We are now down to the final game of the season and what a grand final it promises to be. The Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys do battle in the biggest match of the year at ANZ Stadium on Sunday night.
The Broncos will attempt to break what is currently their longest premiership drought, having not won since 2006, while the Cowboys will attempt to win their maiden flag after falling short against the Wests Tigers in 2005.
The impressive form shown by the Broncos and Cowboys all year should make for an intriguing grand final, which for the first time since 2006 will not feature a NSW-based side. For the first time ever, two Queensland sides will clash in the big one.
The Broncos received a massive boost when captain Justin Hodges was cleared by the NRL for his dangerous throw on Rooster Aidan Guerra, while Johnathan Thurston will be desperate to lead his Cowboys to their maiden premiership title before his playing days come to an end.
Here is your full NRL grand final guide
Brisbane Broncos versus North Queensland Cowboys
Sunday, October 4
7:00pm
ANZ Stadium
Results this season: Broncos 44-22 at Suncorp Stadium in Round 3; Cowboys 31-20 at 1300SMILES Stadium in Round 10; Broncos 16-12 at Suncorp Stadium in the second qualifying final.
After 200 matches and over 16,000 minutes of football, only one match and 80 minutes remain in the season and it will be during those that this year’s premiers will be decided.
After copping a humiliating 36-6 loss to reigning premiers South Sydney in the first game of the season, and in their first game back under Wayne Bennett since 2008, not many gave the Brisbane Broncos a chance of winning a seventh premiership title this year, not even under their super coach.
It was that result which saw the Broncos end Round 1 at the bottom of the ladder on percentage, but as the season progressed, the club would rediscover the form that saw them win six flags under Bennett between 1992 and 2006.
The impressive form shown by the skeleton in Darius Boyd, Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt proved instrumental in them leading the competition for the majority of the regular season before they were forced to settle for second place at the end.
Still, it was their best regular-season placing since 2000 and a premiership win on Sunday night will well and truly vindicate the Broncos board’s decision last July to sack previous coach Anthony Griffin and lure Wayne Bennett home after six years away from Red Hill.
During that time, the Broncos were able to reach two preliminary finals, both in the first years of the Ivan Henjak (2009-10) and Anthony Griffin (2011-14) regimes. However, they also lost club legends Darren Lockyer and Petero Civoniceva to retirement, and in 2013 endured its worst season in history finishing 13th.
And despite the acquisition of Ben Barba for the 2014 season to much fanfare, it was deemed that the club had failed to meet pre-season expectations, resulting in Griffin’s sacking and Barba’s departure after just one season, even though he played all 25 games, including their elimination final loss to the Cowboys.
Bennett’s return home couldn’t have come at a better time.
It will be just the second grand final contested by the Cowboys in their history, after they fell agonisingly short against the Wests Tigers in 2005, captain Johnathan Thurston’s first year at the club.
In the decade that has passed since, the club crumbled under the weight of expectations, missing the finals altogether in 2006 and only being spared the wooden spoon in 2010 by the Melbourne Storm’s salary cap breaches.
Like the Broncos, the Cowboys’ premiership credentials came into question after they suffered an embarrassing 28-4 loss to the Sydney Roosters at home in Round 1.
Further losses to the Knights (also at home) and the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium left the club at 0-3 after as many rounds, and they faced down the barrel of going 0-4 before climbing out of the canvas to defeat the Storm at home in Round 4.
The 18-17 win over Craig Bellamy’s men would be the start of a club-record eleven-game winning streak, and proved crucial towards them finishing in the top three for the first time since 2007.
Having now won through to their first grand final in a decade after having their past three finals series ended at the hands of incompetent refereeing, the Cowboys now have a chance to claim its maiden premiership on Sunday night.
No player will be more desperate to be part of it than Johnathan Thurston, who doesn’t consider himself to be a true premiership player despite featuring in the Bulldogs side that was victorious over the Sydney Roosters in 2004.
Eleven years on, whom many consider to be the Cowboys’ greatest ever player now has the chance to lead his beloved side to football’s holy grail, and with his playing days set to enter its twilight, now is the perfect time.
Stats that matter
* This will be the Broncos’ seventh grand final (7-0), while for the Cowboys this will be their second (0-1).
* The Broncos will be aiming for their seventh premiership, which would see them preserve their undefeated record in grand finals; only the Newcastle Knights have played in more than one grand final and not lost (1997 and 2001).
* The Cowboys will be aiming for its first premiership in their first grand final since 2005. That year, they lost to the Wests Tigers 30-16; Johnathan Thurston remains the only survivor from that side.
* This will be the first ever all-Queensland NRL grand final, and the first since 2006 not to feature a NSW team.
* This is the second time in three years in which a grand final is a repeat of a qualifying final from the same finals series (Roosters and Sea Eagles).
* This is the first 2 versus 3 grand final since 1981 (Parramatta defeated Newtown).
* Only four survivors from the Broncos’ most recent premiership remain at the club today: Justin Hodges, Darius Boyd, Sam Thaiday and Corey Parker. A fifth, Ben Hannant, will line up for the Cowboys; he and Johnathan Thurston are the only premiership players who will line up for the northerners.
* Adam Blair (Broncos) is the only other player with premiership experience, but the Melbourne Storm side in which he featured had its 2009 title stripped (among other team achievements) due to salary cap breaches.
* Kane Linnett (Cowboys) will be featuring in his second grand final after being part of the Roosters side that lost to the Dragons in 2010.
* The Broncos will attempt to end its longest premiership drought in history, with eight completed seasons having passed since they last won in 2006.
* Although the Broncos maintain a dominant record against the Cowboys in head-to-head overall, the Cowboys have won three of their four finals matches, with their three wins coming in Townsville, and the Broncos’ only win coming at Suncorp Stadium in this year’s qualifying final.
* Needless to say, this will be their first ever meeting outside of Queensland, and the first time two interstate clubs have met in any final since the 2006 NRL grand final (Broncos and Storm).
The verdict
Given Queensland’s dominance in the State of Origin this year, don’t be surprised if a close match eventuates, as it is expected that the Broncos and Cowboys will throw everything at each other in the biggest game of the year.
The Broncos’ hopes will hinge on the skeleton of Darius Boyd, Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt, their form of which proved instrumental in their finishing second on the ladder. The lure of sending Justin Hodges out a premiership winner will also drive the more experienced and more successful Broncos to win on Sunday night.
Conversely, Johnathan Thurston will be desperate more than most to lead his beloved Cowboys side to its maiden premiership, having endured a rollercoaster ride since assuming the club’s captaincy in 2007.
While I think the Cowboys will put up a good challenge given the season they’ve had, I expect the Broncos to send Justin Hodges out a winner and keep intact their undefeated record in NRL grand finals with a seventh premiership title.
Predictions
Match: Broncos by 10 points.
First try: Darius Boyd.
Clive Churchill Medal: Anthony Milford (if the Broncos win), Johnathan Thurston (if the Cowboys win).
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