As a Manly Sea Eagles fan, I obviously needed some time before I got back to work on writing an article reviewing the Grand Final. I still don’t think I would be able to write a piece that seems objective and/or doesn’t discuss how influential the officials were in the actual outcome.

Instead, I’ve chosen to rate the players from both sides, and discuss how each individual fared in the biggest game of the season. 

Manly Sea Eagles

1. Brett Stewart: Didn’t demonstrate the great attacking ability that we’re normally used to, however, was still involved in two of the three tries. His ability to link up the play and hold up the pass to create space for Matai on both occasions showed why Manly rely so heavily on him. He didn’t get the room that he’s accustomed to, but I don’t think anyone expected him to against the defensive prowess of the Roosters. Rating: 6
   
2. Jorge Taufua: Did his part with strong returns of the football and put the Roosters on the back foot with a few good runs coming out of his own end. Scored the first try off a good set play and most importantly – contained the Daly M winger of the: Roger Tuivasa Sheck. Rating: 7
3. Jamie Lyon (c): Was contained relatively well by his counterpart in Michael Jennings. Was still able to register a penalty try to get Manly back in the game. Could’ve thrown a better pass to David Williams, which the ‘Wolfman’ was ruled to have dropped. Rating: 6
4. Steve Matai: Did everything he possibly could to try to win the game. Was stinging in defence, and superb in attack with some very strong runs. He crossed over for a try to give the Sea Eagles a 10 point lead and put on one of the shots of the season with a classic ‘Matai special’ on Aidan Guerra, and subsequently forcing an error. Rating: 8
5. David Williams: The ‘Wolfman’ had a night to forget, as he struggled with the high ball the entire evening. Williams has been a liability in defence all season long, and the Roosters were able to expose that on the game’s biggest stage. Strangely, he wasn’t even contesting the high balls, and allowed Tupou to have an easy path in the air. His confidence seemed shot once he failed to challenge on a few occasions, and was a non factor in attack as a result. Rating: 3
6. Kieran Foran: Was his usual self in defence and when running the ball in attack. However, he needed to vary his attack by ball playing before the line on a few more occasions, and his kicking game could’ve been better. Rating: 7.5
7. Daly Cherry Evans: Could not believe he was booed when he received the Clive Churchill medal (best player in a Grand Final). Was clearly the best player on the park and almost willed Manly to a victory. The only negative aspect of his performance was his positioning for some his clearing kicks, which found Tupou on the full on a few occasions. Rating: 8.5
8. Brenton Lawrence: Solid when running the ball and was strong in defence. One of the buys of the season and didn’t seem overawed by the occasion. Rating: 7
9. Matt Ballin: Has a tendency to raise his level of play a notch in big games, and he certainly didn’t hurt that reputation on Sunday. Exposed the Roosters with a few good runs from dummy half and topped the tackle count with 40. Rating: 7.5
10. Brent Kite: Played strongly in his final game for the Sea Eagles. Made metres while also defending the middle of the ruck. Rating: 7
11. Anthony Watmough: No doubt his knee affected his running game, but was still trying to inspire his teammates with some good runs. However, he just couldn’t take his game to the next level. Rating: 6.5
12. Justin Horo: Contained SBW for the third consecutive game, and ran terrific lines to create the space for two of the Manly tries. Rating: 8
13. Glenn Stewart: Didn’t seem to recover from the Sam Moa collision in the first tackle of the game and was barely a factor after that. Disappointing performance by the 2011 Clive Churchill medal winner. Rating: 5
14. David Gower: Only got a run at the end of the game. Didn’t feature for long enough to warrant a rating. NO RATING
15. Jamie Buhrer: Had a decent game, but gave away a few costly penalties – an aspect of his game that he needs to clean up in 2014. Rating: 5
16. Tom Symonds: Much like Gower, he didn’t feature for long enough to warrant a rating.
17. George Rose: Had a fantastic finals series coming in, but didn’t really impact the game with his runs. Denied Sam Moa from scoring what seemed, a certain try, however, it was disappointing to see ‘big Georgie’ go out like that. Rating: 5

Sydney Roosters

1. Anthony Minichiello (c): No surprise here, as ‘Mini’ was positioned well the entire night, and returned each kick really well. Rating: 8
   
2. Daniel Tupou: Manly used his height against him early on by getting numbers in the tackle to drag him back on a number of kick returns. However, there was nothing they could do once he got up in the air in attack. David Williams certainly didn’t help matters by not even contesting, but one could argue that he probably wouldn’t have been able to stop Tupou anyway. Rating: 7.5
3. Michael Jennings: Did a great job containing Lyon, but was also kept quite by his counterpart – until he scored one of the great Grand Final tries off a James Maloney grubber kick. Rating: 7
4. Shaun Kenny Dowall: Scored a try and played with a broken jaw….it doesn’t matter what else he did, or didn’t do. Rating: 7
5. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck: Wasn’t spectacular, but didn’t do much wrong either. The Daly M winger of the year, and youngest player on the park didn’t seem overawed by the occasion. Rating: 7.5
6. James Maloney: His kicking game was shaky early on, and was able to get away with a blatant forward pass, which could’ve turned out to be one of the biggest Grand Final blunders ever. He wasn’t. The rest is history. Rating: 7.5
7. Mitchell Pearce: Didn’t get scared of the moment and bounced back well after the criticism he received from his Origin performances. Rating: 7
8. J. Waerea-Hargreaves: Was extremely lucky to not be pulled up for a headbutt on Justin Horo. He was able to work his way back into the game after that, though, and became a threat with his second phase play. Rating: 7.5
9. Jake Friend: Is quickly becoming one of the best hookers in the game, and Sunday’s performance only enhanced his reputation. Rating: 8
10. Sam Moa: Put on two huge hits on the Stewart brothers, thus could be credited for reducing their effectiveness. Was the best forward on the park and gained over 100 metres. Not bad for a guy who was unwanted a few years ago. Rating: 8.5
11. Sonny Bill Williams: SBW only turned up for the final 20 minutes, however, that final 20 won the game for the Roosters. Big game player, and big time athlete. Certainly of the greatest athletes in the world. Rating: 7.5
12. Aidan Guerra: Ran a beautiful line to score a try to get the Roosters back in the game. Didn’t really do much other than that, but he didn’t have to. Rating: 7
13. Boyd Cordner: I dont think Trent Robinson expected Boyd to be play like the Daly M second rower of the year, but after two months out, no one could fault his effort. Rating: 6
14. Daniel Mortimer: Was good without being spectacular. Followed the game plan and was always probing for opportunities. Rating: 6
15. Mitchell Aubusson: Gave away a penalty try which could’ve cost his team the game: Rating: 5
16. Frank-Paul Nuuausala: Aggressive, but made some mistakes. Rating: 5.5
17. Luke O’Donnell: Like Cordner, he seemed underdone, but gave the team what they needed with some good runs. Rating: 6