Another NRL season is over and the North Queensland Cowboys are the premiers for the very first time after they outlasted the Brisbane Broncos in what can only be described as the most dramatic and most thrilling NRL grand final in recent history.
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The first grand final to feature two Queensland teams, and just the second not to feature a NSW team, did not disappoint as the two sides finished 16-all at the end of 80 minutes, during which neither side was able to establish a dominant lead.
It meant that, for the first time since 1989, and for the first time since the golden point rule was introduced in 2003, the grand final would be decided in extra time.
After the Broncos’ Ben Hunt knocked on from the kick-off, Johnathan Thurston kicked a field goal to win his beloved Cowboys their maiden premiership in their 21st year in the competition.
It almost never happened after the Broncos, who were six from six in grand finals entering their seventh decider, and were attempting to end their longest premiership drought, desperately clung onto a 16-12 lead as the match entered its climax.
Wayne Bennett’s men had led 14-12 at half-time and a penalty goal to winger Jordan Kahu in the 43rd minute was the only score in the second half, until Kyle Feldt scored for the Cowboys in the dying seconds to level the scores at 16-all.
Then came the conversion attempt from Thurston. If he nailed it, the Cowboys would win. If not, the match would go to extra time, and either side would have the chance to win the premiership in the most dramatic way possible.
Unfortunately, the four-time Dally M Medallist missed the shot at glory, after his attempt hit the post after initially appearing well on line. It meant that the premiership hopes of both teams were to be decided in golden point extra time.
Before Thurston’s golden point heroics, there was heartbreak as Ben Hunt knocked on from the kick-off. It was the second clanger he had committed in the match, after he was booked for a dangerous throw on Cowboys centre Kane Linnett in the final five minutes of regular time.
That handed the Cowboys possession inside the Broncos’ territory, and they set up their structure so that Thurston was in field position to kick, potentially, the match-and-premiership-winning field goal on the very first tackle.
Eventually, the 32-year-old would boot the field goal in the second minute of extra time, to send the Cowboys, and their fans who couldn’t make it to Sydney back home in Townsville, into absolute raptures.
The club’s premiership win puts to an end two decades of disappointment since their entry into the competition in 1995, having won three wooden spoons in their first six years and only previously reaching one grand final, back in 2005.
Despite boasting one of the more talented lists in the competition, they were never able to break through for a maiden premiership until finally doing so this year. For Johnathan Thurston, all he wanted to do was to be a part of it.
Although he featured in the Bulldogs’ side that was victorious over the Sydney Roosters in 2004, he never considered himself to be a premiership-winning player as he had come into the side as 18th man to replace injured captain Steve Price.
But now, Thurston can consider himself to be a true premiership player, and leading his beloved North Queensland Cowboys to their maiden title must surely stand out as his greatest ever achievement.
Unsurprisingly, he was named the Clive Churchill Medallist for his golden point heroics, and it’s now fair to say that he has done almost everything that a rugby league player could possibly achieve.
He now only needs to lead his club to victory in next February’s World Club Series, of which the Cowboys’ opponents, the Super League premiers, in the showpiece match is yet to be decided.
The Super League grand final will pit the Wigan Warriors up against the Leeds Rhinos, and will be played at Old Trafford on Sunday morning (AEST).
As for the Brisbane Broncos, while they fell agonisingly short of winning their seventh premiership title, and ending their longest premiership drought, their decision to bring Wayne Bennett home may have well and truly been vindicated.
Under the super coach, the club had this year rediscovered the form that saw them win six premierships between 1992 and 2006, on the back of regular impressive performances from Darius Boyd, Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt.
The club entered the grand final as favourites after dominating the Sydney Roosters in their home preliminary final, as well as finishing in the top two on the ladder for the first time since 2000.
By contrast, the Cowboys had to rack up tens of thousands of kilometres of return travel, including those to Auckland (Round 24), Melbourne (Rounds 25 and the preliminary final), Brisbane (qualifying final) and Sydney (the grand final). It was thought that the club’s hectic travel schedule would eventually take its toll.
But sadly, the Broncos’ season ended in heartbreak as captain Justin Hodges was denied the fairytale finish to his playing career in his 251st and final NRL game, and the club’s and Wayne Bennett’s perfect grand final records were finally shattered (six from seven and seven from eight respectively).
While the Broncos’ premiership drought continues for a ninth consecutive season, for Bennett it is his record-equalling fifth consecutive year without premiership success. His most recent title came in 2010 while he was coach of the Dragons.
The Broncos’ loss means that the Newcastle Knights are now the only existing club that remains undefeated in multiple grand final attempts, with their two titles coming in 1997 and 2001. The Wests Tigers also won in their only such attempt, coincidentally at the expense of the Cowboys, in 2005.
For halfback Ben Hunt, he’ll want to forget his performance in the grand final in a hurry, with his knock-on to start golden point extra time being the very moment that the premiership slipped right through the club’s fingers.
And that’s all she wrote for this season. Congratulations to the North Queensland Cowboys for winning their maiden premiership this season and finally burying two decades of disappointment, and commiserations to the Brisbane Broncos, who I hope will be back on the premiership dais sometime in the very near future.
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