The 1999 NRL grand final was one of the great games of rugby league.
The Melbourne Storm, a team in just their second year of existence, were on their knees. The Storm were 14-0 down against the newly merged entity St George Illawarra in front of 107,999 enthralled people.
The game had everything – Nathan Blacklock scored one of the best tries you’ll ever see – Paul McGregor put the Dragons on his back and carried them as far as he could, Glenn Lazarus and Tawera Nikau worked themselves into the ground to drag the Storm back into the contest and Anthony Mundine was one pass away from winning the game.
The decisive moment was referee Bill Harrigan awarding a late, late penalty try to Melbourne after winger Craig Smith got knocked cold by St George’s Jamie Ainscough. It turned out to be the game winner.
It was phenomenal game, one for the ages and the Storm will celebrate 20 years since that incredible achievement this weekend.
Also this weekend, Des Hasler’s Manly Sea Eagles travel to Melbourne’s bubble dome for the latest chapter in a bitter rivalry born from mutual dislike, premiership battles and close contests along the journey.
Melbourne will be wearing a special jersey carrying the names of players from 1999 and on Friday there’s a ‘legends lunch’ where players from the team will join with Storm members and fans to reminisce about the good times.
That sounds great, doesn’t it? There’s just one thing to add.
Alongside the 1999 celebrations, the Storm are also celebrating ten years since the 2009 grand final, a victory later proven to have been enabled by the biggest, most systematic and deliberate cheating of the salary cap in rugby league history.
The 2009 players will be at the legends lunch, their names will be on the special jersey. For just $169.95 (or $149.95 for the women’s cut) you too can celebrate the anniversary of one of the NRL’s biggest scandals.
We shouldn’t blame the Storm for trying this on. They’ve done it before in 2017 when they celebrated the 10-year anniversary of their scrubbed 2007 premiership.
It’s understandable why the coaches and players feel entitled to celebrate. They did the heavy lifting, the training and made the physical and mental effort to play through an NRL season and win the whole thing. And after all, Craig Bellamy and the players were never proven to be involved in any wrongdoing.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy gets the Gatorade shower after the 2009 NRL grand final. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Players involved in the 2007 and 2009 grand final wins still call themselves premiership winners, and the club happily posts breezy ‘Where are they now?’ pieces on their website without one mention of the giant asterisk stuck to that 2006-2009 period where they played in four consecutive grand finals.
A lot of Storm fans still think the club was stripped of the 2007 and 2009 premierships because of a vendetta from then NRL CEO David Gallop, who apparently wanted to cut the Storm down to size. They’re wilfully blind to the actual crimes perpetrated by their own club. They’re going to buy a lot of those $169.95 jumpers.
Getting flexible with the salary cap is hardly new in rugby league. Pretty much every club has been punished to varying degrees over the last decade or so. But the scale of deception and the cynical calculation that went into Melbourne’s two sets of books was something that hadn’t been seen.
The NRL doesn’t usually mess around when it comes to salary cap punishment. Melbourne copped the worst of them all because their breach was the biggest, and they won the comp while they were cheating.
David Gallop handed down the penalties against the Storm. (Photo: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
So it’s amazing that the NRL would allow this celebration to happen. If they didn’t sign off on it, they at least should have stepped in to stop it.
Who is responsible for letting this slide? When did it become ok for a club to sell merchandise and turn a profit on the back of proven salary cap cheating? It’s weak leadership at best.
There’s a lot to admire about how the Storm have gone about their business on and off the field since the 2010 sanctions. There’s no doubt that their focus was sharpened and they now run one of the best operations in the league, possibly in Australian sport.
Celebrating the 2009 grand final at the same time as the 1999 achievement not only cheapens the memory of a proud club’s first premiership, it raises a middle finger high to the face of the game’s leaders and to the face of all rugby league fans who want a level playing field.
The Storm won’t care about any of that though – because they won*.
KEN
Guest
You go on about the storm than make light of a team that for a season was injecting steroids , condoned by their coach , led by their captain , a guy who could do 100 hit ups an 100 tackles and not get tired lol , funny how getting paid more money is way worse than being Roided up and potentially hurting opposition , in a fair fight 2 combatants same skill level no problem , now give one a years worth of steroid injections where he’s now bigger stronger faster An doesn’t tire , is it now a fair fight or is the non steroid guy now potentially in a life threatening situation , where’s your moral outrage
Ken
Guest
I agree with what you said about Parramatta , I would never want what they put my players thru in 2010 to be done to any team or their fans all I’m saying is that the abuse , the money waving by Parramatta fans an manly fans to our players when they were actually cheating at the same time as history will show grates , the abuse of our fans an manly supporters spitting on our fans grates , the mental anguish I know our players An their families had to go thru to turn up every week an play a game for no points an be vilified by the nsw media grates . The valid point you make about the nrl learning by the harshness of the punishment given to the storm an not wanting to do that to another team seems logical but can you see how the “ them against us “ mentality by storm fans is now ingrained .They saw a nuclear punishment handed to their club and a few years later Parramatta gets a slap on the wrist , they see Cronulla admit peptide injections ( god lets just call it steroid cheating which is what it was ) win a premiership the following year against the Storm and we get people talking about the morality of the storm 2009 winning Gf team wanting to quietly celebrate their year as all old players do .There seems to be a huge inconsistency with the moral outrage towards the storm as opposed to other Nsw based teams , that’s how Storm fans see it wether you think it’s right or wrong l that is exactly how we see it .The Cameron Smith tryin to influence refs whinge is also pathetic , that’s what good captains do , if your captain cant approach a ref an know the rules that will validate his argument than who’s fault is that , maybe select a captain that can read the nrl rule book ,
Stormer
Guest
Good ol' collingw.... melbourne storm forever, we know how to play the game...
Stormer
Guest
Get over ot mate. We are still tbe best!
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
In 1999 St.George had beaten Melbourne three times with a total of 62-26 and with a half-time lead of 14-2 it looked like Saints had it won. In the 2nd half there was a complete turnaround and it seemed to me that Melbourne were allowed to lay on the tackled player whereas the Dragons had to get off the tackled player and Melbourne came storming home. It was obvious the NRL were trying to help the Storm just as the AFL gave Sydney and Brisbane teams a little help to give their game a boost in rival territory.
Adz Sportz
Roar Guru
The NRL shouldn't have the right to decide what a club can and cannot celebrate. I don't think the 2009 team's names should be on the jersey, but what many don't realize is although they were stripped of the 2009 premiership, the grand final result is still official. They still officially won that match. They just don't have the trophy. The players were also allowed to keep their rings.
E-Meter
Roar Rookie
Ha ha, yep me too. Case closed!!!
E-Meter
Roar Rookie
Warren Ryan could tell a few jokes at that lunch.
Nick
Roar Guru
Yeah...that's right. Cause when you are a Melbourne Storm player and you see a boat parked in your driveway, keys in the ignition and all, and you didn't pay for it...you shouldn't be ashamed at all.
bbt
Guest
That Deloitte's report is a total arse covering exercise. News Ltd, who owned half the NRL, plus were the owners and bankrollers of the Storm, commissioned it to prove that they were an innocent party. News Ltd, desperate to sell the Storm, turned a blind eye to any wrongdoing, all the while writing cheques and offering 3rd party deals to Cameron Smith.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Of course that should be 38 illegally obtained points The 38 illegally obtained pints were what I needed to drown my sorrows after the points were taken away !
The Barry
Roar Guru
That’s fair...I know the weight of my comments make it look like a rant but really I’m not ‘fired up’ about this, I just think it’s a bit grubby. I’ve been really surprised about some of the vitriol and name calling. Extremely small sample size but most of the Storm fans here aren’t embarrassed by this and are ranting about it (including the name calling) far more than I am. I agree with what you’ve written. If the 2009 Storm players and officials wanted to get together and have a dinner and celebration then fine. It’s all the stuff around the commemorative jerseys and public luncheon that’s in poor taste. It’s also a bit disrespectful to the 99 team to have this lumped in on top of their celebrations.
brookvalesouth
Roar Rookie
Surfchief, If thats the case, then the players and staff can go hire out a hotel and celebrate the anniversary. Not have commemorative jerseys. What they are trying to do amongst their supporter base is validate their c.heated premiership. Its blatant arrogance.
Insider
Roar Rookie
Was also there, great day for Manly, how about the cheer when cams face went up on the big TV lol oh dear
The Barry
Roar Guru
Thats not the point I was making. My comments are more about the indignation some of these Storm fans have that the rest of us don’t appreciate them celebrating the time they rorted the comp and ruined five years of the NRL.
TAZZ
Roar Rookie
Rory I'm pretty sure all the authors write articles to get clicks. No articles, no clicks, no website, simple.
The Barry
Roar Guru
You make a whole big point of how the NRL didn’t think of mental health, the punishment was too extreme, people were getting abused and spat on, it can never be forgiven. Then ask why didn’t they do the same to Parramatta? I think the NRL learned a lesson that the 2010 playing for no points wasn’t an appropriate solution. When the Dogs were caught in 2002 it was only 3-4 games from the end of the season. The NRL took their 38 illegally obtained pints away, which guaranteed them the spoon. In 2010 the Storm were caught much earlier in the season. The NRL basically repeated the in season punishment the Bulldogs had received. But having them play for zero points didn’t work. You’ve said yourself the penalty was over the top, caused mental health issues etc. But you want the NRL to repeat that same unjust punishment? I think they learned a lesson from 2010 when dealing with Parramatta. They took the points they’d illegally won away and gave them an opportunity to get under the cap. It’s not a matter of “let’s give Parramatta a more lenient punishment because we hate the Storm” it’s more trying to fix what didn’t really work earlier. Just blindly repeating what didn’t work five years earlier would be the worst thing the NRL could have done.
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
The Eels finished 8th on the ladder that year with a +3 point differential. Not necessarily a strong candidate for best performing salary cap compliant team.
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
To be fair, I din’t Think they expect anyone outside the club or its supporters to take part in their celebrations. It’s an entirely internal celebration. Who celebrates another club’s premiership?
Surfchief
Roar Rookie
yes that's correct as one that affects players performance on field, and in turn can have an adverse affect on opposition players, is less dangerous than a salary cap scandal...you tell them Rucky..lol