NRL: The lessons league learnt in 2009

Darren Lockyer has never missed out on finals football in his illustrious career. Photo / Getty Images

The grand finalists have been found. The silverware is about to be handed out. Michael Brown nominates the five things we learned about the NRL this season.

1. The game goes on

It started badly with poster boy Brett Stewart being charged with the sexual assault of a 17-year-old and ended with Souths coach Jason Taylor being chopped down by one of his players for one kung-fu kick too many. To say it has been a disgraceful year for the NRL off the field is like saying Jarryd Hayne has been decent of late.

But the game goes on. In fact, it's flourishing.

Crowds are up, along with pay and free-to-air television audiences, club registrations have risen 27 per cent, sales of merchandise have increased 7 per cent and player registrations are also up nearly 7 per cent.

The fact remains that if the product is good, no matter which player is defecating in a hotel corridor, charged with assaulting their girlfriend or admitting group sex, people still have an insatiable appetite for it.

Maybe fans are becoming more immune. Hopefully not. Kids look up to a lot of these players and many want to be like them. Thankfully, the NRL and sponsors are losing their patience and getting tough with errant players and clubs.

But it's clear that, as much as some things are broken off the field, it's working on it. The salary cap is being policed better and delivering an even competition. The introduction of two referees has sped things up even more.

As rugby battles with interminable stoppages and kicking that is switching many viewers off, rugby league is turning them on. In a good, legal way, of course.

2. The Broncos always make the playoffs

Eight weeks ago, the obituaries were being penned. Brisbane had just been smacked 56-0 by Canberra and there was no way, seemingly, they could recover. Seven losses in eight games was not the sort of form to push a case for the playoffs.

It seemed that what Wayne Bennett could do, new coach Ivan Henjak could not.

But Brisbane have a right to make the top eight, just as the All Blacks can't win the World Cup, Maradona can't coach and New Zealand's Davis Cup tennis team will never get out of Asia/Oceania group II.

This year was their 16th consecutive visit to the Promised Land and the only times they missed out were in three of their first four years as a club. Compare that to the Warriors, who have been in existence for 15 years and been to the finals five times.

3. Momentum is more important than consistency

This is odd. No, really, it is odd.

The odd-numbered teams were gone (1, 3, 5, 7), leaving the even ones (2, 4, 6, 8) to battle out this weekend's preliminary finals.

More importantly, however, this year's finals series has proved that momentum is more important than consistency. You can be the best team over the course of the season but it counts for little if you're not running as smoothly as a Bentley when the finals arrive.

The Dragons (1) and Titans (3) lost only seven and eight games respectively, yet by the time they got to the finals, they had run their race. They were tired and, in the case of the Dragons, it showed in three losses in their last four games.

They couldn't cope with the competition's two form sides - the Eels and Broncos - and slunk back to Wollongong with the minor prize as others battled for the major one.

The Titans, too, were spent. They had already done their dash by making the finals for the first time. They were never going to overcome the Broncos and Eels and learned the hard way how unforgiving finals football can be.

But it's too easy to forget that the Eels were awful for the first 18 rounds of the competition. The Broncos set the early pace but then slumped to seven losses in eight games. An argument could be made that the McIntyre system failed the Dragons and Titans - they were forced to play their second semifinals away from home despite infinitely better records than their opponents - but even then they might not have been able to stop the runaway trains of the Eels and Broncos.

4. The Warriors weren't as good as we thought

This was supposed to be their year. It was written in the stars (or at least the pre-season predictions). The prodigal son Stacey Jones was making a comeback and his presence was the final ingredient. Glory would be theirs.

The reality, though, was much different.

This year's Warriors side were not as good as we thought. Last year's incredible run to one game short of the grand final clearly distorted things. They did what the Eels and Broncos have done this year and there was an assumption that form would be carried over.

Things don't work like that. Throw in an injury or two - the most damaging was the season-ending one to Brent Tate in round three - a lack of intensity and an attack that struggled to see the tryline let alone cross it and the season was gone.

The Warriors are not helped by the fact it's a case of one team, one town. Inflated expectations will always be a companion, no matter how unrealistic they are. But what Ivan Cleary's side produced was unacceptable.

5. You can go from last to (almost) first in a season

The Bulldogs were a rabble. They were worthy winners of the wooden spoon in 2008 but even more worthy recipients of the scorn directed their way. How had an outfit known as The Family Club for so long gone off the rails so badly?

It's incredible to think they should have won the minor premiership this season and nearly made the grand final. They finished behind the Dragons on points differential but had two points stripped for momentarily fielding 14 players and were denied another win by an erroneous video referee decision.

Clearly new coach Kevin Moore, son of the legendary Peter Bullfrog' Moore, has been a key figure in the turnaround but they also recruited well with the likes of Brett Kimmorley, Ben Hannant, David Stagg, Greg Eastwood, Michael Ennis and Josh Morris. It proved that Sonny Bill Williams' messy departure, along with his big pay cheque, was the best thing for the club.

The Bulldogs' impressive turnaround should also serve as a reminder that in these salary cap days, any club can do it.

It's no longer about building foundations, long-term plans. If you have the players, the coach and the will, you can achieve the results. The Warriors should take note.