Retiring veteran Michael Ennis saves menacing best in fairytale finish

SCHEMING, ruffling and attacking. It was vintage Mick Ennis as the polarising veteran completed his fairytale finish the only way he knows how - by being a pest!

Ennis sparks a brawl with Marika Koroibete and Storm players. Picture: Mark Evans

MICHAEL Ennis saved his menacing best for last.

Scheming, ruffling opposition players and being an attacking threat. This was vintage Ennis. The pesky 32-year-old farewelled his decorating playing career in style, finishing with a craved premiership ring.

A Kangaroos jersey would probably have followed had he not made the shock decision to retire at season’s end. Again as Cameron Smith’s understudy. It was just his 10th victory in 29 games against Smith, since the pair first played against each other when Ennis was just two games into his NRL career.

Ennis played without fear and his teammates followed as they bashed and niggled Melbourne out of the contest.

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Ennis gives it to his old rival Cameron Smith. Picture: Brett Costello

He showed his intentions early, whacking Jordan McLean high in just the second tackle of the game. The shot will probably see Ennis face a suspension, but that will be of little concern for him today.

It was one of the 40 tackles he made.

Suffocated and pigeonholed as a defensive player for the back end of his five year stint at the Bulldogs, Ennis’ showed off his silky skills early in the game when a short dummy half kick created a repeat set.

As the Sharks strangled Melbourne out of the first half, Ennis was key. When Marika Koroibete hit Chad Townsend with a high shot, it was Ennis who raced in and started the push and shove between the two teams.

And The Menaces gets the desired result. Picture: Brett Costello

As Smith has claimed premierships, Origin and Test jerseys, Ennis has largely played second-fiddle. So when he had the chance to make Smith hurt, he did.

Smith fumbled another Ennis dummy half grubber, gifting Cronulla an attacking opportunity. Ennis was there banging Smith on the back multiple times, with McLean rushing over to shove Ennis to reignite their hostilities. Smith was too cool to react, knowing what game Ennis was playing.

Perhaps Smith should have told some of his younger teammates not to nibble on Ennis’ bait. Just after halftime he was at it again.

This time it was the mild-mannered Suliasi Vunivalu who he managed to upset, with the towering winger flinging Ennis’ headgear 10 metres from play. Ennis did not forget, giving the Fijian a spray when he tackled him to force a line drop out just minutes later.

When the Sharks looked beaten, it was Ennis who helped them keep their premiership dream alive. Darting across field, he found a rampaging Andrew Fifita who carried multiple defenders across the line to score the match winner.

Ennis had gone agonisingly close before in his 14 season career across five clubs. His final game for St George Illawarra ended in heartbreak at the hands of the Wests Tigers in a shock preliminary final result in 2005.

Ennis was in the middle of everything. Picture: Gregg Porteous

That would pale into insignificance a year later when a knee injury forced him to watch on as his Brisbane teammates did the lap of honour at ANZ Stadium.

He lost with Canterbury against the Storm in 2012, captained by Smith, and was again sidelined for what would have been his final match for the Bulldogs in their 2014 premiership loss against South Sydney.

But sometimes even the villains finish with a fairytale ending.

Originally published as Retiring veteran Michael Ennis saves menacing best in fairytale finish