Monday Milestone: Simply the Best
In the spirit of the finals, during September the Monday Milestone will examine some of the great moments in NRL finals history. Here is the Grand Final edition.
This Week in History:
1989, Winfield Cup Grand Final
The Canberra Raiders rally from 12-2 down with two late tries to defeat the Balmain Tigers in extra time and take the premiership outside Sydney for the first time.
They still talk about it today. Many call it the greatest grand final ever.
The Balmain Tigers, were so close to breaking through their premiership drought. Thwarted the year before, this was their time. This was their chance. With internationals like Elias, Sironen, Jack, Brasher, Pearce, Roach, Freeman running around, these players are still talked about. This side is remembered.
There were twenty minutes to play that September afternoon. Balmain led 12-2 after tries to James Grant and Paul Sironen, albeit against the run of play. Already dancing in the streets of Leichhardt, Balmain premiership glory had not been tasted in two decades.
But that year, the Canberra Raiders were something else. The national capital had been painted green. Ribbons tied to car aerials, bakeries and butchers spruiking green produce, the Raiders had won their final five matches of the season, to simply make September, then three more to qualify for the Grand Final, pioneering a streak that was unparralleled. No team had ever reached the last game of the season from fourth position. Quite the run.
So when John “Chicka” Ferguson put Gary Belcher in for Canberra’s first try of the day with 20 minutes left, Balmain fans had a right to feel nervous. Balmain forwards Steve Roach and Paul Sironen sat on the sidelines after another Balmain penalty goal when coach Warren Ryan set out to protect their 14-8 lead. A crucial mistake.
The tide turned. Mal Meninga ankle tapped Mick Neil just short of the line. Then with the line wide open, and Tim Brasher in space, Balmain skipper Wayne Pearce dropped the ball cold. Then, Ben Elias hit the cross bar with his second field goal attempt. Had any of those three events gone slightly different, 1989 would have had a different premier.
Even still at the death it seemed Balmain were going to hang on. With ninety seconds remaining, it felt like it was all over.
But then… in a last ditch effort, Canberra pressed one final time, Chris O’Sullivan sending up a bomb. Several players flew for it, only for it to incredibly bounce up into the hands of Laurie Daley, who basketballed it over to Ferguson who stepped inside two defenders, carrying two more over the line, to score next to the posts. Unbelievable. With less than a minute remaining, Mal Meninga converted. The score was 14-14. For the first time in rugby league history, the grand final would go into extra time.
Of course we know what happened next. Sironen and Roach unable to take the field. A Chris O’Sullivan field goal, put the Raiders in front before an unknown Steve Jackson found space with twenty metres out. Carrying two defenders metre after metre until he was able to reach out and plant the ball over the line. Canberra had secured the most improbable grand final victory of all time.
The Raiders created incredible history that day. They became the first team to ever lift the Winfield Cup out of Sydney. It was a game that had it all. Heroes, villans. Bad luck, good luck. Extra time. Elation. Heartbreak. Simply the best grand final ever.
Little wonder they still talk about it today.
The Milestone Five: Great rugby league grand finals
5. 1909 – South Sydney v Balmain
After supposedly unofficially agreeing not to play a final, unbeknownst to Balmain, the South Sydney players turned up to play at the Showground, and were awarded a forfeit as a result.
4. 1977 – Parramatta v St George
Mick Cronin misses a conversion as the scores remain tied up at 9-9 at full time. St George would win the replay in a whitewash the following week.
3. 1963 – St George v Western Suburbs
The slugfest in the mud at the SCG which captured the immortal pose of Norm Provan and Arthur Summons as St George defeat Western Suburbs 8-3.
2. 1997 – Newcastle v Manly
Andrew Johns throws an inside ball to a flying Darren Albert as Newcastle win their maiden premiership with a 22-16 win over the highly fancied Manly side in the ARL Grand Final.
1. 1989 – Balmain v Canberra
The Raiders win their first ever flag denying the Balmain Tigers 19-14 in extra time. They become the first team outside Sydney to win. The first team to win in extra time. The first team to win from fourth place, beginning a dynasty the would result in three premierships in six years.
