Canterbury Bulldogs, Parramatta Eels and more: the seven best finals runs of the NRL era

WHO doesn’t love it when a team bolts from the blue to make the finals? We look back at the seven best finals runs of the NRL era.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 13: Jarryd Hayne of the Eels celebrates after scoring during the fourth NRL qualifying final match between the St George Illawarra Dragons and the Parramatta Eels at WIN Jubilee Stadium on September 13, 2009 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

WHO doesn’t love a late season charge to the finals?

The sight of the season long battler who has been all but forgot charging into the finals on some kind of destiny driven winning streak is enough to get even the most cynical fan dreaming of fairytale premierships and storybook endings.

Of the current crop of teams desperately scrambling towards September, Manly seem the most likely to go on a run. The Raiders and Warriors are still mathematic chances but Canberra’s consistency has cruelled their chances and the Warriors are all at sea without Shaun Johnson, so if anyone’s to do it it’ll be the Silvertails.

With that in mind, we’ve taken a look at the seven best finals runs from the NRL era.

BRISBANE BRONCOS, 1999

After winning the premiership in 1998, the Broncos were in a serious funk early in 1999.

Traditionally fast starters, Brisbane won just one of their first 10 matches and seemed certain to miss the finals for the first time since 1991.

The upstart Melbourne Storm inflicted the biggest defeat in club history when they smacked the defending champions 48-6 in Round 3.

Captain and club legend Allan Langer retired early in the season after being hooked by coach Wayne Bennett in a 20-all draw with North Queensland and the Brisbane golden era seemed to be in tatters when they slumped to 17th on the ladder after 10 rounds.

But the side then went on an extraordinary winning run, stringing together 11 straight victories to charge back into semi-final contention.

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Highlights included a 9-8 win over title favourites Sydney City courtesy of a Darren Lockyer field goal in the dying moments, a 38-6 thrashing of the Johns brothers-led Newcastle and 22-4 win over the rising St George Illawarra. Parramatta ended the winning streak with a 21-10 win in the penultimate regular season round but a 14-12 victory over Canterbury in Round 26 saw Brisbane gain an improbable finals berth.

The task of getting to the finals ultimately proved to be too much for the Broncos with minor premiers Cronulla handily accounting for them 42-20 in week one of the playoffs but just making it was one of the more underrated achievements in the club’s decorated history.

NORTH QUEENSLAND, 2004

For the Cowboys, just making the finals in 2004 was something to hang their hat on.

The club had never qualified for the playoffs since entering the league in 1995 and made it into the playoffs in seventh position after a steady season that existed without a great deal of winning or losing streaks.

Fullback Matt Bowen was the attacking fulcrum of a team who lived and died by their back three — Bowen, classy veteran Matt Sing and rising star Ty Williams were by far the most damaging attacking players on a tough and gritty football side that was led by skipper Travis Norton and inspirational prop Paul Rauhihi.

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Matt Sing scored three tries in the Cowboys first semi final match.

The North Queenslanders were expected to be cannon fodder for the second-placed Bulldogs but on the back of the high-flying Sing scoring a spectacular hat-trick and the speed of Bowen around the ruck, the outsiders caused one of the great finals upsets 30-22.

The victory set up a mouth-watering showdown with the Broncos, which was switched from Sydney to Townsville at the last minute.

In front of a rabid local crowd, a try to David Myles and a succession of Josh Hannay penalty goals saw the Cowboys down their big brothers for the first time in their history and advance to the preliminary final against the Roosters.

In an enthralling tussle, the Roosters snuck ahead 17-16 courtesy of a Brett Finch field goal in the final five minutes as the Cowboys’ glorious stampede fell agonisingly short.

CANBERRA RAIDERS, 2008

While Jarryd Hayne was rightly lauded for his 2009 season, Terry Campese was nearly as dangerous the year before.

As the Raiders were building throughout the season — they were sitting just outside the top eight when they upset the Roosters 34-12 in Round 19 — the sacking of halfback Todd Carney seemed to put their season and their future into a tailspin.

But Campese, who had been in and out of first grade since making his debut in 2003, promptly proceeded to go absolutely berserk and take the Raiders on an incredible surge of attacking football.

They won five of their last seven, which may seem a little pedestrian until you look at the raw numbers involved.

They scored 216 points in seven matches, averaging a little more than 30 points per game and in the process put 46 points on the Titans, 52 on the Bulldogs and a record-busting 74 on the Panthers.

Campese himself scored 98 points in seven matches, a feat made all the more remarkable by the fact that in the Round 21 match against Brisbane he scored just two points and in Round 25 against North Queensland he didn’t get on the board at all.

In the record win over Penrith, just the seventh time in Australian rugby league history a team had cracked the 70-point barrier; Campese scored four tries and kicked 10 goals for a personal tally of 36 points.

The Raiders’ run was ended by injury as much as anything else — by the end of the season they had Glenn Buttriss and Neville Costigan running around at halfback — and they looked nervous and frantic when they were beaten in the first week of the finals. They fell 36-10 to the hard-nosed Cronulla Sharks 36-10 but would have earned a chance to play on if the Warriors hadn’t upset the Storm later that weekend.

Campese showed flashes of the form that saw him make the Australian squad for the World Cup at the end of the season, but never hit those heights consistently again…..

CANBERRA RAIDERS, 2010

… until 2010, when the Raiders went on another stirring run into September. The 2010 model was different to that of two years prior with the premiership-winning under-20s side of 2008 forming the nucleus of the new Raiders — young guns like Josh Dugan, Jarrod Croker, Daniel Vidot and Shaun Fensom mixed with old heads like David Shillington, Alan Tongue and Bronson Harrison to form a talented and well-rounded football team.

The Raiders went on a stirring run in 2010.

Sitting in 13th spot after 18 matches, the Raiders won eight of their last nine to grab seventh spot on the ladder. They downed the eventual premiers St George Illawarra for the second time that season 32-16 in Round 24 and looked like bona-fide premiership contenders when they knocked off the second placed Panthers 24-22 in the first week of the finals.

However, the young Raiders’ luck ran out in week two when they welcomed the Tigers to the national capital in front of a record Canberra Stadium crowd of 26,476.

In a back-and-forth struggle that showcased the attacking prowess of both sides, the Raiders went down 26-24 after Croker missed what would have been an equalising penalty inside the last five minutes.

WEST TIGERS, 2005

The team on this list, the story of the Tigers incredible run all the way to the top of the pile is well known.

While this season marks a decade since the free-spirited joint venture burst from the pack and won thousands of new fans with their expansive playing style.

Led by Scott Prince and Benji Marshall, the Tigers’ switches of play and ability to use the ball confounded their more fancied opposition as they rose from 12th spot on the ladder to win eight of their last 10 and snag a spot in the top four.

The Tigers are the only team on the list to win the premiership.

From there, the ripped through the finals series with hurricane fury. A 30-point haul from Brett Hodgson (whose 304 points for the season remains the second-highest total of all time) was the feature of a 50-6 belting of the Cowboys in week one before they disposed of Brisbane 34-6 in week two.

They then outpointed the highly-favoured Dragons 20-12 at the Sydney Football Stadium to qualify for their first grand final as a merged entity.

They faced the resurgent Cowboys, who had themselves been on quite the tear, and fuelled by the speed of their backs, the skill of their spine and a famous, magical, behind-the-back flick pass from Marshall to Pat Richards, they completed the only true momentum premiership of the NRL era and became one of the few teams in recent times to win the competition from outside the top three.

PARRAMATTA EELS, 2009

The Eels were floundering in 14th place after Round 18 before they exploded into life, winning seven matches in a row to storm into playoff contention on the back of a stellar run of form from a certain San Francisco 49ers squad member.

The eight weeks of form Jarryd Hayne slapped together had to be seen to be believed as he transformed the Eels into an overwhelming attacking machine that was fuelled by offloads, risk-taking and his own prodigious skills.

Highlights included consecutive upset wins over Melbourne and Canterbury, who both ended up finishing in the top four, a 40-8 pounding of finals-bound Newcastle, a virtuoso Hayne performance in a 40-4 mauling of the Warriors and a magical attacking shootout with the Tigers at the Sydney Football Stadium, which finished 26-18 in the Eels’ favour and was one of the finest matches of the modern era.

Jarryd Hayne was remarkable for the Eels in 2009.

After hammering the Panthers 48-6 in Round 25, the Eels dropped a game to eventual minor premiers the Dragons 37-0 before reversing the result in week one of the finals in a 25-12 upset.

They then smashed an overmatched Titans side 27-2 and set up a bumper showdown with the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium.

Canterbury had only been denied the minor premiership due to losing two competition points earlier in the season after an interchange mix-up and the match drew a record crowd of 74,549.

As talented as the Bulldogs were, they suffered a death by a thousand offloads as the Eels became the first team to qualify for the grand final from eighth spot.

The run ended in the big dance as the Melbourne Storm, who were at their ruthless, machine like best, ground out a 23-16 win.

While Hayne didn’t take the Eels to the final on his own, it’s worth noting that of the 17 players who lined up for the blue and golds in that grand final, only five are still in the NRL.

CANTERBURY BULLDOGS, 1998

Perhaps the most improbable post-season run belongs to the 1998 Bulldogs, who set a record that may never be broken.

The Dogs only snuck into the finals courtesy of a last round 25-24 win over Illawarra and in the bloated post-Super League competition; they managed to qualify for the 10-team playoffs in ninth place.

But they went on the kind of run that had destiny written all over it. They trailed the Dragons 12-0 in the first week of the finals but clawed their way to a 20-12 win and easily accounted for North Sydney 23-2 in week two.

Their win over Newcastle, who along with Brisbane had set the pace all season, which saw the blue and whites come back from 16-0 down to win in extra time, was one of the best games of the decade but was completely overshadowed by what happened in the preliminary final against Parramatta.

With the Eels running out to an 18-2 lead with 11 minutes remaining, it seemed as though the magic had run out for Canterbury before one of the most remarkable comebacks in rugby league history unfolded.

Craig Polla-Mounter got things started when he dived over off a questionable Jason Hetherington pass before a combination of Rod Silva’s brilliance, a couple of killer offloads, some more Polla-Mounter guile and a complete and utter meltdown from Eels winger Paul Carige saw the Dogs storm their way home.

Daryl Halligan nailed a sideline conversion with mere minutes remaining and Polla-Mounter nearly won the game in regulation with a booming shot at field goal from near halfway that just fell under the crossbar.

In extra-time, the surge continued. Polla-Mounter sent them into the lead with a field goal after less than a minute before the plucky five-eight swivelled over for his second try.

Some further Carige errors gifted the Dogs more field position and a second drop goal to Polla-Mounter plus a late try to Travis Norton gave the Bulldogs one of the more remarkable victories in rugby league history.

The magic ran out in the grand final against Brisbane, but the 1998 Bulldogs will forever have a place in footballing folklore.