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Opinion
The NRL is a tough and unforgiving game, there are no participation trophies and not everyone wins a prize.
Making it past 50 games is a major achievement though, and you’d think that the longer you play the game the more likely you are to be in a premiership-winning team.
Take a look at the players in this champion team who’ve played a total of 4,003 games between them and never won a single title.
1. Matt Bowen (270 games – NQ Cowboys)
The electrifying fullback achieved a lot in his 13 seasons in the far north, being named Dally M Fullback of the Year in 2007 and topping the club’s try scoring both that year and in 2005.
He also represented QLD and Australia, but the closest he got to a premiership was in 2005 when he scored the opening try in the Cowboy’s 30-16 loss to the Wests Tigers.
Bowen finished his career in England with the Wigan Warriors but lost Super League grand-finals in 2014 and again in 2015, just a week after the Cowboys broke through for their first premiership.
2. Andrew Ettingshausen (328 games – Cronulla Sharks)
Outside backs don’t come much better than ET and he can lay claim to being Cronulla’s greatest player ever, having played with the club for 18 years, finishing with a club record 166 tries and representing his state and country on a combined 59 occasions.
The Sharks went close to a premiership twice during his time finishing as minor premiers in both 1988 and 1999, only to be knocked out in the preliminary final each time. The only time he made it as far as a grand-final was in the 1997 Super League season when the Sharks were defeated by a star-studded Brisbane team.
Andrew Ettingshausen in Kangaroos colours on the 1990 Kangaroo tour. (Photo by Getty Images)
3. Josh Morris (325 games – St George-Illawarra Dragons, Canterbury Bulldogs, Cronulla Sharks and Sydney Roosters)
Morris had 15 seasons at the top and searched for premiership glory with four clubs, but to no avail. He got as close as a quarter final loss to Manly with the Dragons in 2008 before leaving the club for the Bulldogs in search of a permanent place in the centres.
He helped lift the Bulldogs from last to second on the table in 2009, running in 22 tries for the season, and came close to a premiership in 2012 when the Bulldogs finished top of the ladder only to go down 14-4 to Melbourne in the decider.
He then played finals football with both the Sharks in 2019 and the Roosters in 2020-21 before retiring from the game. Morris’ twin brother Brett won two titles, one in 2010 with the Dragons and once more with the Roosters in 2019.
4. Jarrod Croker (299 games and counting – Canberra Raiders)
Croker is a living legend at the Raiders and holds the club records for most games, most tries and most points, but now in his 15th season with the club, he appears destined to finish his career without an NRL premiership to his name.
The Raiders have had sporadic trips to the finals since Croker made his first-grade debut back in 2009, and their best chance of winning their first premiership since 1994 came in 2019 when Croker led them in their grand-final loss to the Roosters, in what some say were controversial circumstances.
Croker is possibly in his last season with the Raiders so 2023 just might be his final throw of the dice to win a premiership.
5. Luke Burt (264 games – Parramatta Eels)
Luke Burt spent his entire 14-year career with the Eels after joining them in 1999 from the Newcastle competition. He finished his career as Parramatta’s highest try score, second highest point scorer behind Mick Cronin, and played in equal second highest games for the club along with Brett Kenny.
Burt was just five years of age when Parramatta won their last title in 1986 and the closest he came while at the club was in 2001 and 2009.
Parramatta finished as minor premiers in 2001 but lost by 30 points to 24 in front of over 90,000 fans at Stadium Australia, and eight years later they made it all the way to the grand-final again after just sneaking in to the top eight, only to lose 23-16 to the Melbourne Storm who were later stripped of the premiership for salary cap breaches.
6. John Morris (300 games – Newcastle Knights, Parramatta Eels, Wests Tigers and Cronulla Sharks)
Morris debuted for the Knights in 2001 and filled-in a number of times for first choice hooker Danny Buderus, but lost out to PJ Marsh when it came to winning a bench spot in their triumphant grand-final team that year.
He moved to the Eels in 2003 and played finals football twice over the next four seasons before joining the Tigers for three years in 2007, finishing out of the finals each year. He then tried his luck with the Sharks, joining them in 2010, again playing semi-finals twice but finishing with the wooden spoon in 2014.
John Morris. (Photo by Joosep Martinson/Getty Images)
7. Ben Hunt (302 games and counting – Brisbane Broncos and St George-Illawarra Dragons)
After debuting for the Broncos in 2009 and then spending a number of years playing off the bench in the shadow of Peter Wallace, Hunt became Brisbane’s first choice halfbackin 2014.
He was part of their unsuccessful finals campaigns in 2011, 2012 and 2014, and 2015 saw him wearing the number 7 Broncos jersey in the grand-final against the Cowboys. It’s history now that Hunt’s dropped kick-off in extra time helped the Cowboys take out their first premiership.
After two more unsuccessful finals campaigns with the Broncos in 2016 and 2017, Hunt chased the big dollars and joined the Dragons, where a wooden spoon looks far more likely than a premiership ring.
8. Geoff Gerrard (327 games – Parramatta Eels, Manly Sea Eagles and Penrith Panthers)
Geoff Gerard played centre, second row and front row with distinction in his 16-year career, represented both NSW and Australia, and was the first player to notch up 300 games. Gerard’s first season saw Parramatta pick up the wooden spoon, but just two years later the Eels finished second on the table and Gerard found himself in the grand-final against Manly.
Gerard scored a try but Manly won the day 13-10 thanks to the boot of Graham Eadie. Parramatta finished on top of the table the following year but once again lost the decider, this time to St George in the grand-final replay by 22 points to nil.
In what can only be described as a very unfortunate sliding doors moment, Gerard switched to Manly in 1981, only to watch the Eels win their first premiership that year, and then played against his former club in both the 1982 and 1983 deciders, losing both times.
9. Andrew McCullough (309 games – Brisbane Broncos, Newcastle Knights, St George-Illawarra Dragons)
McCullough debuted off the bench as an 18-year-old in 2008 and became the Broncos first choice hooker the following year when Michael Ennis left for the Bulldogs. McCullough was a stalwart of the club over the next twelve years and played finals football every year but two between 2008 and 2019.
His only grand-final chance came in 2015 when the Broncos finished second on the ladder, but were beaten by a golden point Johnathan Thurston field goal.
10. Aiden Tolman (317 games – Melbourne Storm, Canterbury Bulldogs and Cronulla Sharks)
Tolman spent 14 years in the top grade and technically, he has won a grand-final and run a victory lap, but I doubt he’ll have too many fond memories of the occasion.
In just his second season in the top grade, he packed down in the front row for the Storm as they defeated Parramatta in the 2009 decider by 23 points to 16, but it would turn out to be a hollow victory as Melbourne were subsequently stripped of the title as a result of salary cap breaches.
(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
Tolman joined Canterbury in 2011 and stayed with them for the next decade, and had two more chances to win a premiership, however the Dogs were defeated by the Storm in 2012 and then by Souths two years later.
11. Nathan Hindmarsh (330 games – Parramatta Eels)
The Eels have stopped the premiership aspirations of many players and it appears that the longer you play with them the less likely you are to experience premiership glory.
So it was with Nathan Hindmarsh who spent 15 years with Parramatta and finished with most games for the club. The Eels made two deciders during Hindmarsh’s time, were runners up in 2001 and then were robbed by the Storm in 2009.
12. Adam Blair (331 games – Melbourne Storm, Wests Tigers, Brisbane Broncos and NZ Warriors)
Like Aiden Tolman, Adam Blair knew what grand-final disappointment felt like. He played off the bench in the 2006 decider against Brisbane, as Melbourne lost by 15 points to 8, and then was a part of the 2009 side which won the grand-final only to have the title subsequently stripped.
He then left the Storm for the Tigers in 2012 for three fruitless seasons, only to see his former club take out the premiership that year. He joined the Broncos in 2015 and had another sniff at premiership glory that year, however the Broncos lost the decider to North Queensland in extra time.
13. Simon Mannering (301 games – NZ Warriors)
Mannering was one of the best players to ever come out of NZ, but his loyalty to the Warriors over his 14-year career ensured that he would never win a premiership.
His one and only chance came in 2011 when the Warriors made it all the way to the grand-final after finishing sixth on the ladder, but they couldn’t overcome the powerful Manly combination, going down by 24 points to 10.
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