Who is the greatest NRL team of all time? Vote in our Premiership Tournament
IT’S time to settle things once and for all. Who is the greatest premiership team of the NRL era? Vote now and have your say.
THIS tournament has been designed for one single purpose.
Who is the best premiership winner of the NRL era?
10 different clubs have won premierships since 1998, and we’re giving fans a chance to have their say on who is the top dog of the last 17 years once and for all.
The format is simple — a 16 team, single elimination tournament that will run from now until grand final week.
We’ve taken a look at every team, who they beat in their run to the finals and who their opponents were on grand final day, now it’s up to you to decide who’s the greatest team of all.
Vote on each match up and check back next Thursday to see the draw and match ups for the next round. First up, we’ve got the ’03 Panthers up against the ’02 Roosters. Voting closes on Tuesday the 15th of September at 4:30, so get in now.
CHECK OUT PART TWO OF THE FIRST ROUND HERE
2003 PENRITH PANTHERS vs. 2002 SYDNEY ROOSTERS
2003 Penrith Panthers
Filled with athletic young tyros who ripped and tore without any thought of reputations or self-preservation, the 2003 Panthers stormed to the minor premiership and the second grand final win in club history. Rhys Wesser was the most dangerous attacking player in the league from fullback, Craig Gower would have won the Dally M had it been awarded that season and “Hair Bear” backrowers Tony Puletua and Joe Galuvao were among the most improved players in the competition as Penrith captured the imagination of the rugby league public with an emotional run towards history.
Run to the final: An injury-hit and mentally cooked Brisbane gave Penrith a scare or two in the first week of the finals but the end result was a 28-18 win and a preliminary final clash with the Warriors. While they finished the regular season in 6th spot, the Warriors had smashed the 3rd placed Bulldogs and outlasted the 4th placed Raiders so far in the finals and looked every inch the title bolters, but Penrith did the business in a professional 28-20 triumph.
Who did they beat: The 2003 grand final is often forgotten when the great deciders of yesteryear are brought up for discussion but the Panthers and Roosters put on a beauty in the wet conditions at Telstra Stadium. Tries to Luke Rooney and Shannon Hegarty had the match evenly poised midway through the second half before an incredible cover tackle by Panthers lock Scott Sattler on Todd Byrne swung the momentum in Penrith’s favour. Late tries to Priddis and a second to Rooney capped an 18-6 win for the underdog Panthers.
Grand final line up: 1. Rhys Wesser 2. Luke Lewis 3. Paul Whatuira 4. Ryan Girdler 5. Luke Rooney 6. Preston Campbell 7. Craig Gower 8. Joel Clinton 9. Luke Priddis 10. Martin Lang 11. Joe Galuvao 12. Tony Puletua 13. Scott Sattler 14. Ben Ross 15. Trent Waterhouse 16. Shane Rodney 17. Luke Swain.
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2002 Sydney Roosters
Like 2010, the Bulldogs disqualification for salary cap breaches hangs over this season like a shadow but the Roosters were still a terrifically well-disciplined and talented outfit. Led by Brad Fittler, who was close to the apex of his career, and transformed into a pack of super fit, defensively immense cyborgs by first year coach Ricky Stuart, the 2002 Roosters dominated opponents through their unbreakable will and defensive line. Craig Wing, Adrian Morley, Craig Fitzgibbon and Justin Hodges rounded out the best of the XVII.
Run to the final: Any question marks over the Roosters have to be discounted once you take a good look at their finals record. After finishing fourth, they took on the 5th placed Sharks at home and downed Cronulla 32-20. Their reward for that win was a sudden death final against the 2nd placed Knights, who they crushed 38-12.
Then it was on to the preliminary final, where they took on the 3rd placed Broncos 16-12 to advance to the grand final against the minor premiership winning Warriors. Make no mistake, the Roosters were given the hard road to 2002 title and came out clean on the other side.
Who did they beat: After years of underachieving, the Warriors roared to life in 2002 and following the Bulldogs scandal they were unlikely minor premiers.
After a tense opening half that saw the Roosters lead 6-2, the Warriors exploded into the lead with an exhilarating try to Stacey Jones before some thunderous Morley tackles and a Brad Fittler 40/20 put the Roosters back in the match and a flurry of late tries to Fitzgibbon, Wing, Chris Flannery and Bryan Fletcher ended up delivering a 30-8 victory and the Roosters first title since 1975.
Grand Final line up: 1. Luke Phillips 2. Brett Mullins 3. Shannon Hegarty 4. Justin Hodges 5. Anthony Minichiello 6. Brad Fittler 7. Craig Wing 8. Jason Cayless 9. Simon Bonetti 10. Peter Cusack 11. Adrian Morley 12. Craig Fitzgibbon 13. Luke Ricketson 14. Chris Flanner 15. Bryan Fletcher 16. Michael Crocker 17. Andrew Lomu.
CHECK OUT PART TWO OF THE FIRST ROUND HERE
2005 WESTS TIGERS vs 2006 BRISBANE BRONCOS
2005 Wests Tigers
In one of the more improbable title runs of recent times, the Wests Tigers came in from the cold after years of mediocrity to storm to their first premiership on the back of points, flick passes and undeniable, unstoppable momentum. With Brett Hodgson scoring points for fun from fullback and the talented young trio of Scott Prince, Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah all pulling the strings, the aesthetically pleasing Tigers rode a wave of goodwill through the season to transform themselves from perennial cellar dwellers to champions and became the first team since the Newtown Jets of 1909 to win the premiership in their first finals campaign.
Run to the final: The Tigers hammered North Queensland in the first week of the playoffs 50-6 on the back of Brett Hodgson scoring 30 points from three tries and nine goals before eviscerating a tired Brisbane side 34-6 to set up a blockbuster clash with the title favourite St George Illawarra Dragons. In front of a packed Sydney Football Stadium crowd, the Tigers sprung another upset in a 20-12 triumph to advance to the grand final against fellow bolters North Queensland.
Who did they beat: North Queensland were a skilful team in their own right, having added Dally M winner Johnathan Thurston to the team that had made a stirring run to the preliminary final in 2004, and struck first with a try to Matt Bowen.
Bryce Gibbs brought the Tigers closer with a rare four-pointer. The match was locked at 6-all as halftime approached, before Marshall fielded a kick on his own tryline, speared through the Cowboys defence and flicked an outrageous behind the back pass to Pat Richards, who powered over to give the Tigers the lead. While the Cowboys stayed in touch and went try for try with the Tigers early in the second half with Travis Norton negating Anthony Laffranchi’s touchdown, a quick strike to Daniel Fitzhenry gave the joint venture a 12-point lead and despite Matt Sing crossing late, Todd Payten’s try right on fulltime saw the final score stretch out to 30-16.
Grand final line up: 1. Brett Hodgson 2. Daniel Fitzhenry 3. Shane Elford 4. Paul Whatuira 5. Pat Richards 6. Benji Marshall 7. Scott Prince 8. Anthony Laffranchi 9. Robbie Farah 10. John Skandalis 11. Ben Galea 12. Mark O’Neill 13. Dene Halatau 14. Liam Fulton 15. Chris Heighington 16. Bryce Gibbs 17. Todd Payten
CHECK OUT PART TWO OF THE FIRST ROUND HERE
2006 Brisbane Broncos
Wayne Bennett has been around long enough to know exactly how to manage a title team and his moves late in the 2006 season were among the shrewdest in recent history. Bennett moved Justin Hodges from the centres to fullback and Shaun Berrigan from centre to hooker, creating an entirely new beast out of what was already a very talented Broncos outfit.
With Darren Lockyer pulling the strings and Berrigan and Hodges running fools ragged from their new positions, the Broncos found the perfect storm to claim their 6th premiership.
Run to the final: The 2006 Broncos hold the distinction of being the last team to lose in the finals series who went on to win the premiership. They looked out of sorts in the 20-4 loss to the 6th placed Dragons in the first week of the finals and were pitched into a sudden death showdown with Newcastle.
They duly crushed the Knights in a record 50-6 flogging, but again looked gone when they trailed the second placed Bulldogs 20-6 at halftime of the preliminary final before a Shaun Berrigan inspired comeback engineered an epic 37-20 win.
Who did they beat: The 2006 Storm were an emerging dynasty, but they were undone by the ruthless professionalism of Brisbane in the big dance. The two sides scored two tries each, but the boot of Darren Lockyer provided the difference as he kicked two goals and a field goal to set up a 15-8 boilover.
In one for the trainspotters, unheralded halfback Shane Perry bolted from nowhere to become the Broncos premiership winning halfback and the journeyman playmaker was the only man on the team who never played Origin football.
Grand final line up: 1. Justin Hodges 2.Darius Boyd 3. Brent Tate 4. David Stagg 5. Karmichael Hunt 6. Darren Lockyer 7. Shane Perry 8. Shane Webcke 9. Shaun Berrigan 10. Petero Civoniceva 11. Sam Thaiday 12. Brad Thorn 13. Tonie Carroll 14. Corey Parker 15. Dane Carlaw 16. Ben Hannant 17. Casey McGuire
CHECK OUT PART TWO OF THE FIRST ROUND HERE
1998 BRISBANE BRONCOS vs 2014 SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS
1998 Brisbane Broncos
The Broncos of 1999 were the perfect mix of the old and the new. The best of the team that won the 1992 and 1993 tittles — like Allan Langer, Kevin Walters, Steve Renouf and Wendell Sailor — were backed up by newer breed of stars such as Darren Lockyer, Shane Webcke, Gorden Tallis, Brad Thorn, Petero Civoniceva and Tonie Carroll. The result was 15 Origin or Test players in the grand final day line up, with utility John Plath and hooker Phillip Lee the odd men out.
Run to the final: Brisbane were minor premiers of the engorged, 20 team competition but were dealt a blow in the first week of the finals when they were upset 15-10 by Parramatta at ANZ Stadium. They rebounded to smash the surprise packet Melbourne Storm 30-6 before manhandling the Roosters 46-18 in a preliminary final beat down that saw Lockyer score three tries.
Who did they beat: The 1998 Bulldogs set a record that will never be broken after they qualified for the grand final from 9th position after four consecutive come from behind wins and back to back extra time victories over Newcastle and Parramatta. The magic wand seemed to have a little bit of juice left when Wille Talau scored just before halftime to give the Bulldogs a 12-10 lead, but then Brisbane reasserted their control, scoring five unanswered tries to canter to a 38-12 win.
Grand final line up: 1. Darren Lockyer 14. Michael De Vere 3. Steve Renouf 4. Darren Smith 5. Wendell Sailor 6. Kevin Walters 7. Allan Langer 8. Shane Webcke 9. Phillip Lee 10. Andrew Gee 11. Gorden Tallis 12. Brad Thorn 13. Tonie Carroll 2. Michael Hancock 15. John Plath 16. Kevin Campion 17. Petero Civoniceva
CHECK OUT PART TWO OF THE FIRST ROUND HERE
2014 South Sydney Rabbitohs
There was nothing fancy or flashy or particularly well-crafted about the 2014 Rabbitohs. Their Plan A was to power through the middle with their massive forward pack and have Adam Reynolds control the pace of the match with his kicking game. Their Plan B read “see Plan A”. This doesn’t mean that they weren’t a well rounded and talented squad — Greg Inglis, Dylan Walker and Alex Johnston rounded out an athletic and potent backline — but they always started and ended with the forwards.
Run to the final: The Rabbitohs qualified for the finals in third position and made a statement in the first week of the finals, smashing a decaying Manly side 40-24 at Allianz Stadium and advancing to the preliminary final, where they took on the arch rival Sydney Roosters.
Despite trailing 12-0, they eventually overwhelmed the Chooks to win 32-22 on the back of a Greg Inglis double. The minor premiership winning Tricolours were one of the dominant sides all season and the win was close to Souths most impressive of the year.
Who did they beat: Canterbury were well equipped to take on Souths. They possessed a forward pack that was close to the equal of the Rabbitohs and were high on confidence after a giant-killing run to the big dance from 7th spot.
They gamely stuck with Souths for the first 60 minutes of the match, closing the gap to 8-6 after a Tony Williams try shortly after halftime, but a barnstorming George Burgess four pointer broke their sprit and a late flurry of tries resulted in a 30-6 defeat that did not reflect their competitiveness.
Grand final line up: 1. Greg Inglis 2. Alex Johnston 3. Dylan Walker 4. Kirisome Auva’a 5. Lote Tuqiri 6. Luke Keary 7. Adam Reynolds 8. George Burgess 21. Apisai Koroisau 10. Dave Tyrell 11. Ben Te’o 12. John Sutton 13. Sam Burgess 14. Jason Clark 15. Kyle Turner 16. Chris McQueen 17. Tom Burgess
CHECK OUT PART TWO OF THE FIRST ROUND HERE
2007 MELBOURNE STORM vs 2013 SYDNEY ROOSTERS
2007 Melbourne Storm
It might be unfair to include a team that was cheating the salary cap, but we need an even number of teams to make the bracket system work so the 2007 Storm are in.
With only three losses all season, the Storm were built more like a SuperCoach team than anything else — Clint Newton was the only player in the grand final squad who didn’t play Origin or Test football. Their points differential of +350 is the second best of the 21st century and the 10th best of all time and they won 15 of their last 16 matches. This was an insane, incredible, ludicrously talented football side.
Run to the final: In week one, Melbourne were served an injury hit Brisbane side and duly gained some manner of revenge for their grand final loss the previous season by slaughtering the crippled Broncos 40-0. In week three, they hosted a tricky Parramatta side who were fuelled by the exciting young duo of Krisnan Inu and Jarryd Hayne and had gone on something of a run. Melbourne did as Melbourne do and ground out a 26-10 win at Etihad Stadium.
Who did they beat: The 2007 Sea Eagles had the same nucleus of the 2008 title winning version and had beaten the Storm already that season in an epic 13-12 struggle at Brookvale Oval, so the grand final was anticipated to be a close, gripping affair and for a while it was. Melbourne burst out of the blocks with tries to Anthony Quinn and Greg Inglis before a Steve Matai try just before halftime cut the lead to 10-4.
But just after the break, disaster struck after a towering Greg Inglis bomb was taken by Brett Stewart and the fullback was knocked into oblivion by Michael Crocker. Without Stewart, the Storm were able to assert their dominance and ran in tries to Crocker, Newton, Quinn, Matt King and a second to Inglis, a magnificent, 65-metre effort, and when the dust finally settled it was 34-8.
Grand final line up: 1. Billy Slater 2. Steve Turner 3. Matt King 4. Israel Folau 5. Anthony Quinn 6. Greg Inglis 7. Cooper Cronk 8. Ben Cross 9. Cameron Smith 10. Brett White 11. Clint Newton 12. Ryan Hoffman 13. Dallas Johnson 14. Jeremy Smith 15. Matt Geyer 16. Michael Crocker 17. Jeff Lima
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DROUGHT: Benji to return after 1458 days away
From 1-17, the sheer amount of talent in the 2013 Roosters was something to behold. With the exception of Jake Friend, Daniel Mortimer and Mitchell Aubusson, every member of their team played Origin or Test football at some point in their careers. Then first year coach Trent Robinson quickly transformed the Roosters from underachievers to premiership contenders, a trend that continues to this day. Built on impregnable defence and with a seemingly endless array of attacking weapons, the 2013 Roosters were as well rounded and dangerous a team as you could ask for.
Run to the final: The epic 4-0 win over Manly in the first week of the finals was one of the finest matches of recent seasons and a testament to the defensive strength and mental toughness of the Tricolours. A Roger Tuivasa-Sheck try was the lone score as both sides showed incredible resilience in an unbelievable display of high quality football. The preliminary final win against the overachieving Knights was a bit of a damp squib by comparison, but the 40-14 triumph was impressive nonetheless.
Who did they beat: Manly were at the tail end of their dynasty, but were still a tremendously tough, talented and experienced bunch. When they got out to an 18-8 lead shortly after halftime after a penalty try and a Steve Matai touchdown, they seemed likely to grab their second premiership in three seasons. However, an Aidan Guerra try and a controversial four pointer to Shaun Kenny-Dowall, which seemed to contain a forward pass in the lead up, gave them a narrow 20-18 advantage. Michael Jennings incredible put down with 10 minutes left was the coup de grace on a stirring comeback victory.
Grand final line up: 1. Anthony Minichiello 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Michael Jennings 4. Shaun Kenny-Dowall 5. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 6. James Maloney 7. Mitchell Pearce 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves 9. Jake Friend 10. Sam Moa 11. Aidan Guerra 12. Sonny Bill Williams 18. Boyd Cordner 13. Frank-Paul Nu’uausala 14. Daniel Mortimer 15 Mitchell Aubusson 23. Luke O’Donnell
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