Sunday’s NRL grand final will never be forgotten. It has been lauded as one of the greatest ever and is up there with the 1989 and 1997 deciders.
It really was an epic for the ages and here are five reasons why.
1. The backstory
One of the most special things about this year’s big show was the backstory. It had set us up for a classic before kick-off that really had everything.
Johnathan Thurston, one of the greatest halfbacks of all-time, was to lock horns with undoubtedly the greatest coach of all-time in Wayne Bennett. Two folklore figures and giants of the game were to be headline acts for the night.
Couple that with the fact that the inaugural coach of the Broncos had the very real possibility of clinching a premiership with the club in his first year back at the helm, and it was a recipe of even greater zing.
North Queensland had come a long way since their 1995 inception into the then Australian Rugby League and the prospect of their first ever premiership was well and truly alive. After four consecutive finals campaigns between 2011 and 2014 in which they stumbled every time, and given a star-studded line-up, there was a lot of hype around whether they would finally seize the moment.
The fact that the grand final was an all-Queensland showdown also brought a lot of excitement to the occasion. The first in history, it was seen as another chapter of the rivalry north of the border, a big brother versus little brother face-off and a marking of Queensland’s recent Origin dominance.
The backstory of last year’s grand final did provide a much more grand setting. It would be the Bunnies’ first premiership in 43 years and their first since their omission from the competition, subsequent marches and years of heartache.
On a smaller scale, however, Sunday’s backstory had all the bells and whistles.
2. A free-flowing finale
Another element that made for an extraordinary contest was the free-flowing nature in which the game was played.
Excellent discipline on behalf of both teams and the tendency for the referees to not overuse the whistle meant that only eight penalties were awarded all game.
The eventual premiers were the more daring side, creating multiple scoring opportunities late in the game and not being afraid to throw the ball around. The Broncos opted for the typical Bennett-inspired penalty goal on two occasions and Andrew McCullough and the shattered Ben Hunt grubbered for touch multiple times in defence of the 16-12 lead.
Barnstorming runs by Corey Parker and other metre-eaters maintained the free-flowing nature of the game.
An attacking grand final is what we all want in a grand final and that’s what we got.
3. A tight-rope tussle
Sunday’s showdown was the tightest of tight-rope tussles.
Possession favoured North Queensland 53 to 47 per cent and it was dead-even at 50-50 at the break. The set completion rates were also tantalisingly close, with the victors recording a slightly better rate of 74 per cent to the Broncos’ 70 per cent and Brisbane produced five line-breaks to the Cowboys’ four.
Perhaps the most telling indicator as to how close a battle it was, was the way in which the Cowboys managed to repel time after time the power-running of the Broncos’ big men late in the game. Parker and Sam Thaiday looked to be running Brisbane to their seventh premiership through rolling hit-ups, but the Cowboys kept asking questions.
Kane Linnett was over for all money on the left edge before he spilt his lollies and moments later Lachlan Coote was denied a try because of double-movement.
4. A fairytale finish
The Cowboys’ last chance to send the game into golden-point extra time came with under 10 seconds remaining.
A back-tracking Thurston kept the ball alive before the star playmaker desperately threw the ball to Michael Morgan in the middle of the park.
The magic then unravelled as the fleet-footed five-eighth darted down the right edge to find an unmarked Kyle Feldt in the corner who levelled the score at 16-16 to send the 82,758 ANZ Stadium crowd into raptures.
As Thurston took an age to take the sideline conversion, glimpses returned of Hazem El Masri’s Round 20 conversion in 2002 to cap off a remarkable 22-21 victory to the Bulldogs over the Knights.
Australia had come to a stand-still and all eyes were on the man of the moment, Johnathan Dean Thurston.
The low and curling steeden wrapped the woodwork to send the game into extra time in which JT slotted a match-winning field goal for the astonishing 17-16 win and the Cowboys’ first premiership.
You couldn’t write a better script and that was ultimately what made Sunday’s grand final such an epic finale.
5. JT
Before the 2015 decider, there hadn’t been a more deserving premiership player than Thurston in recent memory.
He is the best player of his generation and his record before the grand final reflected that: one premiership, four Dally Ms, two Golden Boots, 33 State of Origin matches, 32 Tests and a flurry of other incredible accolades belonged to the North Queensland pivot.
Regardless of a win or loss on Sunday, Thurston was destined for Immortality. However he only played off the bench in the Bulldogs’ 2004 premiership win so a second title, this time as the man who has pulled the strings for the Cowboys for the past decade, would have laid even further claim to his Immortality credentials.
But it wasn’t just Thurston’s dazzling record that made him such a deserving premiership player. It was the great man he is.
We have all heard the story of a young JT gifting his 2004 premiership ring to Bulldogs’ captain Steve Price who missed the final due to injury.
Then there’s the fact that he always hands his kicking tee to the ball boy after a kick at goal instead of hurling it away.
He also hands his prized headgear to a young kid in the crowd at half and full-time in every match – win, lose or draw. The vision of Thurston remarkably giving his headgear to a young Storm fan in the Cowboys’ preliminary final win was the mark of the man.
Then there was the post-match interview after the Cowboys’ 30-31 semi-final exit to the Roosters last year in which Thurston kept his cool despite an antagonising Gorden Tallis prodding him about a conspiracy.
“Honestly I’m just speechless,” Thurston said.
“It just wasn’t good enough in the end obviously.”
It was an extraordinary response despite a controversial forward pass ruling late in the game as he somehow managed to contain his clearly demoralised self in the heat of the moment.
Hats off to you, JT. As much of a privilege as it was to witness Sunday’s epic grand final, it is a privilege to be able to watch you play.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Like most clubs, the Brisbane Broncos have had their fair share of big boppers over the years, many of them legends of the game.…
Who are the hardest working big men in the NRL?
My American mate wants a Canberra Raiders jersey. If someone had told me a couple of months ago that I’d have friends in the…
Derbies are often rated on intensity rather than quality, and that was very much to the fore at Suncorp for the third Battle of…
The Panthers might have the bye this weekend, but that has not stopped them from suffering injury issues, with reports in the Sydney Morning…
Josh Schuster's days at Manly could be numbered after the big-money second-rower was granted permission to open negotiations with NRL rivals. Just 10 months…
