Nick Tedeschi counts down the top ten biggest upsets in the NRL Finals.
10
2001 Grand Final: Newcastle def Parramatta 30-24
Newcastle finished third on the ladder but the 2001 Grand Final was Parramatta’s to win after a record-breaking season that saw them score a record 32.27 points per game and average victory by nearly 18 points per match. The Eels smoked the Warriors in the first week of the finals and then eliminated defending premiers Brisbane in the preliminary final. Parramatta went into the decider favoured by 8.5 points but were never in it with the underdog Knights jumping to a 10-0 lead after six minutes, going into the break up 24-0. Parramatta fought back late to go down 30-24 but their best opportunity since their 1986 premiership was gone.
9
2021 Qualifying Final: South Sydney def Penrith 16-10
After narrowly missing out in the 2020 Grand Final, Penrith entered the covid-impacted 2021 finals as one of the title favourites. With their final against Souths played in Townsville, the Panthers were favoured by 8.5 points against South Sydney. The Bunnies would go on to win 16-10 on the back of the boot of Adam Reynolds but it would be Penrith who got the last laugh. The Panthers would beat Souths in that year’s Grand Final and go on to win four straight premierships. It would also be the last final the Panthers lost before winning a remarkable 14 straight.
8
2022 Elimination Final: Canberra def Melbourne 28-20
The Storm have rarely finished outside the Top 4 but in 2022 they were thrown straight into an elimination final against Canberra. Melbourne were at home and were close to double digit favourites against a Canberra team that did not find itself in the Top 8 until the final two weeks of the season. It was an ambush though from Ricky Stuart’s men with Josh Papalii and Joe Tapine immense in one of the great finals upsets secured by an opportunist try from Jordan Rapana.
7
1999 Preliminary Final: Melbourne def Parramatta 18-16
Only a single win separated second-place Parramatta and third-placed Melbourne on the 1999 premiership ladder but few gave the upstart Storm a chance in just their second season when the teams met in the preliminary final. Despite their historic collapse in the preliminary final a year prior, the Eels were heavy favourites when they hosted the Storm at the SFS. The Eels lost Eric Grothe for the match but that was no excuse for another finals flop as a short-priced favourite.
6
2005 Preliminary Final: North Queensland def Parramatta 29-0
Parramatta’s list of finals disappointments is as long as it is harrowing but arguably their most wasted opportunity came in 2005. The Eels claimed the minor premiership on the back of a stellar rookie season from halfback Tim Smith and had one foot in the Grand Final after belting Manly 46-22 in the qualifying final. Parramatta were favoured by double digits in their preliminary final against North Queensland with the Cowboys travelling to Sydney for the affair but the Eels were blown off the park in incredible fashion, shut out in a 29-0 smash job that was without question Parramatta’s worst performance of the season.
5
2014 Qualifying Final: Penrith def Sydney Roosters 19-18
The Sydney Roosters’ title defence seemed to be well on track in 2014 after claiming the minor premiership with Trent Robinson’s star-studded squad that included the likes of Boyd Cordner, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, James Maloney, Anthony Minichiello, Sonny Bill Williams and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves installed as 11.5-point favourites in their opening final against the Panthers. Penrith had played one finals series in a decade and had a wholly unfashionable side but a Dean Whare try with four minutes to play and a Jamie Soward field goal on the full-time siren gave Penrith a 19-18 victory.
4
1997 Minor Qualifying Final: Gold Coast def Illawarra 25-14
The original Gold Coast franchise that went under many different names – the Giants, Seagulls, Gladiators and eventually Titans – and never looked like making the finals until the split 1997 season where they ran seventh, claiming the final spot in the finals. They were big outsiders when travelling to Parramatta Stadium to meet a Steelers team including stars Trent Barrett, Brad Mackay, Paul McGregor and Shaun Timmins. The unfashionable Titans led by Wes Patten shocked their more fancied opponents 25-14 for the only finals win in franchise history.
3
1995 Grand Final: Canterbury def Manly 17-4
Manly had lost just two matches heading into the 1995 decider with a star-studded team that included the likes of Toovey, Lyons, Menzies, Kosef, Ridge and Hopoate. Canterbury, by contrast, were lucky to even be in the finals after the club was torn apart by the Super League War with four senior players siding with the ARL as the rest of the team went to the rebel competition. The Bulldogs finished sixth on the ladder and were big outsiders in finals upsets over St George, Brisbane and Canberra. As double digit underdogs in the Grand Final, few gave the Bulldogs a chance but in a stunning display a gritty Canterbury team led by Terry Lamb in what was supposed to be his farewell game held Manly tryless in a 17-4 stunner.
2
2004 Qualifying Final: North Queensland def Canterbury 30-22
The 2004 title chase shaped as a race in two between minor premiers the Sydney Roosters and the team that had been taken out of play two seasons prior due to a major salary cap breach in Canterbury. The second-placed Bulldogs were expected to make light work of a Cowboys team playing in their first finals series 10 years after joining the premiership. Led by former Bulldogs Travis Norton, the Cowboys played with gay abandon as Matt Sing scored three in one of the club’s most famous win.
1
2008 Qualifying Final: New Zealand def Melbourne 18-15
Under the old and much-maligned finals system, the minor premier played the eight-placed team and the result nearly always went the way of the table-topping team. Not in 2008. That year the Storm claimed the minor premiership after playing in the previous two Grand Finals, winning the right to host the eight-place New Zealand Warriors who had won just four of their 12 road games. Bookies put the Storm up 16.5-point favourites but on a sunny Melbourne afternoon at the long-gone Olympic Park, the Warriors stunned the Rugby League world when Michael Witt raced to score the winner, holding the ball above his head before grounding it.