the professional tennis circuit between 1974 and 1980 before recording a win.
“And let that be a lesson to you all. Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row!” Gerulaitis famously said after his win.
Adam Reynolds, Nathan Cleary and Cameron Munster.Credit: Getty
Brisbane’s record is not as dire as Gerulaitis’, but the Storm have beaten Brisbane 14 times in a row.
Before the finals series gets under way, here are the stats and facts you need to know ahead of kick-off.
The Broncos’ shocking record against Melbourne
Brisbane may be one of the favourites to lift the trophy, but their first finals match-up is quite the challenge.
The Broncos play Melbourne at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night – a team they haven’t beaten since round 25, 2016 – and if you just count their matches at Suncorp, the Storm have won every game against Brisbane at the venue since 2009.
Melbourne most recently beat the Broncos at the Brisbane venue last week, but Craig Bellamy and Kevin Walters rested more than half their usual squads.
Talking on Tuesday, star fullback Reece Walsh said he didn’t believe in hoodoos, and that the Broncos were ready to end their dismal record.
“Do I fear the Storm? No, I don’t,” he said. “We’ve got an awesome team, awesome squad here, and we’ve shown that through the year, and it’s just about building on top of what we’ve done and taking what we’ve done this year to another level.
“At the end of the day, we’re the ones going out there; we’re not the same team as whatever it is, the past 13 or whatever [years] everyone’s tossing up. We know the team that we are, we know the footy we can play and on our day we’re one of the best in the comp.”
Warriors need to end their week-one curse
The Warriors and week one of the finals aren’t the best of friends.
The New Zealand team is playing finals football for the ninth time, but their biggest hurdle is winning the first game.
They’ve lost their past three games in the first week of finals, the most recent of which was against the Panthers in 2018 – the team they just happen to be playing on Saturday night.
Of their eight previous week-one finals games, the Warriors have won just three.
The New Zealand team is chasing an elusive maiden premiership, after losing in their 2002 and 2011 grand final appearances. Panthers coach Ivan Cleary was part of both those finals games for the Warriors, first as a player and then as a coach.
If the week one curse continues to haunt the Warriors, they’ll get a second chance against the winner of Sunday’s Knights v Raiders clash.
Unchartered waters
Despite having one of the closest head-to-head records in the competition, the Knights and the Raiders have never met each other in the finals.
In fact, this is just the eighth time the two teams will be in the top eight together.
The Knights’ deepest run in the finals was in 2001 when they took home the club’s only premiership in the NRL era (which started in 1998). It is also the last time the club made the grand final.
As for the Raiders, the closest they have come to lifting the NRL trophy was in 2019 when the Green Machine lost in controversial circumstances to the Roosters.
The Knights are in great form, having won their past nine games on their way to the finals, and have beaten the Raiders twice in 2023.
Stream the NRL premiership 2023 live and free on 9Now.
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