NRL: Wishart ready to go in maiden grand final

The Melbourne Storm’s Tyran Wishart is prepared to do whatever is needed of him in his first grand final against the Penrith Panthers in Sydney on Sunday.

The 24-year-old has had a stellar season in the purple jersey, filling in for the injured Jahrome Hughes and Cameron Munster and featuring in all but one of the Storm’s games this year.

With five tries and three assists already in 2024, Wishart has declared that he intends to keep things simple when he comes off the bench in the biggest match of his career so far.

“I just keep it simple, to be honest, and try not to overthink it

“Just worrying about the most likely situation to happen.

“That’s probably, at the moment, me coming on in the ruck.

“That’s what I’ve been doing each week.

“There is always that opportunity or chance that something’s going to go wrong, because that’s just footy.

“But in case of any injury, I like to think I’ve done enough reps and extras in certain positions so that if it does happen, I’m ready to go.

“I like to just rip in during training, and then after, I’ll try and do anything that I can to make sure that I’m ready to go for any situation.”

NRL GRAND FINAL 2024: STORM v PANTHERS PREVIEW & BETTING TIPS

While Wishart himself has never played in a grand final, he has plenty of experience to tap into at home, with his father representing St George Illawarra in their 1999 grand final run.

“Dad just played to his strengths, that’s the sort of player he was,” he said.

“That’s what I try to do as well.

“It took a few days to sink in that I was playing in a grand final.

“Once we got in and had a few meetings, started previewing the game and doing our usual things, it started sinking in.

“It’ll be all guns blazing, and everyone will be ready to rock.”

While Wishart’s father lost in his only grand final appearance, NRL betting sites have Wishart’s side as odds-on favourites to prevail on Sunday.

Bet365 has Melbourne at $1.85 to win their fifth premiership, while the Panthers trail at $2.00.

Wishart himself is at $4.50 to score any time during the final and a hefty $61 to bag two or more tries.

Sports news