LAURIE Daley was right after all. Adam Reynolds is not ready for State of Origin football.

All those, myself included, who wanted him chosen in a Blues jersey ahead of Mitchell Pearce were wrong.

The bubble burst on Friday night in the grand final qualifier against Manly at ANZ Stadium.

This is not supposed to be a criticism of the boom Rabbitohs number seven, who has the genuine ability and developing game to play for his state and his country.

But right now his football is not at the same level as Cooper Cronk and Daly Cherry-Evans, or even Pearce for that matter.

Friday night proved that when Cherry-Evans absolutely smacked his backside.

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Semi-finals are a bit like mini Origins for speed and intensity.

Fox Sports statistics tell the full story: one run, 12 metres, no linebreaks, no tackle busts, no linebreak assists, no try assists.

The youngster has now gone two consecutive games without registering any of the above statistics.

During the season he averaged 8.5 runs a game and 31.5m.

In comparison, Pearce had six runs for nearly 70 metres against the Knights on Saturday night.

He played exactly the type of game NSW have been waiting five years for.

Speed, a step, beautiful passing and great skill in shaping all the attack.

The pressure will be on Reynolds next season when young Luke Keary, another of the game’s talented rookie half-backs, presses for regular first grade game time at the Rabbitohs.

Reynolds needs a good off-season and probably some specialist tutoring from a great half-back.

Someone like Andrew Johns, who has put the spit and polish on Cherry-Evans in his role as an assistant coach at the Sea Eagles.

The young half-back is a much better player than what we saw on Friday night. He just needs to develop his running game.

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MANLY have made few mistakes since Geoff Toovey took over from Des Hasler as the Sea Eagles coach.

The one blunder is not signing cult-hero front-rower George Rose on a new contract.

Like at all clubs, salary cap pressure left the Sea Eagles in an impossible position to keep the jolly giant at Brookvale.

His finals form has been outstanding and his explosive charges will be missed in 2014.

Melbourne Storm have got a great buy.



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MANLY'S grand final halves combination of Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran is as good as any we’ve seen in the past 30 years.

It’s a big statement considering Peter Sterling and Brett Kenny, Ricky Stuart and Laurie Daley, Steve Mortimer and Terry Lamb, Allan Langer and Kevin Walters and the Johns brothers, Andrew and Matthew.

Foran 23, and Cherry-Evans, 24, have already won a premiership and played for their countries.

They have carved up every combination they have faced during the finals series.

Only Cooper Cronk’s combination with Cameron Smith and Billy Slater will stop DCE forcing his way into the Kangaroos’ starting World Cup team.

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JAMIE Lyon kicked 77 goals from 115 attempts at an ordinary success rate of 66.9 per cent during the premiership rounds.

Not good enough to win a premiership and way behind the NRL’s top kickers Adam Reynolds (90 per cent) and James Maloney (87 per cent).

Then along comes Graham Arnold, one of Australia’s finest soccer coaches.

Arnold is the A-League’s premier coach, having steered the Central Coast Mariners to victory in last year’s A-League Grand Final.

He also loves rugby league and watches the games every week.

His advice has made a phenomenal difference. Since the finals started, Lyon has kicked 9/9 attempts at 100 per cent success rate.

Typically, Arnold didn’t want to take any of the credit when I texted him over the weekend for a comment.

“One session two weeks ago,” he said, “Zorba (Peter Peters) called me to help out.

“Just a few tips but he’s always been a good kicker. It’s his good work and his handling of the pressure.

“He deserves all the credit mate.”

Arnold makes a great point about Lyon’s ability to handle finals pressure.

Fox Sports stats reveal that since 2007 Lyon has missed just four shots at goal from 32 attempts in finals footy.

In fact the only times he hasn’t kicked at 100 per cent in a finals match were against the Broncos in the 2011 semi-final (3/5) and the Cowboys in the 2012 qualifying final (3/5).

That leaves him with a total of 28 goals from 32 attempts at an 87.5 per cent success rate in the finals since 2007.



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HIGHLIGHT



THE Jake Friend story of redemption. The last time I saw the Roosters hooker in person he was out the back washing dishes at a Surry Hills sandwich shop.

This guy is an absolute example to every young footy player for how you can make a mistake but learn from it.

LOWLIGHT

THE sad farewell of Knights legend Danny Buderus on a stretcher at Allianz Stadium.

No words can adequately describe his contribution to the game for the Knights, NSW and Australia in the 17 years since he arrived as a youngster from Taree.

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THE finals always throw up bolter selections for Kangaroo tours or World Cups. Roosters second-rower Aidan Guerra could be another one.

He was unstoppable for the Roosters on Saturday night, making 224 metres and scoring two tries.



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WHAT will be the best individual clash of the grand final. Pearce v Cherry-Evans, Maloney v Foran, Stewart v SBW?

Personally, I can’t wait to see Jamie Lyon v Michael Jennings.



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WHAT'S going on with the NRL’s official broadcasters? Channel Nine was yesterday promoting a “blockbuster Knights v Rabbitohs grand final Sunday" with live performances from Ricky Martin and Jessica Mauboy during Wide World of Sports. We can only presume they pre-recorded several versions but played the wrong one.



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