Jones can help Warriors to rule roost in Grand Final

In Australia, they are calling it the Battle of Bondi. Sydney's most famous beach lies squarely in the territory of the club that was Eastern Suburbs the last time they won a Premiership in 1975 and is now the Sydney Roosters.

But Bondi also has the densest concentration of Kiwis in the city, so loyalties will be divided when the New Zealand Warriors play in their first Grand Final today. It is a match with the makings of a classic. Following the elimination of the Canterbury Bulldogs, for breaching salary cap rules, the Warriors emerged as the most consistent side in the National Rugby League and led the table going into the play-offs.

Many still thought they would stumble, betrayed by their lack of experience in semi-final football, but they have showed the same qualities that got them there, particularly an ability to keep attacks rolling with adventurous off-loading. Their forwards, most of whom will be in Britain with the New Zealand national side in a few weeks, are big and mobile and the man behind them, Stacey Jones, is a master scrum-half.

Add plenty of pace out wide and it looks a potent combination, yet most good judges expect them to lose today. Part of that is a reluctance to admit that the biggest prize in the Australian game could be on its way across the Tasman; part of it is the theory that, when it comes to Grand Finals, you have to lose one to win one.

The Roosters lost two years ago and have been the form team in the competition over the past two months. Among their many advantages are the leadership qualities of Brad Fittler, the former Australian Test captain and an individual for whom the term "big-game player" was coined.

But it is a man from the other side of the world who has been their big plus in the play-offs. The Great Britain forward, Adrian Morley, saw his first season in Australia – and much of his second – ruined by injury, but he has come good recently. Last weekend, against a pack as formidable as Brisbane's, he was immense, ripping into them. More of the same and he could be the first Englishman since Kevin Ward at Manly in 1987 to be on the winning side in a Grand Final.

There is a Roosters connection in today's important game in Britain. Bobbie Goulding spent an inglorious few weeks with the club in the late Eighties; now with Leigh, his fitness or otherwise today will have a big bearing on their ability to beat Batley and go through to the Northern Ford Premiership Grand Final.