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The top ten worst finals performances of the NRL era: Part 1

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7th August, 2020
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Sometimes, it just goes spectacularly wrong on the day.

Despite an impressive season and a talented roster, sometimes the weight of expectations can prove too great to overcome, and sometimes all the training and preparation in the world can’t prevent a team from just having a pure shocker.

When the finals series rolls around after a gruelling season, each of the eight teams turn their sights to the premiership; to the final day of the season at ANZ Stadium in October. Each of the eight teams are convinced that they can be the ones holding aloft the Proven-Summons trophy; screaming with pure joy and triumph under waves of confetti and fireworks as their adoring supporters cheer with unrestrained delight and euphoria through tears of joy and relief.

Unfortunately, for seven of those eight teams each year their hopes are dashed as they fall at one of the final hurdles of the year. For the majority of those teams, those losses are disappointing and in some cases heartbreaking, but still respectable performances.

For some teams though, their final loss of the year can be a humiliating, horrible display of incohesive attack and disastrous defence. Not every finals performance can be a good one, and some of them can leave a stain on a club’s history that hurts to look back on.

Thanks to the NRL uploading numerous full-length replays of classic finals games over the past several months to help us through the lack of football, and thanks to the amazing folks over at Rugby League Replayed, I have been watching a lot of finals footy over the last few months and I have compiled the absolute worst of the worst performances into this top ten list for your enjoyment (or despair, depending on who you support!) and interest.

Some disclaimers before I get into the list: first of all, this is only the worst performances of the NRL era; that is, from 1998 onwards. That means you won’t see the 1977 Parramatta display from the grand final replay on this list, nor will you see Graeme Langland’s famous white boots.

It also means that the McIntyre finals system used from 1999 to 2011 will feature prominently; so while a team could have their worst performance in the first week of the finals, it wouldn’t always necessarily lead to their elimination.

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Secondly, this list will be split into two parts. I originally wanted to keep it all as one, but it proved far too long for that to be possible.

Okay, with that being said, let’s get into the ten worst finals performances of the NRL era.

10. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (vs Melbourne Storm, 2009 qualifying final: 12-40)
Manly’s premiership defence in 2009 got off to a very unpleasant start as club legend Brett Stewart was accused of a heinous crime he would later be exonerated for and Anthony Watmough reportedly punched one of the club’s sponsors following an altercation at the season launch.

Stewart was consequently suspended for the first four rounds of the competition and the Sea Eagles struggled in his absence; sitting in last place after Round 4 with an 0-4 record. The club were the last to record a win in the 2009 season; defeating the Wests Tigers in Round 5 in Brett Stewart’s return match.

Luck was not on the flashy fullback’s side, however, and he sustained a serious knee injury in Round 6, sidelining him for the majority of the season.

Despite the challenging setbacks and off-field drama, the Brookvale boys were able to steer themselves back to success in the second half of the year; winning seven of their last ten games to conclude the regular season in fifth place. By virtue of the McIntyre system, they were tasked with a trip to Melbourne to take on the fourth-placed Storm in a tantalising rematch of the 2008 decider.

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Unfortunately for the Sea Eagles, Melbourne were intent on making amends for their humiliating loss in the centenary grand final and completely outclassed the Silvertails from kick-off to the final whistle. Billy Slater crossed for four tries and even a recently returned Brett Stewart couldn’t help to turn the tide.

Steve Matai and Kieran Foran both snared meat pies in the second half but the final score was 40-12 and what was touted as an exciting new chapter in the rivalry between the competitors of the previous two grand finals ended as a one-sided domination.

Compounding Manly’s misery, the sixth-placed Broncos upset the Titans, and the eighth-placed Eels surged past the Dragons. Consequently, the defending premiers became only the second fifth-placed team under the McIntyre system to exit in the first week of the finals, bringing their campaign to a definitive and disappointing end.

9. South Sydney Rabbitohs (vs Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, 2013 preliminary final: 20-30)
There was something special brewing at Redfern in 2013. After a terrific season in 2012, welcoming coach Michael Maguire and future superstar Adam Reynolds and finishing third before bravely going down to Canterbury in a blockbuster preliminary final, it was clear that the Bunnies were determined to go one better in 2013.

Welcoming future Clive Churchill medallist Luke Keary into their midst; the Rabbits enjoyed their best season since 1989. A dominant performance led to an eventual finish in second place on the ladder and only missing out on the minor premiership by points differential.

Sweeping past the Storm in the first week of the finals and enjoying a week off; the refreshed side were expected to account for a bruised and battered Sea Eagles outfit to set up a mouth-watering grand final against minor premiers and famous rivals, the Roosters.

Luke Keary scores for South Sydney against Manly

(Colin Whelan copyright © nrlphotos.com)

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To put it bluntly, everything went horribly wrong in a hurry.

The Rabbitohs started strong; racing to a 14-0 lead in the first 13 minutes before heading into halftime ahead 14-6. From the moment the second half began, it was clear the Bunnies had cracked under pressure. They let in two soft tries to give up the lead before David Williams would complete the upset with an absolutely freakish try in the 62nd minute.

A try from a charge down to Tom Symonds would put the result beyond doubt ten minutes later before Dylan Walker scored in the last 20 seconds for Souths to make the result a little more respectable. Alas, it was too little, too late; the dreaded choke had hit Redfern and the Sea Eagles sent the Rabbitohs packing at the same mark they had fallen 12 months before.

The Pride of the League would make amends a season later, downing the Bulldogs in the 2014 grand final to finally snatch their 21st premiership, but the 2013 preliminary final still remains a dark day in the club’s proud history.

8. Brisbane Broncos (vs St George Illawarra Dragons, 2018 elimination final: 18-48)
When I think of the 2018 season, two things stand out to me. The unprecedented closeness of the top eight, and the Dragons’ incredible start to the season followed by a steep downward slide.

It was truly remarkable just how close the ladder became after 26 rounds. Only two points separated the Roosters in first place and the Warriors in eighth, and there was a six-point gap between eighth and ninth spot. All the top four teams were equal on 34 points, and the bottom four equal on 32.

For and against was used to separate the gridlock, and the sixth-placed Broncos finished ahead of the Dragons by nine differential points; earning the right to host the seventh-placed Red V at Suncorp Stadium in a do or die elimination final.

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The Dragons were definite underdogs, given their dramatic slump in form through the second half of the regular season. They shot out of the blocks at the start of year, winning nine of their first eleven games and still sitting on top of the ladder after sixteen rounds. What happened after that is still anybody’s guess, but the wheels fell off in a big way.

The Dragons went on to lose six of their last nine games, including a 40-4 demolition by last-placed Parramatta and a 38-0 shutout by the Bulldogs. Based on the sheer differences in momentum and form, and the bonus of playing at Suncorp Stadium, most pundits expected the Broncos to tame the Saints and move on to the semi-final against the Rabbitohs.

It seems somebody forgot to tell the Dragons, because they found their lost mojo in a hurry, and the Broncos simply had no answer for the unexpected invasion by the big Red V. Every player starred in their position for the Dragons, while the Broncos lineup were mostly forgettable.

Matt Dufty excelled in the fullback role while Tariq Sims scored a hattrick for the first time in his career. Playmakers Gareth Widdop and Ben Hunt were setting up tries left and right while Brisbane halves Kodi Nikorima and Anthony Milford looked lost and out of place.

Kodi Nikorima

(Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Adding in a forgettable defensive display and complete lack of creativity and you have the formula for a feeble elimination; which is just what the Broncos got. Suncorp was silenced as Brisbane’s impressive year shuddered to a shocking, sudden stop. Sorry, Anthony Seibold.

7. Parramatta Eels (vs Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, 1998 preliminary final: 20-32)
Very, very few Eels fans like to think about the 1998 season. Sure, they finished fourth, and sure, future club legend Nathan Hindmarsh debuted during the year, but the season will always be remembered for one thing: the worst choke in the Eels’ history and perhaps in the NRL’s history.

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Realistically, the Eels didn’t play badly at all for the first seventy minutes of the game; racing to a 12-2 halftime buffer before scoring again in the second half to comfortably lead 18-2 with 17 minutes remaining. That being said… those next ten minutes were utterly horrific.

I don’t wish to take anything away from the incredible resilience and effort from the Bulldogs, but there was absolutely no reason for the Eels not to complete the win and punch their ticket to the grand final against the Broncos, whom Parramatta had beaten the week before.

Looking back at the game, it seems pretty clear that the Eels were convinced the job was done and were looking ahead to the big one against Brisbane. Craig Polla-Mounter, putting in the best performance of his career and acting as Parramatta’s personal tormentor, scored with just over ten minutes to go before Daryl Halligan sprayed the conversion wide to leave the score at 18-6.

Once the first try was scored, the Bulldogs’ tails went up in both desperation and determination, while the Eels completely fell apart and had absolutely no way to handle the blue and white surge.

The Bulldogs would score again through Rod Silva and then with four minutes to go Willie Talau touched down in the corner to give Daryl Halligan the biggest pressure kick of his career from the same spot he had missed from earlier in the night.

What happened next would become part of the Bulldogs folklore; he stepped up and steered the conversion just inside the left upright to equal the match at 18-all.

After Polla-Mounter missed a 47-metre field goal attempt by a coat of paint after the siren, the match would head to a 20-minute period of extra time where every man and his Bulldog could see that the shellshocked Eels had no chance of recovering from Canterbury’s onslaught.

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Polla-Mounter kicked two field goals and scored a try to give the Dogs an insurmountable lead before Travis Norton added insult to injury with a final try in the last ninety seconds. The Eels had surrendered what looked like an unlosable game and the team would come under intense scrutiny by critics and fans alike in the following days.

Winger Paul Carige’s performance, in particular, was decried by many as one of the worst individual efforts of all time, and in an extremely unsavoury example of poor fan behaviour he was forced to withdraw from the public eye completely and flee from Sydney to Coffs Harbour after intense and continuous vitriol from fans both online and out in the community.

This game remains a sore point for Eels fans and will forever be a dark spot in the club’s history. I personally am so grateful I was not around to see this game take place live. I was less than four weeks away from coming into the world when this game took place and my father, also a lifetime and long-suffering Eels fan, was watching the game with my uncle.

After the Eels scored their second-half try, my uncle raised his glass to Dad with a massive grin and said, “Well mate; here’s to the grand final next week.”

Damn you, Uncle Jay.

6. North Queensland Cowboys (vs Wests Tigers, 2005 qualifying final: 6-50)
When rugby league lovers think of the Tigers and Cowboys in the 2005 finals series, they tend to think of Benji Marshall’s magic 90-metre run and flick pass to set up Pat Richards in the corner, or the preliminary final upsets that led the two sides to their maiden grand finals.

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Not many people actually remember that the 2005 grand final was the second finals meeting between the two clubs in the same year, although in fairness, Cowboys fans might be actively choosing to forget a very disappointing performance.

Both joint ventures experienced very successful years in 2005; both finishing on 32 points and winning one game apiece against each other. On the back of a superior points differential, the Tigers would finish fourth and the Cowboys fifth, ensuring that the first qualifying final would be taking place in Sydney.

It was shaping up to be a very promising and intriguing affair as both teams had an exceptionally talented fullback; Brett Hodgson lined up in the black and orange while “Mango” Matt Bowen pulled on the Cowboys jersey. Benji Marshall would also take on Johnathan Thurston in an exciting young halves battle, while coaches Tim Sheens and Graham Murray were eager to commence their finals campaigns on the right foot.

Johnathan Thurston

(Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Unfortunately for the Cowboys, they lost just about every single battle possible. Matty Bowen was no match for Brett Hodgson, who thoroughly stood out as the best player on the night; running in three tries and kicking a perfect nine from nine goals for a personal tally of 30 points; setting a record for the Tigers that remains unbeaten to this day.

Benji Marshall also played a pivotal role in the Tigers’ win, setting up his team’s formidable attack while also setting up Hodgson’s first try with an incredible piece of lead up footwork. Meanwhile, Johnathan Thurston’s inexperience and immaturity would get the better of him as he spent a great deal of time remonstrating with match officials instead of organising his team; something of a recurring theme throughout the Cowboys’ finals campaign.

The Townsville team found themselves unable to crack an incredible defensive effort from the joint venture either; requiring four straight sets to score their only try of the match. The score was only 14-6 at halftime but the Tigers clicked into another gear upon the resumption and the Cowboys found themselves being made an example of.

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When referee Paul Simpkins blew full-time the final score was 50-6, with Graham Murray at a loss to explain what had just happened in the press conference.

Lamenting his side’s inability to keep up with the speed of the Tigers’ play and fearing a quick exit in emulation of the Dragons’ fifth-placed week one exit the previous season, Murray would have been thinking the worst when sixth-placed Melbourne upset the Broncos at Suncorp.

To the entire region of Townsville’s immense relief, seventh and eighth-placed Cronulla and Manly would suffer defeats, ensuring the Cowboys’ survival to at least the following week.

So, there we go; that was the first part of my list of the ten worst finals performance of the NRL era. What do you think, Roarers? Do you agree, disagree, or are you surprised to see any of these matches as low as they are?

Let me know down below and look out for part two in the coming days.

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