After 26 regular rounds, qualifying finals, semi-finals and preliminary finals, we now have two teams, South Sydney and the Bulldogs, who will battle it out for the right to call themselves the 2014 NRL premiers.

Full disclosure up front. I am an extremely proud Bulldogs fan.

But rather than dedicating several hundred words to why the Bulldogs are the best and will win the grand final, I'm going to do my best to take an unbiased look at Sunday night's big game.

And unfortunately for us Bulldogs fans, an unbiased opinion doesn't seem great.

As of yesterday, the Rabbitohs were red-hot favourites to take the win and so they should be.

They have been amazingly consistent and they have the most intimidating attacking line-up in the competition. With the likes of Greg Inglis, Isaac Luke, Sam Burgess and Adam Reynolds, they are capable of scoring points from anywhere on the paddock.

Not that the Bulldogs are slouches either. Josh Morris, Josh Reynolds, James Graham and Frank Pritchard can be devastating on their day. But their form has been patchy, especially in the past few months.

They won just two of their last eight games heading into the finals to scrape into sixth position before a revival of sorts with a dominant win over the Melbourne Storm, 28-4. They had a scare in their match against Manly, conceding an 18-0 lead to go into golden point 18-all before a field goal gave them victory.

It was also tight against Penrith, with 18-12 victory only certain when the referee blew full-time.

Souths had a more straightforward time, cruising into the finals in third position, dispatching of Manly 40-24 before a week off and their win over the Roosters 32-22.

Both teams have suffered some disruption early in grand final week. Last night Luke had to fight for his right to play on Sunday after being charged with a Grade 1 dangerous throw charge.

Hopefully he will be allowed to take the field, because it would be a cruel way to miss a grand final.

Bulldogs captain Michael Ennis will almost certainly miss the decider after fracturing his ankle against Penrith.

While the club say he will be given every chance, it would be madness to take a player in who could aggravate the injury early and leave his team a man short.

It's unfortunate for Ennis, who has now played his last game for the blue and whites and will join Cronulla next season.

Halfback Trent Hodkinson is also carrying a knee injury that is restricting him but he is confident he can make an impact.

As for the history, this will be just the second the Rabbitohs and Bulldogs have met in a grand final. Souths won their 1967 encounter 12-10 and have a record 20 premierships to their name, while the Bulldogs have eight.

Personally, despite an overwhelming consensus the Rabbitohs will win, I believe the Dogs can get home in a close one. They have a State of Origin-winning halves pairing, a forward pack that can match Souths on their day and the memory of a grand final loss two years ago against Melbourne.

And at the risk of sounding cliche, whatever the outcome, I hope it is a close and absorbing contest.