Now the Olympics are over heres what to look out for in the footy

So you didn’t watch a minute of the footy while the Olympics were on? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

Now the Games have finally finished, the sporting world can return to spinning around its normal axis: the NRL bubble.

Here are the storylines you need to know as we head into the last month of the regular season and finals.

Where will the grand final be held?

There’s only one person who can keep the decider in Sydney: John Coates. For starters, Annastacia Palaszczuk listens to what he says, so sorry Queenslanders, you won’t be bidding for the grand final. And he knows how to pull off an event that stops the world even though no-one can attend. So what better place than an empty Stadium Australia, just down the road from the mass vaccination hubs? Very 2021, I say.

But no, Peter V’landys and Andrew Abdo need the cash bonanza from the last game of the season to help minimise the bleeding. New Zealand has been raised as an alternative because every other Australian state goes into lockdown quicker than Nicola McDermott gets back to her diary. A decision will be made around the start of the finals, but Suncorp Stadium is favourite to host the first decider outside the Harbour City.

Nathan Cleary is on the cusp of a return for the Panthers.Credit:Getty

Can Cleary keep Panthers’ title bid on track?

They reckon Naomi Osaka was under a bit of pressure lighting the Olympic cauldron and then trying to win gold for Japan. Have they not heard of Nathan Cleary and his busted wing?

His team has coughed and spluttered along doing just enough without him since State of Origin II, but the Prince of Penrith is about to return, having delayed surgery to chase title redemption. He can win them a comp. Maybe, and maybe only then, will he take back the keys to Krispy Kreme on Mulgoa Road from Jess Fox.

Can anyone stop the Storm?

Apparently not. A significantly under-strength Penrith and Manly have had cracks at them during the Olympic fortnight, and both came up short, with the premiers’ winning run now at 17. And there was the small manner of Craig Bellamy signing a five-year contract extension at the club while Tokyo was on, a deal which allows him to pull the pin on head coaching whenever he wants. Our guess is he’ll still be going by the time the Brisbane Olympics rolls around.

Does Wayne have the Rabbitohs humming at the right time?

The great ones always have a sense of timing. Bart Cummings was always a steady racehorse trainer, who was kind to his horses and preferred them to be ridden quietly in races and saved for a final flourish.

But when it came to training his Melbourne Cup contenders, he would always put them under the most pressure days before the big race. If they couldn’t stand a serious track gallop on race eve, how were they going to win the actual race?

Wayne Bennett is timing his Rabbitohs for their run perfectly. Cummings trained the last of his Cup winners days before his 81st birthday. Bennett is 71 and has no job to go to next season.

Wayne Bennett is timing South Sydney’s run to perfection.Credit:Getty

It’s his last year at Redfern and South Sydney has bombed out in the grand final qualifier for three years straight, two of which have been under the master. But guess what we’ll be talking about during the finals?

The coach and where he’ll end up, which I suspect is just the way he wants it.

How important is the next month for Michael Maguire?

Everyone needs a Cedric Dubler in their life.

Michael Maguire could do with the super-charged Australian decathlete cracking the whip on his teasing Tigers. Can you just imagine V’landys giving him an exemption to stalk the sideline at Cbus Super Stadium?

We’re still waiting to see if Maguire will make it to the end of the season, too. Has there been a coach who has attracted more job scrutiny when he hasn’t even started his next contract yet? Believe it or not, the Tigers can still make the finals if they win their last four games. There’s only one man who can get them over the line.

Who will get the final two spots in the top eight?

Does anyone want to fill the last two spots in the top eight? It’s ironic in a season of wallopings we actually have a tight race for the bottom of the finals because apart from the top six, everyone else has been falling over themselves.

The Knights, Raiders and Titans are all on 20 points, Sharks and Dragons on 18, plus the Tigers and Warriors on 16. Fun times.

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Adam Pengilly is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.

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