Tackle 1: Billy a deserving winner ... now it's time for a new award

Billy Slater was a most deserving winner of the 2011 Dally M Award. Slater has had a wonderful season, playing a key role in the Storm's run to the minor premiership and premiership favouritism. Slater ranked second this year in tackle breaks with 131, eighth in tries with 12, fourth in line breaks with 17 and third among non-halves in try assists with 14. It is just a shame that rugby league does not have an equivalent to the Brownlow Medal, where the premier individual award is awarded by the referees and not by a media organisation and one in which voting is kept secret all season. The Brownlow is a much loved and revered event while the Dally M is often an afterthought. The NRL could learn a lot from the AFL when it comes to its award ceremonies. 

Tackle 2: Time to change McIntyre system

How long will the NRL persist with the moronic and often pointless McIntyre finals system? The stupidity of the system was once again shown on the weekend when the Tigers-Dragons and Brisbane-Warriors turned out to be nothing but pointless affairs while uncertainty and confusion reigned supreme among fans. Why the NRL persists with this ridiculous system rather than revert to the old system that is currently being used by the AFL is anyone's guess. The matches mean more when there is a definite outcome: simply look at the elimination finals seen in the AFL. The crowds also would have been significantly higher for all matches. The McIntyre system has no place in rugby league and the NRL's belligerent persistence with it needs to end now. 

Tackle 3: Conference system's great failing

In Sunday's Sun Herald, rugby league thinker Phil Gould proposed an expanded finals series that would see a conference system introduced to the NRL as well as two additional teams. Gould called for the competition to be split into a Sydney conference and a regional conference with a top-five system operating in each with the winners taking each other on in the Grand Final. The system would add four matches to the finals, would expand the series by an extra week and would add to the number of marquee match-ups in the finals. Where the system fails, however, is that it doesn't allow for certain Grand Final match-ups. Never again would two traditional Sydney clubs meet in a Grand Final while a marquee clash between Melbourne and Brisbane would be ruled out for good. This is enough of a failing to see the idea shelved. 

Tackle 4: Storm booing a good sign

There may have been only a touch over 14,000 attend the Storm's qualifying final win over Newcastle, but they made the noise of 100,000 when NRL boss David Gallop presented the club with the minor premiership. It was the first time Gallop attended a Storm home game in an official capacity since the salary cap scandal of 2010 and he was jeered off the stage after only a short speech. It was unsightly but, at the end of the day, it was good for rugby league. Rugby league needs the Storm and such passion shows there is a strong band of diehards in Melbourne despite poor television coverage and a crippling scandal. In the cool light of today, Gallop might appreciate that the chorus of boos was, in fact, a good sign for rugby league. 

Tackle 5: Terrific Tigers

There was no more impressive team in the first week of the finals than the Wests Tigers, who have now made it nine wins in a row. While Melbourne and Manly both advanced to preliminary final weekend with comfortable victories, the Tigers stamped themselves as the testing material with a gritty yet at times brilliant win over the Dragons, who now look as good as done. The Tigers no longer rely on the magic ball. They stick hard defensively, make their tackles and don't push the ball unnecessarily, fearing both the clock and themselves. It is that discipline, combined with the ability of Benji Marshall to create a try out of nothing that should have them as near favourites for the title. 

Tackle 6: Game incredibly healthy

David Gallop delivered the annual "State of the Game" report last week and there is no questioning the health of rugby league at present. The key element, of course, was the remarkable television ratings the game continues to garner with the NRL having the three most watched shows on free-to-air television, 74 of the top 100 shows on pay television and a free-to-air ratings increase of 1.6%. Combined with an increase in membership of 28% and crowd figures that are the second largest ever, the NRL can rightly expect to have a broadcast deal on par with the AFL or bigger when it is negotiated over the next six months. Anything less should be seen as a failure by both the commission and the current administration.