But the Sharks coach won't make a more important decision all week than who he gives the nod for the grand final cut.

To the outsider, Flanagan should be happy as the proverbial pig in the sticky stuff. Since when does a grand final coach have the luxury of ruling a player or players in for a grand final rather than out?

Flanagan has two of them bashing down his door.

Sam Tagataese (shoulder) and Joseph Paulo (knee) have been two of his most loyal foot soldiers all season, providing spark off a bench that has rarely missed a beat during the club's record 16-game unbeaten run earlier in the year.

But both haven't played in a significant period of time; Tagataese in almost two months and Paulo close to a month after hobbling off injured in the minor premiership showdown against grand final protagonists Melbourne. Both trained lightly on Monday morning.

The inclusion of one – or both – will go a long way to determining what type of spectacle the game's biggest advertisement will be.

Tagataese, it would appear, is the better chance of a recall. You could sense a tinge of frustration early in the week before the Sharks' preliminary final rout of the Cowboys when he said he thought he would be ready, but knew he would just be shy of targets set by the club's strength and conditioning staff. They erred on the side of caution.

Given the Sharks effectively fell in a late-season rut after his injury – he was hurt in the Raiders' loss and missed the last four rounds, of which they won only one – his importance cannot be underestimated. Those inside the four walls of the Sharks rate him very highly, where others may not. His ability to bend a defensive line after the sting is taken out of the game in the early exchanges is crucial.

The fall guy is likely to be Kurt Capewell, a "veteran" of just four NRL matches.

But Paulo is where it gets interesting. Given the forecast of a steamy day in Sin City on Sunday – a top of 28 degrees in the golden west – his nimble footwork and ball movement in the middle against Melbourne's tiring man-mountains could be invaluable. And that's where the Sharks could boast a significant advantage.

Jayson Bukuya is on the bench and is cut from a similar cloth, while Gerard Beale has filled that utility role all year despite playing an almost inconsequential 26 minutes combined in two finals matches. His role could be greatly expanded given the conditions forecast.

And what type of statement would a bench comprising Beale, Bukuya and a fit-again Paulo send to Craig Bellamy about the Sharks' intent to run their rivals ragged at the back-end of each half, however unlikely?

Melbourne will want the game to be played in the middle trench. Substance over style will be the order of the day for the perennial contenders.

They turn it into an arm wrestle they win. Simple as that.

But Flanagan, never one to shirk a big decision, can change all that. Grand finals can be won and lost as much in the selection room as on the park. And he might just be tempted to tinker with something the purists would be warning him not to. Playing small might be the best way to think big.