NRL 2021: Who can match rugby league’s best clutch performer?

As the finals loom large the NRL’s million-dollar men should be looking to the best big moment player in history to inspire them.

It’s one of the great rugby league stories about a star player delivering in the most high-pressure game of his illustrious career.

Which is the point of retelling it today in the countdown to this year’s NRL finals series.

When the pressure is mounting on all the marquee men to stand up and show why their clubs are paying them the big bucks.

But first, let’s go back.

Long before we marvelled at the magic of the modern generation of $1m stars such as James Tedesco, Tom Trbojevic, Cameron Munster, Nathan Cleary and Latrell Mitchell, there was a little bloke running around for Brisbane in the 1990s the Broncos used to call the “Money Man”.

Allan “Alfie” Langer didn’t get his other in-house nickname because of the coin he was on, but because you could always put your money on him.

When the game was on the line, Alfie always found a way to get the ball in his hands and make it happen.

And while he led the way in the Broncos’ four premiership victories in the 1990s, there was no greater example of his phenomenal ability to handle pressure and seize the moment than that famous State of Origin decider at Brisbane’s ANZ Stadium in 2001.

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Allan Langer always found a way to get the ball in his hands and make it happen.

Just to paint the picture for old time’s sake, coach Wayne Bennett had blooded 10 rookies into his Queensland team when he returned as coach that year after the Maroons copped a thumping 3-0 series loss in 2000. That series included what was until this year a record 56-16 Blues victory which completed a whitewash – a result still regarded by many as the lowest point in Queensland’s Origin history. The Maroons won the first game in 2001 but lost Gorden Tallis to injury before they were beaten convincingly in the second match. That’s when Bennett hatched his plan.

He recalled this week how he called in Tallis, Darren Lockyer and Kevin Walters to ask them all independently who was the most inspirational teammate with whom they had ever played?

To a man they all said Alfie.

So Bennett, convinced he was heading down the right track, picked up the phone and called the then 34-year-old, who was winding up his career in England.

“I rang and I said, ‘How would you feel about coming back to play for Queensland in Origin III?’” Bennett recalled.

“And Alf said, ‘Why has it taken this long to ask me?’

“I said, ‘Are you up to this?’

“He said, ‘Do you think I’d come back and let Queensland down?’

“And that was it. End of the conversation.”

Yet not for Langer because as soon as the secret was out he became the headline act every day. But when Alf got on the field that night, the pressure didn’t weigh him down, it just inspired him.

And with the final score 40-14, they chaired him from the field, that famous moment forever etched in the game’s folklore.

Coach Wayne Bennett embraces Allan Langer after Queensland’s 2001 State of Origin triumph.

I’ve often wondered how the man who many rate as the most dominant player of the ’90s is never mentioned in the Immortals debate.

Would it be different if Alfie had held a prominent media or coaching job after he retired from the game?

That is a debate for another day.

Right now, the big issue is who will stand up to be counted in the coming weeks when the pressure is on the current generation of stars.

Every finals series creates its own legends.

And with only two rounds of the regular season to go, the major players are warming to the challenge.

Look at the injury toll of the battle-scarred Sydney Roosters and on paper you would give them little chance this Friday night when they take on their arch rivals, Bennett’s South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Yet we saw it last Sunday when James Tedesco turned on a masterclass against St George Illawarra that the one thing we can bank on is that the Roosters will not throw in the towel.

Coach Trent Robinson put it perfectly when he said after the match that “calmness comes with the leaders”, that their state of mind influences everyone around them.

James Tedesco is the man for the Sydney Roosters. Picture: Gregg Porteous/NRL Photos

For Manly, it was Daly Cherry-Evans who delivered in Trbojevic’s absence against Canberra, while Cleary owned Penrith’s comeback win over Souths.

That continued the Rabbitohs’ two-year drought against the Panthers (during which they have not beaten Melbourne, either), which has to be a psychological barrier now weighing on the likes of Mitchell and halves Cody Walker and Adam Reynolds counting down to when they next meet in week one of the finals, regardless of what they say.

Mitchell Moses is paid Parramatta’s biggest salary but is yet to prove he can stand up in the biggest games.

Moses would have got a massive confidence boost when he starred in the breakthrough win against the struggling North Queensland Cowboys.

But the real gauge for the Eels and Moses comes on Saturday when they take on the Storm, who will be chasing rugby league history as short-priced favourites to become the first team ever to win 20 straight games.

=Cody Walker needs to step up for the Rabbitohs. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

It doesn’t seem to matter who Craig Bellamy has missing, he has somehow trained this juggernaut to ignore excuses and just take it in turns to lead from the front.

And if it’s not Munster, it’s Brandon Smith or Jahrome Hughes or the super subs Harry Grant and Nicho Hynes.

Ryan Papenhuyzen was also showing some really positive signs last week that his best might not be too far away as he continues his brave fightback from that awful concussion injury.

But I was surprised at how upbeat a lot of the post-match analysis surrounding Newcastle’s win over last-placed Canterbury was.

Sure, it looks to have locked up a spot in the eight but the Knights will be just making up the numbers if they don’t find a way to get Kalyn Ponga more involved.

At one point in the second half, the $1m fullback even stood behind the play throwing his hands up in frustration because everywhere he went the ball just went in the opposite direction.

If the Knights are to stand any chance against the big guns, they have to work out a way to fix this.

Or is it Ponga’s problem to solve? Is it his responsibility to find a way to get his hands on the ball and show why he’s worth the big bucks the Knights are paying him?

“That was the great thing about Alf,” Bennett said.

“We called him the ‘Money Man’ because whenever the game was on the line he always had the ball in his hands.

“And that is what the champions do.

“They don’t sit back and let someone else do it.”

WHY BRONCOS COULD REGRET MILFORD CALL

There is no such thing as a bargain buy in the NRL if it doesn’t result in winning football games.

So it is going to be interesting to see who comes out on top in the player trade between South Sydney and Brisbane next season.

While the Broncos have picked themselves up Adam Reynolds for a reported $800,000-plus on a three-year deal, the Rabbitohs have signed Anthony Milford on a $300,000 one-year contract. If you were watching Milford turn back the clock in the win over the Warriors last weekend you’d be thinking Souths may have got themselves a great buy.

Art: Scott “Boo” Bailey.

There is still a huge question mark hanging over how Milford will fit into a Souths side that will be playing without Reynolds’ game management, which is exactly what the Broncos have been missing for years. Conversely, the Rabbitohs will be swapping that proven game management for a second running half. If Milford and Walker can find chemistry it could have the makings of a very dangerous partnership.

But what if the Broncos had kept Milford for the bargain price Souths signed him for to partner Reynolds, who has the organisational skills to complement Milford’s strengths?

While you wouldn’t go off on that one performance from Milford, what it showed was there is no doubt he still has it in him to be one of the most dangerous attacking players when he’s in the right frame of mind.

Originally published as NRL 2021: Who can match rugby league’s best clutch performer?