pan66.com experts Brett Kimmorley and Steve Renouf have donned their coaching caps and provided a rundown of what it will take to win the grand final, who the key players are and their all-important last-minute instructions.
Kimmorley is calling the shots for the Roosters in Sunday night's premiership showdown, while Renouf has the clipboard for the Raiders.
Plan of attack
Kimmorley
We want to get the football near the edges. The forward pack for the Raiders is very good and their ability to make tackles and wrestle through their mobile pack is very effective, but there's some huge vulnerability on the edge. Cody Walker showed a lot of that last week, especially down the right edge where Leilua defends.
Renouf
It's super important that we match them in the speed department and play them on the edges. They'll be doing the same to us but that's where we have to match them. I'm confident we can. The way we play has been pretty successful all season and we're not going to change much now. Our kicking game has to be good and we need to keep errors down. We play a different style to most teams and if anyone is going to knock the Roosters off it's us.
Leilua: It felt like another heartbeat in my leg
Plan in defence
Kimmorley
It's really important that we stop their go-forward. Josh Papalii is a key to their go-forward. If you allow their forwards to establish a platform and build momentum, a guy called Josh Hodgson can control the game with the way he picks and chooses where he passes, and his ability to sell dummies that he's going one way and comes out the other way. We have to keep their back five quiet because they start sets off well and that helps their forwards, and Hodgson, get on a roll.
Renouf
Waerea-Hargreaves is back to lead their pack so we have to be right up in their face from start to finish. We have to chop everything off and try to slow them down because they do everything at speed, so it's important that we control the tempo of the game with our defensive work. We want to disrupt their flow and frustrate them out of the game.
My key player
Kimmorley
Luke Keary. He produced a wonderful performance in last year's grand final and likes the big occasion. He's very good at identifying areas of attack, whether it's up the short side with poor mathematical equations, or on long shifts when we get the ball to James Tedesco. He's the perfect link between the middles and outside backs where we've got loads of pace.
Renouf
Josh Hodgson is the main man for us. He controls the game and directs us around the park, and he's a very tough and determined leader. He showed against Souths last week how crucial he is to us with the big plays he made. He has the ability to turn a game around with his attacking skills and also has a knack for coming up with a key one-on-one steal. If everyone's doing their job Hodgson will control everything.
The opposition danger man
Kimmorley
Josh Hodgson is the key for the Raiders. His kicking game is first class, along with his ability to sell dummies and trick you into where you're going to play. He's a very clever defender and he's now at a level where he looks at where your attack is going to come from and looks to stifle key plays on tackle three or four. He's the best in the game at one-on-one steals and we know he could try it at any time.
Renouf
It's no secret they've got danger men all over the park, but the player we have to watch is Waerea-Hargreaves. He's coming back after a week's suspension and he'll be pumped up, so we have to make sure we keep knocking him over and not let him dominate because they're good when they're running off the back of the work he does. If Papalii can win that battle that'll really boost our chances of winning.
Focus driving 'robotic' Cronk's grand final glory
We will win if we ...
Kimmorley
If we get a high completion rate we'll be very hard to beat, because it will allow us to play at a pace that will be too quick for the Raiders. We'll have too much attack. We've shown we can go for the full 80 minutes and we're athletically fit enough. We just need a high completion rate and that will build a lot of pressure on the Raiders. Then their inexperience might hurt them.
Renouf
We have to do what we've done all year. We know we're good enough to beat them and we know we have the game to beat them. Our defence has been great all season and we're confident it will hold up on Sunday night. We play a really good style of footy and we're not going to change anything or the way we play for the opposition. Let's do what we do and make them worry about how we're going to play.
Final message
Kimmorley
As a team, this is the biggest mountain we will ever climb. We won it last year and this is a chance for us to create history. We want to send our champion halfback out a winner and leave footprints as the team of the decade.
Renouf
Boys, '94 was our last grand final and our last premiership. We've worked so hard to get here and this is your opportunity to reward yourselves with the ultimate prize. Believe in each other, trust each other and enjoy the moment. This is your time - you take it.
Tickets for the NRL Telstra Premiership Grand Final 2019 are now on sale to the general public.
Tickets are available through and .
