The final day of the NRL season has arrived, and the finals are all but locked in, but change can still find a way to occur.
As it stands, all of the Penrith Panthers (first), Parramatta Eels (fourth), Melbourne Storm (fifth), Sydney Roosters (sixth) and South Sydney Rabbitohs (seventh) are all locked into their finals spots.
The North Queensland Cowboys (second), Cronulla Sharks (third), Canberra Raiders (eighth) and Brisbane Broncos (ninth) can still be impacted by the final day of action, which will see the Sharks travel for old boys day in the Hunter to play the Newcastle Knights at 2pm (AEST), before wooden spooners the Wests Tigers host the Canberra Raiders at Leichhardt.
As it stands, only minor changes can occur, and one of them would take a miracle.
The finals look like this before Sunday's fixtures commence:
Qualifying final 1: Penrith Panthers (1) vs Parramatta Eels (4) at BlueBet Stadium, Penrith
Qualifying final 2: North Queensland Cowboys (2) vs Cronulla Sharks (3) at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville
Elimination final 1: Melbourne Storm (5) vs Canberra Raiders (8) at AAMI Park, Melbourne
Elimination final 2: Sydney Roosters (6) vs South Sydney Rabbitohs (7) at Allianz Stadium, Sydney
The only changes which can occur are as follows:
Change 1: The Cronulla Sharks beat the Newcastle Knights and jump the North Queensland Cowboys on the final ladder. This ultimately means they would have hosting rights next weekend, instead of being forced to travel to Townsville for the qualifying final. The Sharks and Cowboys, in whichever order, are locked into playing against each other next weekend. Should the Sharks lose, they will remain third and travel to Townsville.
Change 2: The Canberra Raiders lose by at least 54 points to the Wests Tigers in the final game of the regular season. This would see the Raiders drop out of the top eight and, despite their losing streak to end the season, the Brisbane Broncos reclaim eighth spot to play the Melbourne Storm in the Victorian capital next weekend.
All times and dates for the opening week of the finals are yet to be confirmed, however, you can expect to see them on Zero Tackle as soon as they are announced.
It's tipped however that the Panthers will be given the right to open the finals on Friday evening against Parramatta, with the other qualifying final between the Sharks and Cowboys, as well as the elimination final between Melbourne and Canberra (provided they don't lose by 54 or more points), to be played on the Saturday afternoon and evening. The Roosters and Rabbitohs would then close the opening week of the finals with a Sunday afternoon blockbuster.
