The seven biggest finals upsets of the NRL era

THERE’S nothing quite like a good finals upset and we’ve dragged out the seven biggest shock results of the NRL era.

THERE’S nothing quite like a good finals upset.

It might be all the sports movies we’ve watched over the years, but when the rag-tag bunch of battlers pull it together against all the odds, it’s impossible not get a little excited.

We’ve dragged together the top seven finals upsets of the NRL era ahead of this weekend’s semi-finals showdowns.

Bulldogs v Eels 1998

No finals run in NRL history can match the 1998 Bulldogs and their extra-time win over Newcastle could have easily found itself on this list — they trailed the defending ARL premiers 16-0 before clawing their way to a 28-16 extra-time victory.

But the greatest upset in the Dogs’ giant-killing run to the decider came in the preliminary final when they took on arch rivals Parramatta.

The Eels had finished fourth in the regular season but were just two points behind minor premiers Brisbane and once they upset the Broncos 15-10 in the first week of the finals they became a popular choice to take out their first title since 1986.

When the blue and golds got out to an 18-2 lead with 11 minutes remaining, you could forgive the Parramatta faithful for booking their grand final tickets.

Craig Polla-Mounter got things started when he charged over off a questionable Jason Hetherington pass and from there everything went insane. Rod Silva and Willie Talau surged over for tries, Darryl Halligan was kicking sideline conversions and Eels fullback Paul Carige had the most infamous meltdown in finals history.

Extra-time was required and by the time the dust had settled the Dogs had run out 33-20 winners and set the unbreakable record of making the grand final from 9th spot.

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Warriors v Storm 2008

In the days of the McIntyre system, the minor premiers would host the eighth-placed team in the first week of the finals. This often resulted in the kind or horrific beatings you would expect when a premiership contender takes on a team that just scrapes into the playoffs.

In 2001 the Eels smashed the Warriors 56-12 for example, and Melbourne brought the pain in 2007 when they walloped the Broncos 40-0. If eighth was to ever beat first, it would take just the right team and just the right situation for it to happen.

In hindsight, the Warriors matched up well with the Storm when they played at Olympic Park in the first week of the 2008 finals. The unorthodox style and overwhelming athleticism of the Warriors always troubled the ultra-structured Storm, but given that Craig Bellamy’s side had won the title in such thunderous fashion in 2007 and the New Zealanders had only qualified for the playoffs courtesy of a Round 26 win over Parramatta, the home team were the warmest of favourites.

The Warriors managed to keep pace with Melbourne throughout the match but when Greg Inglis clubbed over a field goal to give the Storm a 15-14 lead with a little over 10 minutes remaining it seemed inevitable that the Storm would grind out the victory like they had so many times before.

With less than two minutes remaining however, Michael Witt rifled a pass out to Jerome Ropati, who stood up Israel Folau before finding Manu Vatuvei. Vatuvei stormed down the sideline before flicking an inside pass to Witt, who crossed in the corner to give the Warriors an unforgettable 18-15 win.

Matt Sing scored three tries for the Cowboys in 2004.

Cowboys v Bulldogs 2004

Given the size of their junior base and the fanatical support they enjoyed, the Cowboys were serious underachievers for the first decade in the big leagues.

It took five coaches, three wooden spoons and countless frustrating losses before they qualified for their first playoffs in 2004.

Led by the experienced Travis Norton, the North Queenslanders qualified in seventh spot and took on the second-placed Bulldogs. Spurred on by the early sin-binning of Steve Price and some high-flying antics from Matt Sing, the Cowboys held a shock 26-6 lead midway through the second half.

Canterbury eventually found their way, and launched a stirring comeback that was led by tries to Matt Utai and Willie Tonga. They drew within four with a little over two minutes remaining, but the Cowboys had the last laugh when Matt Bowen hung a kick over to Sing and the crafty veteran flew high over Utai to complete his hat-trick and secure a famous win for the finals debutants.

Raiders v Panthers 2010

Canberra had momentum on their side heading into the 2010 finals series, winning eight of their last nine to bolt from the midst of the also-rans into the finals.

However, when they travelled to Penrith to take on the second-placed Panthers they were definitive outsiders.

Penrith had experienced a resurgence on the back of a stellar season from their high-octane backline, led by Michael Gordon, Lachlan Coote and Michael Jennings. Also working in the Panthers’ favour was the fact that the Raiders hadn’t won a finals match since 2000.

With Terry Campese calling the shots, Canberra got out of the block quickly to lead 18-12 at half-time after tries to Campese, Dane Tilse and Bronson Harrison and that lead was extended to 24-12 when Reece Robinson flashed over off a looping Josh Dugan cut-out pass. Penrith managed to get within two points following a pair of tries to Sandor Earl, but Canberra managed to hang on for their first playoff win in a decade.

The Raiders upset the Panthers in 2010.

Eels v Dragons 2009

Jarryd Hayne and Parramatta surged through the back end of 2009 on the crest of an unstoppable wave of points, offloads and highlight reel four-pointers …. until they ran into the minor-premiership bound Dragons in Round 26 and were duly smacked up in a 37-0 belting.

All the magic seemed to run out as the well-drilled Dragons ground the blue and golds into the ground.

However, the two teams squared off again the very next week in the first round of the finals but it was a different Eels team that took the field.

Led by Hayne, they showed all the power and panache that had made their run to the finals possible. Luke Burt and Daniel Mortimer opened the scoring, but Dan Hunt replied for the Dragons as Parramatta held a tight 12-8 lead at half-time.

In the second stanza, the Dragons seemed to spend an eternity attacking the Eels line and a go-ahead try seemed inevitable until Jamie Soward’s death or glory cut out pass was picked off by Eric Grothe Jr and he galloped the length of the field to score under the posts.

Brett Morris grabbed one back for the Dragons but a booming Luke Burt field goal gave the Eels a seven-point lead and when Hayne danced his way through seven Dragons defenders to dot down in the shadows of full-time, the Eels’ golden run continued with a 25-12 win.

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Warriors v Storm 2011

Even though the 2008 upset at Olympic Park had happened and despite the fact that the Storm always struggled against the Warriors, Melbourne were still expected to put the cleaners through the New Zealanders in the 2011 preliminary final.

After all, this was a Storm team on a mission following the salary cap smash-up of 2010 and the Warriors had only snuck past the Tigers after a freakish, controversial Krisnan Inu try.

So it was a massive surprise when the Warriors jumped out to a 14-12 half-time lead after tries to James Maloney and Bill Tupou, and even more shocking when they held that slender lead throughout much of the second half.

Eventually, rookie halfback Shaun Johnson was given an inch of space, spun like a top and bamboozled poor Kevin Proctor in such a way that the Storm back-rower still probably thinks about when he’s feeling low, before flicking a pass to Lewis Brown to score.

The 20-12 win saw the Warriors advance to their second grand final in club history and first since 2002.

Penrith v Roosters 2014

The Roosters were a red-hot pick to win consecutive titles after marching to the minor premiership last season, while the Panthers were ravaged by injury and limping towards the finals like a three-legged.

Massive outsiders, the Panthers managed to keep things tight after Josh Mansour powered over for the first try and trailed 6-4 at half-time.

Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Dean Whare exchanged tries in the second half, but when Mitchell Pearce stepped through to score within the final 10 minutes, it seemed as though the plucky Panthers would lose the day.

But there were still a couple of twists left in the tale and when Jamie Soward poked a speculator kick down the right wing and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak performed a magic trick to flick the ball back for Whare to score, the game was alive. Soward’s booming sideline conversion set the stage for a monstrous finish.

In the end it was Soward who covered himself with glory with a field goal from 40 metres out that snuck over the crossbar and gave Penrith the most unlikely of 19-18 wins.