One of the biggest differences between regular-season rugby league and finals football is the ability to deal with adversity.
And this gets ratcheted up when you progress and lose two teams each week.
You don't make it this far unless you have something that worries the opposition.
And they will cause you problems for a good portion of the game.
The opposition also knows what you want to do. The games become tighter. The consequences of mistakes become greater.
And with six teams remaining, every one of them have questions they need to answer.
The Dolphins
There is plenty to like about the Dolphins.
They have an exciting backline, a solid forward pack and some very talented halves. More importantly, they appear to have developed an understanding of how to win ugly.
Their use of what I would call the dark arts caught my attention.
They were prepared to concede penalties at certain moments to disrupt momentum and influence the flow of the game.
In my coach's corner analysis on the Loose Carry podcast this week, I highlighted how they were intentionally giving them away when the Warriors were with metres of the Dolphins try line.
Some people won't like this approach from the NRL newcomers, but I actually think it's an important part of understanding the minutiae of finals football.
The best teams don't just play their own game. They understand what the opposition wants to do and find ways to stop it, or in other cases, what they are likely to want to do, and encourage it because they have a protection against it.
The Dolphins have momentum now, and momentum is a powerful thing in rugby league.
The question is whether they can maintain it when they come up against a team capable of taking them out of their comfort zone.
New Zealand Warriors
The Warriors are another team whose biggest strength can also become their biggest concern.
Their football has generally been built around generating momentum, playing with energy and putting opponents under sustained pressure.
But against the Dolphins they were too willing to take the penalty goal option.
There's nothing wrong with taking the two points.
But the Dolphins were switched on to this, and gave them away intentionally as the Warriors kept opting for the relatively simple two points option.
This happened five times.
Instead of going up in fours or sixes, they went up in twos. And the Warriors lost by ten points in the end.
Just succeeding with the option of running the ball and scoring tries on two of those five occasions would have given them a chance of winning, and would have impacted the scoreboard pressure in the last quarter of the match.
The overly cautious Warriors have to remember who they are as a team.
If your greatest strength is the momentum you generate, there are times when continuing to apply pressure can be more valuable than taking the two points.
The other concern was the way they appeared to tail off towards the end. I think in-game frustration at the escapades of the dark-arts Dolphins finally told in the end.
But after a long season, you have to wonder whether the grind is beginning to catch up with them.
The Warriors need to rediscover the team that got them into this position.
Penrith Panthers
Penrith started the season like a house on fire. But this doesn't quite look like the Panthers team we saw earlier in the year.
They're not as fluid in attack and there have been occasional defensive blips.
And when you've set the standards Penrith have set over the past decade, even small imperfections become noticeable.
Then there are the injury questions.
How is Nathan Cleary's foot?
How is Isaah Yeo's pec?
Those two players aren't simply important individuals. They're central to the way Penrith play.
Cleary is essential to their attacking organisation and control, while Yeo provides enormous work through the middle and is a critical part of their system.
So, the question isn't just whether they're fit enough to play.
It's whether they're fit enough to be the players Penrith need them to be. Cleary's foot concern could cause a real problem with his kicking. And that's an issue.
And when even the ever-dependable Moses Leota is dropping the ball, you start wondering whether the long season might finally be taking its toll.
Penrith have earned the right to be judged by a different standard.
But perhaps the biggest question surrounding them is whether they've got enough left in the tank.
Sydney Roosters
The Roosters present a completely different challenge. For them, I think the biggest issue is psychological.
You can look at their loss last week and see plenty of positives.
They were playing against a team many people regard as the competition favourites and were neck deep into this contest until the dying moments.
Or you can look at the same game and see another opportunity missed. A fourth game lost in succession. Daly Cherry-Evans had opportunities to influence the result late but couldn't quite ice the moment like his opposite number in a Penrith jersey, did.
For the men from Bondi, the glass can be half full or half empty.
They need to believe they are good enough and then execute when the moments arrive this weekend.
Cronulla Sharks
Cronulla's question isn't a new one.
For too long, the Sharks have been the team that gets close. They've been competitive, dangerous, there or thereabouts.
But eventually you have to turn being nearly good enough into actually being good enough.
I think we all now know Nicho Hynes can't be expected to steer the entire team around the park when the pressure reaches its peak, and that his halves partner is the real string-puller.
That makes Braydon Trindall incredibly important.
If Trindall stay fit and control the game, make good decisions and take some of that responsibility away from Hynes, it changes the dynamic of the Sharks' attack. We saw hints of this against the Cowboys last week.
The pressure of previous disappointments will also be sitting somewhere in the back of their minds.
Cronulla have to find a way to make that history irrelevant.
Newcastle Knights
Now to Newcastle. And I think they're fascinating because there doesn't appear to be the same pressure on them as the other teams.
They finished in the wooden spoon spot last season for goodness' sake.
Pressure on the Knights? Zero. They can simply go and play.
And that makes them dangerous.
Against South Sydney, they seemed to beat them to the punch in almost everything.
Dominic Young looked menacing. Kalyn Ponga was there when they needed him.
And suddenly the Knights look like the sort of team nobody will particularly want to face.
They're the fairytale and that's a wonderful position to be in.
It will be a great time to be alive right now in the Hunter. There will be smiles and excitement everywhere.
When everyone else is worrying about expectations, pressure and what might happen next, Newcastle can concentrate on and enjoy what is happening right now.
The danger for every other team is that a side playing with that level of freedom can become very difficult to stop.
Finals football changes everything,
I know you're waiting for my predictions. For the record, I have been awful at tipping this season, so be cautious following my advice.
I think the Roosters and the Warriors will win through this week.
And I'll save the other predictions for next week.
Lee Addison is a former club coach at Sea Eagles and Panthers and the founder of rugbyleaguecoach.com.au. He is a Coach Mentor and his programmes for coaches and clubs can be found HERE.
