On a night when John Sattler was at the ground to cheer on South Sydney in their bid to break a 43-year premiership drought, it couldn’t have been more fitting that a Rabbitoh player should produce an heroic performance despite a painful injury and steer the team to victory.
That player was, of course, Sam Burgess, who fractured his cheekbone in the first play of the grand final, hitting the ball up after the Canterbury kick-off and clashing heads with Bulldogs hard man James Graham.
As Burgess reached for the right side of his face it was only natural to think the injury might be about to force him from the field, but he ended up playing the entire 80 minutes to mark his exit from rugby league with an exclamation mark.
Toughness was the Sattler trademark, highlighted by when he played most of the 1970 grand final for Souths against Manly with a broken jaw, but now the Rabbitohs have another example of courage under fire that is worthy of a place alongside the effort by the great “Satts”.
Burgess obviously knew he risked being hit in the face by an opposition player’s head, shoulder or stray arm whenever he charged the ball forward in that typical style of his, but he never went looking for soft options.
The Englishman ran for 199 metres and made 35 tackles, plus one tackle-break and three offloads. It was a superb performance, as inspirational to his teammates as it was damaging to the opposition.
But not far behind Sam Burgess was his brother, George, who didn’t play for as long but still recorded exceptional statistics. In his 55 minutes, George also ran for 199 metres and made 27 tackles, five tackle-breaks and one line-break. Plus, he scored a try.
It was a fascinating and entertaining grand final to watch, for a variety of reasons.
One, it was brutally tough. The collision between Burgess and Graham to open proceedings set the tone for an evening in which looking after one’s own welfare, even for a second, wasn’t remotely a consideration.
Two, the smell of history hung heavily over the game. Were Souths going to finally consign that drought to the dust? Shots on the stadium screens of Sattler sitting next to fellow Souths great Bob McCarthy in the crowd added to the atmosphere.
Three, the Bulldogs may not have been good enough to win, but they were brave and it was a great effort to hang in there for as long as they did. The dam wall had looked like bursting for some time in the second half, but it didn’t until the game was inside the last 10 minutes.
Canterbury were still a chance on the scoreboard until then, even though they were barely hanging on.
And, four, we all had something to celebrate in the end. Souths were kicked out of the competition in 1999, but they refused to go quietly and won their way back in through the courts. Now they’re on top again. It is a magnificent story.
I wasn’t a Sam Burgess fan until this year. The grubby stuff he sometimes got up to on the field put me off. But he clearly had a big change of attitude going into this season. His conduct has been exemplary, matched only by the quality of his football.
Usually, when a big-name player leaves league for another code and people talk about how much the game will miss him, I think it’s an exaggeration. But I don’t think you can underestimate how much the game will miss Burgess.
It will survive, of course. It always does. But there will be a hole left that is going to prove very hard to fill.
Chook
Guest
what forward pass???
Chook
Guest
My brother watched in the UK. Don't know how but he did
Tim Coghlan
Roar Rookie
Lachlan, I agree with all the points you made as to why this should be a victory for RL fans every where. It certainly was the most brutal GF I have seen. The old saying "When South’s are doing well, Rugby League is doing well" should being ringing true....... However as a sports nut who watches all codes of football without bias, the changes in the laws of the NRL and AFL over the last 5 years have me bewildered. The move to interpretive laws has change both codes to the point that they are becoming confusing to watch. the NRL and AFL have always had it over Union that they are more attractive to watch as they are easier to understand. I am telling you right now that Union has gone ahead in massive strides as they have removed a tonne of ruck laws and cleaned up the rest to make them easier to understand, apply and perform. If anyone had told me 5 years ago that Union would be easier and more attractive to watch because of its rules i would assume they were on drugs or a private schoolboy........ yet here we are.
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
" however it needs to be adjudicated consistently to both teams" spot on with that, I watched the GF with two eyes though - one red and one green :)
Tim Coghlan
Roar Rookie
Mr Joubert, The point is that the two instances where the Bulldogs kick were charged down where exactly the same as the Bunnies charge down. Bulldogs didn't get 6 more tackles, bunnies did. You can have an opinion either way of whether they weren't or were not deserving of 6 more tackles, however it needs to be adjudicated consistently to both teams. In the GF it clearly was not, which is one of the biggest grips that fans have with the standard of refereeing in general. Matt, Your the first person I have heard complaining about inglis being held down. I didn't really notice anyhting obvious and it seems neither did the majority. I'll have a look when I watch it again. I think everyone acknowledges that Finnicune should have ridden he [pine for 10 mins. Giving up a pen to prevent a try or goal has been going on across all codes by all teams for decades. Not sure what more can be done other than the current rules. As for the refs, the abuse and hassling is a symptom of poor performance and the changing of laws to vague interpretations. Change them back to black and white laws where if you infringe you get pinged and you will find fans and players will feel clearer about what is going on. The other factor is the bizarre crusade by Rugby League officialdom to make the game even faster. You have players and captains who have no idea what they just got penalised for, being disrespected by continually poor referees when they ask the question.
Lachlan
Guest
I'm a Roosters fan and I loved every minute of that game. It was brutal, tough and full of the passion that I thought had died in Rugby League. In many ways it was a victory for every Rugby League fan who ever had to watch the heritage and cultural traditions of their clubs wrecked by super league, club mergers, media moguls and highly paid marketing consultants. Souths have never tried to change who they are, and good on them. Nothing but respect.
Nonu
Guest
So perth got to watch the game did they?? how does that impact the viewers is there a perth team in the GF or even in RL ?? They would hav eto go to news I imagine.which generates more viewers Gyngell and his mates own perth so whinge to them....
The Barry
Roar Guru
I'd say a born loser is someone who waits 43 years for a premiership and rather than comment on how happy he is or how great his team was, spends all his time whinging about the other team. Says a lot about a persons mentality and outlook on life, none of it good.
Matt
Guest
No doubt Luke is a grub. The sideways tackle into the knees is appalling.
Matt
Guest
Inglis was held down/tackled multiple times, then a few plays later one of the most blatant offences you'll ever see... completely deliberate, had 10 written all over it. However given the Roosters have publicly stated many times they'll concede penalties to prevent tries and I'm yet to see anyone marched, the officials aren't enforcing anything; the same way players abuse and hassle them constantly and the refs just take it. It's rather pathetic actually.
Thunder
Guest
Yeah and the Buldogs multiple professional fouls were ignored. Woulda, shoulda, coulda !!!! Obviously a disgruntled fan of some variety. The universal opinion is Souths were the far better team and deserved winners. But keep creating your own reality if it makes you feel better.
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
"two charge downs where the tackle count didn’t restart " they weren't charge downs hence the reason why the tackle count didn't restart kicking the ball into an oppostion player does not count as a charge down
Thunder
Guest
If you watch the incident with Rangi Chase,mothers is no way Issac was trying to break his leg. There was a great article on Issac Luke in the SMH a couple of months back. He said he struggled in interviews and clearly made a poor joke with that comment. I suggest you read it before you pass judgement on a hard working, quality family-man who handled a crap decision of being suspended for a long awaited GF with the highest integrity. So yes I have the same opinion of him!!!!
Jake
Guest
I
Tim Coghlan
Roar Rookie
12 men? are you talking about Finnicune in the first hald???? If so that is a fair point was surprised given the field postion that he didn't get 10. there were more tyhan one wrong knock on...... two charge downs where the tackle count didn't restart ( of course when the shoe was on the other foot Souths got 6 again). The penalty to go 8 clear was for Aiden Tolman being pushed of the mark by the Souths player???? I have no problem with Souths winning as they were the better team on the night, however once again park footy standard officiating robbed us all of what looked to be a great finish. Just think about it from the Dogs point of view. Captain and hooker out of the game, half back limited on one knee, 5/8 has popped his shoulder, your SOO has had no speed since origin.... it 6-12 with 15 to go that is a massive effort.
Matt
Guest
It's the roll of the dice though. If you get a dozen attempts then odds are some will go your way eventually. If you only get a handful of good attacking kicks in the whole game then you'd be lucky to get a favourable bounce from those. The Bunnies had a lot more chances and eventually some went their way. Until the tries were scored Souths were killing the Dogs on every statistic but the scoreboard. Even if the score was say 12-6, the Bunnies were much more dominant. Bulldogs should have been 12 men, that in theory would have influenced the game more than 1 knock on being wrong etc. Souths were sorely lacking Luke, Burgess was injured, Inglis broke away and was as slow as he's ever been (should have scored and put Souths 6 ahead but was run down). It's all hypothetical anyway, if Manly wasn't missing half their team they'd most likely have been in the finals themselves.
Bunger
Guest
So what's your take on Isaac Luke and his admission of attempting to break his own cousin's leg in a match. That surely tops the all time list of grabbiest acts on a football field. Do you have the same opinion of him?
Bunger
Guest
Hodkinson was running around on one knee since the 2nd half of the Manly game...perhaps they explains it for you.
Bunger
Guest
It was an 8 point ball game with 8 minutes to go. Had the officials ruled correctly on a couple of calls where Souths knocked on in the field of play, but ruled to have been in goal, hence a drop out, who knows? Regardless, it was The Bunnies night, just would have liked to see how they would have coped with a 2 point lead with 5 to go! As for being obliterated, 2 incredibly lucky bounces of the ball, and a forward pass for the 3rd were the sources of this obliteration, all in the last 8 minutes against a team with no hooker, a half back on one leg, a 5/8 with a dislocated shoulder not to mention Morris being on one leg for most the post origin season.
Tim Coghlan
Roar Rookie
It baffles me how no one can see that the banning of the shoulder charge has had a direct correlation to the increase in head clashes between these of hard charging and hard hitting forwards. Because they now have to make sure that at least one arm is wrapped around the player, these front on big tackles place two players square on with the resulting big impact always likely to result in the heads of both players whipping forward. Once again an example of the NRL taking one step forward and two steps back.