Buzz Rothfield: Cowboys grand final victory over Broncos will go down as the greatest finish of all
IT will go down as the greatest finish to a grand final in history, a match that they will be talking about for decades to come, writes Phil “Buzz” Rothfield.
Opinion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Opinion. Followed categories will be added to My News.
I WAS there when Steve Jackson scored his barnstorming extra time try against Balmain in the 1989 grand final.
I was there in 1997 when Darren Albert scored for the Knights in the dying minutes against Manly.
I was there in 1999 with 107,000 fans when Melbourne Storm beat St George Illawarra from a penalty try.
I clearly remember the 1977 tied grand final between St George and Parramatta and the same with Manly and Cronulla the following year.
And on Sunday night I saw the grand final finish that beats the lot of them.
The Cowboys-Broncos decider will go down as the greatest grand final in history.
It doesn’t get any closer than a match-winning conversion attempt by arguably the best player we’ve seen go slamming into the right hand upright – and miss - after the full-time siren.
This was just so agonising. Even the great Ray Warren declared it the most dramatic decider he had ever called.
And who could argue.
PLAYER RATINGS: Who starred and who flopped
YOUNG GUNS: A year to remember for Milford, Granville
Not when the game is sent into extra time golden point and poor Ben Hunt knocks on from the kick-off.
An error that will sadly be spoken about for years.
Then that man Johnathan Thurston wins it with the golden point field goal.
What a game. What a finish. What a player. What a sensational moment.
We’ll be watching replays for years.
Before Kyle Feldt scored in the right hand corner and Thurston went as close as you can get with the kick, the Cowboys were gone for all money.
They had thrown absolutely everything they had at the Broncos in the second-half but had come up short.
They appeared to have bombed a match-winning chance in the 60th minute.
Thurston beautifully cut out his usual left side edge forward Gavin Cooper to put Kane Linnett in full flight into a massive gap. Somehow he spilt it with the line open.
A few minutes later they bombed another great chance from a blatant Lachlan Coote double movement in a wonderful tackle by Matt Gillett.
BUZZ: Johns’ behaviour an embarrassment
BENNETT: A winner even in defeat
Guts & Glory: Best of the 2015 NRL Grand Final
Knowing how heavily he would be marked, it was almost as though the Cowboys used Thurston as a decoy early in the game.
Their first two tries had absolutely no involvement from the four-time Dally M champion.
In the seventh minute from a Cowboys scrum win, hooker Jake Granville ran the ball from the back of the scrum while the Broncos defenders appeared to waiting for Thurston.
He snuck 15 metres before passing to Justin O’Neill for the try.
Big James Tamou scored their second try and again it was Granville – and not Thurston – who threw a perfectly timed pass from dummy-half to the Blues Origin prop.
Again Adam Blair, who was such a flop at the Wests Tigers, was outstanding for the Broncos.
He slipped a glorious pass to set winger Corey Oates away on an 80 metre run for the first try of the game. I cannot recall such a reversal of form from one player in the space of 12 months.
Interestingly the game lacked any real agro in the traditionally testy opening exchanges.
Probably because the clubs, the coaches and the players showed much respect for each other in the build-up without the slightest hint of any sledging or sniping.
GALLERY:
All the greatest shots from an epic grand final
The only sign of any rubbish in the game came in the 49th minute when Lachlan Coote aggressively flopped on Darius Boyd.
Again, like in almost every match this year, there was refereeing controversy near the end when Darius Boyd appeared to knock on but got away with it.
But, importantly, it didn’t affect the result.
Nothing could overshadow this magnificent grand final.
Originally published as Buzz Rothfield: Cowboys grand final victory over Broncos will go down as the greatest finish of all
Trbojevic addiction has left Sea Eagles sloppy and fragile
In the modern game the toughest position on the field is fullback, and few players have done it tougher than Tom Trbojevic - often to the detriment of both the player and the club.
‘That was a very false win – in Sydney NSW win by at least 30’
We’re headed for an Origin decider – but you could be mistaken for thinking the Blues had already lost the series. HAVE YOUR SAY