Andrew Johns calls out glaring issue as Bulldogs face finals flop: Good, bad, ugly of NRL Round 27

😃 The good: Newcastle make mockery of Adam O'Brien critics

😔 The bad: Cronulla draw short straw for first week of NRL finals

😡 The ugly: Bulldogs running out of steam as Andrew Johns highlights problem

Adam O'Brien does it again as Knights make NRL finals

The minute Daniel Atkinson's field goal sailed between the posts to seal the Sharks' one-point victory over Newcastle in Round 24, the obituaries were being prepared for Adam O'Brien and his Knights. Sliding back to 11th spot on a congested table, and with only three games left to play, Newcastle's chances of playing finals football sat somewhere off Nobbys at that stage.

It then emerged the coach's future at the club was again looking shaky. O'Brien can almost set his watch by these stories. It was the same deal last year when the Knights mentor was said to be toast before his team rallied to win nine games straight and finish fifth, bowing out in the second week of the finals.

That triggered a contract extension for O'Brien until the end of 2027, but we learned after the Cronulla game that finishing 13th or lower this year could put the final two years of the deal under threat. O'Brien just put his head down and got on with the business of winning, engineering three consecutive victories to help the Knights snatch the eighth and final play-off spot on the last day of the regular season.

They meet the Cowboys in the first elimination final on Saturday night. "We've been dead and buried and written off about five times this year," O'Brien pointed out after the Knights' win over the Dolphins on Sunday sealed his fourth finals series as head coach. "Not many people have had many wraps on us all year and they didn’t last year either.

"We get used to it and just get on with it. The people who fill this stadium and get around town gives us the wraps and the pats on the back and the encouragement and support that we need. We want to do them proud in north Queensland next week." You can bet they’ll do just that.

Cronulla dudded in finals draw for Melbourne Storm clash

Cronulla has every right to blow up about the week one finals schedule. As the No.4 rated team, the Sharks should have been handed the Sunday 4pm time-slot for next weekend's qualifying final against Melbourne.

Having played Manly on the last day of the regular season, that would have given Craig Fitzgibbon's men an extra day to prepare – and travel – to Melbourne for the toughest road trip in the game. The Storm already enjoy a three-day advantage, having finished up their round 27 commitments last Thursday in Brisbane.

Playing the Penrith v Roosters qualifying final on Friday night makes sense and was the only real option given turnaround times. But why do North Queensland (fifth), Canterbury (sixth) and Manly (seventh) all enjoy a greater breather than a team ranked higher than them in the Sharks, especially when none have to travel?

It gives the play-offs a slightly skewed look, with the qualifying finals the first two games of the weekend followed by the two elimination finals. "Obviously, as far as preparation goes leading into the semis, they (Melbourne) have had a pretty ideal one,” Fitzgibbon said. "We'll be massive underdogs, short turnaround (playing against a side with a) long turnaround."

It's just another reason the NRL should seriously look at following the AFL's lead and have a week off before the finals.

Andrew Johns highlights obvious issue plaguing Bulldogs

The drums and car horns have fallen silent on the streets of Belmore as once buoyant Canterbury fans deal with their side's late-season fade out. Cruising on the back of five straight wins from rounds 21-25, the Bulldogs have since suffered crippling losses to Manly and North Queensland and will limp rather than sprint into their first finals series in eight years.

Expectation can be a heavy burden and the Dogs look shaky. It will take some turnaround from here but Immortal Andrew Johns has had a look under the bonnet and thinks he has pinpointed the problem – utter fatigue.

"Their wins have been based on defence, grit (and), toughness. It can wear you down and sap you when you're constantly winning like that," Joey told the Sunday Footy Show. "It's so hard physically and mentally. If you're doing that for a couple of months - just willing yourself to win through toughness and grit and defence – it can wear you out."

Teams talk about having to go to another level when the finals begin. The Dogs must find that next level on Sunday afternoon if they are to keep their season alive against a Manly side with problems of its own.

Canterbury has already had one big win, with the game to be played at Accor Stadium instead of 4 Pines Park thanks to the Sharks' last round victory over the Sea Eagles. Downtown Belmore will be rocking once again if the Dogs can rediscover the mojo that had just two weeks ago.

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