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I am not an aggrieved Canberra Raiders supporter still upset about that ‘six again!’ call. This is science.
My scientific research began when I realised that the footy season is weird. We have a six-month long NRL season. Its main purpose is to determine seedings for a one-month long NRL finals tournament. That four-week tournament then determines the champion.
Last season, the difference between first and fourth on the NRL ladder was five wins. Over 24 matches, that is huge. But the actual difference between first and fourth ended up being home ground advantage for one finals match.
Six-months of graft and nothing to show for it other than a single crowd half-heartedly chanting “let’s go Storm!” at random intervals.
It doesn’t seem right.
So my hypothesis became this: there has to be a better way to determine the best team in the NRL.
And there is. I devised it. It’s called the NRL championship belt.
The method saw my research go all the way back to 1908. From dusty, brown-tinged archives – I still don’t know why my laptop was laying in the dirt – I discovered that on a Saturday afternoon in late April, the first two games of rugby league in Australia were played.
Easts defeated Newtown at Wentworth Park. At the same time, Souths defeated Norths at Birchgrove Oval.
In mid-May of that year, the two victorious teams faced off at the Royal Agricultural Society Showground for the first time. Easts won 13-12.
That makes Easts the first champions and inaugural holders of the NRL championship belt.
From there I traced the title lineage, like a boxing title, with one slight modification. To avoid title changes every other week, a team must beat the champions twice. The first time earns the right to challenge, and the second wins the title.
And after a journey of scientific discovery lasting approximately 111 years, I reached a startling result: the Canberra Raiders’ defeat of the Storm during the 2019 NRL finals earned them the NRL championship belt.
The Green Machine. The Faders. The Pine Lime Splices. The Viking Clappers. The Milk. The Real NRL Champions,
The other NRL champions will get the chance to claim the NRL championship belt in Round 11 of the 2020 NRL season. Except of course if the Penrith Panthers can beat the Raiders twice, in Round 5 and again in Round 10, before the Sydney Roosters get their opportunity. Of course.
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