Innholdsfortegnelse for 2019 - Season Review i Big League Weekly Edition

Man of Steel Former Rooster and Sea Eagle Jackson Hastings has had a belter of a first year in the Super League. The playmaker led his team Salford to a shock win over Wigan to book a spot in the grand final and won the competition’s Man of Steel award (the ESL’s version of the Dally M). Salford will play St Helens at Old Trafford in the grand final on Saturday. Vale Eddie Lumsden Dragons icon Eddie Lumsden passed away last week. The prolific winger had a decade-long career at St George between 1957-66 and won nine premierships. He scored 137 tries in just 162 matches. Junior Kangaroos stacked The decision to increase the age limit from 20 to 23 has seen the strongest ever Junior Kangaroos side selected for…

CLIVE BERNARD CHURCHILL (1927-85) South Sydney fullback 1947-58, 164 games, 13 tries, 75 goals, 2 field goals (193 points). NSW 1948-55, 1957, 27 games, 4 tries, 18 goals (48 points). Australia 1948-57, 34 Tests, 10 goals (20 points). KNOWN as ‘the Little Master’, the Clive Churchill Medal is awarded to the best player in a grand final in homage to someone who played the game with the utmost finesse. He achieved at every level and is regarded by many as the best to have ever graced a rugby league field. He signed with Souths in 1947 and played for New South Wales and Australia just one year later. He could kick with both feet, was elusive and hard to bring down, but importantly he was hard to get past as…

1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 8 No one ran for more metres than the Raiders fullback, with the fan favourite finishing with 237 in just 69 minutes. He also broke eight tackles and was one of the best players on-field. 2. Nick Cotric 5.5 He finished with 144 metres but couldn’t inject himself when the Raiders attacked the line. He’ll be disappointed at a play that cost his side a set. 3. Jarrod Croker 7 The co-captain got the better of Joseph Manu on the edge and was one clean pass away from setting up a try. His defence has always been questioned but his clean-up work when he chased from the other side of the field to kill a play was elite. 4. Joey Leilua 7 There were…

CONTROVERSY follows rugby league at every turn – and after the year we’ve had, it’s no surprise the 2019 Grand Final had its share of talking points. The Roosters started the game red-hot, taking the majority of possession and go-forward through some huge runs from refreshed prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves. They camped on the Raiders’ line until a slip-up at marker saw Roosters hooker Sam Verrills take his opportunity and score first points in the seventh minute. Twenty minutes in, Joe Tapine was pinged for a high shot on Victor Radley and Latrell Mitchell’s boot took the Roosters to 8-0. But the Raiders were slowly warming into the game and a sudden flurry of possession had the Roosters on the back-foot. After going toe-to-toe for bursts of time, the majority green…

BRISBANE 30 (Lavinia Gould 4’, Raecene McGregor 16’, Julia Robinson 40’, Chelsea Lenarduzzi 42’, Amber Pilley 49’ tries; Meg Ward 5 goals) D. ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 6 (Kezie Apps 51’ try; Maddie Studdon 1 goal) Half-time: Brisbane 16-0 Crowd: 2,293 Scrums: Brisbane 9-7 Penalties: 5-all Sin Bin: Nil Sent Off: Nil Referee: Kasey Badger Assistant Referee: Daniel Schwass Touch Judges: Jordan Morel, Karra-Lee Nolan Goalkickers: Meg Ward (Broncos) 5 from 6, Maddie Studdon (Dragons) 1 from 1 Completion Rates: Brisbane 22/31, St George Illawarra 15/25…

THERE was little to separate Wentworthville and St Marys in 2019. They finished the year locked in first position on 38 competition points, with Wentworthville edging St Marys by a solitary for-and-against point to claim the minor premiership. So when they met in the Ron Massey Cup grand final for the second consecutive season, it looked evenly-poised. But in the end, Wenty were too good, trumping the Saints 32-14 to win their third-straight premiership. Kieran Hayman opened the scoring in the 11th minute, before his opposite number, John Faiumu, bulldozed his way over the line to put the Saints ahead 6-4. The Magpies edged back in front shortly before half-time as Josh Minhinnick touched down in the corner. They carried their momentum into the second half, with Donny Howard scoring…

THE stage was set for one of the greatest fairytales in modern day rugby league; the team from the nation’s capital facing off in a David v Goliath battle against the defending premiers in the grand final. Canberra had risen from 10th position last season to reach their first decider since 1994, and it would’ve been fitting for Green Machine to reclaim premiership glory on the 25th anniversary of their last grand final victory. The Raiders finished fourth in the regular season before beating Melbourne and South Sydney on their path to the decider. However if there’s something we learnt this finals series, it’s that fairytales don’t always come true , and the Raiders’ campaign ended with a controversial 14-8 loss to the Roosters in the last game of the…

The Storm’s six losses came at a combined margin of just 18 points. Their only loss by more than one try was the 14-6 preliminary final loss to the Roosters. The Storm have now claimed the minor premiership in seven of Craig Bellamy’s 17 seasons in charge. No other coach has finished first more in the NRL era. Cam Smith’s record-breaking continued in 2019, becoming the first player to feature in more than 400 NRL games and overtaking Hazem El Masri as the competition’s all-time leading pointscorer. It was also the first season in Smith’s career in which he kicked more than 100 goals (104) and scored his most points (216).…

WOODEN spoon contenders at the start of the season, Parramatta were the NRL’s biggest improvers in 2019 as they soared back into the finals. Along the way they unveiled a new stadium, unleashed a new hero in Maika Sivo and unloaded a record finals scoreline against the Broncos, exceeding even the expectations of their own coach. “Our plan was to make the eight – but finishing fifth was higher than we were thinking at the start,” offered coach Brad Arthur. “We exceeded a lot of other peoples’ expectations but we’re disappointed now because we feel we could have gone a little deeper than we did.” Parramatta headed into the season minus Jarryd Hayne, Corey Norman and Beau Scott – all retired or moved along – and questions were asked over…

2019 is the first time in the NRL era that the two lowest placed teams from the prior season bounced back to make the finals the following year Des Hasler took Manly to the finals in his first year back at Brookvale, meaning he has not missed finals as their coach since his first season in charge in 2004. Tom Trbojevic’s 341 run metres in Round 14 v the Dragons is the fourth-most run metres by a player in a single game on record. Jake Trbojevic’s 69 tackles in Round 19 against the Storm was the second-most tackles in a single game by a player this season, and the most tackles in a game by a Sea Eagles player on record.…

THE 58-0 public humiliation at the hands of the Eels and the pokie-induced fallout that followed sent many north of the border into hysterics and gave those down south an open invitation to lay in the boot in all manner of gleeful ways. It also gave eight teams who didn’t qualify for the finals and the Sea Eagles-deposed Sharks a smokescreen to slink away into the off-season unnoticed. But to dismiss Brisbane’s 2019 campaign as a disaster from start to finish is over-simplistic and naive about what may be to come. In time we may look back on the Broncos season as the cleanout a proud club desperately needed in order to move clear of the shadow left by former coach Wayne Bennett. Anthony Seibold’s shift from Redfern to Red…

The Wests Tigers have now finished one win outside of the top eight on seven occasions in their 20-year history. They have made the finals on three occasions in this span. The Tigers’ finals drought, stretching back to 2011, is the longest in the competition. 2019 is only the fourth year in club history the Wests Tigers conceded fewer than 500 points during the regular season, finishing with 486 points against them. Benji Marshall’s four try assists against the Knights in Round 23 were the equal-most in a game by any player this season. Robbie Farah retires with 278 first grade games for the Wests Tigers, a record for the joint venture.…

AFTER 15 rounds of the 2019 season, Newcastle sat fifth on the ladder, just two points behind second-placed South Sydney and eyeing a first top eight finish in six long years. Then, in the words of the club’s Director of Football Brian Canavan: “we fell off the cliff.” Having recovered from a 1-5 start to notch seven wins from eight – including a stunning 38-12 demolition of the Roosters at McDonald Jones Stadium – Newcastle mustered just two wins from their final 10 outings to limp into 11th. The dramatic nature of the side’s late decline proved a killer blow for coach Nathan Brown, who tendered his resignation three weeks before season’s end – despite the Knights winning one more game in 2019 than 12 months earlier. Brown’s fate was…

Reimis Smith scored 12 tries in 2019, taking his career tally to 21 tries in 35 games, equalling the same number of tries his father Tyran scored across his first grade career (21 tries in 188 games). The Bulldogs finished equal-first with the Storm in completion percentage in 2019, averaging 80 per cent throughout the season. The Bulldogs have led the competition in completion rate two years running. The 326 points scored this year by the Bulldogs are the fewest scored by the side in a full season since 1989. Will Hopoate ran for 3,709 metres at an average of 154.6 metres per game, both highs for all centres in the competition.…

COWBOYS coach Paul Green will be left scratching his head on how it all went wrong in 2019. Did he walk under a ladder? Cross a black cat’s path? Open an umbrella indoors? Nothing seemed to go North Queensland’s way this season, with their misfortune starting before a ball was kicked. They hit their first setback when they were forced to sack star signing Ben Barba before he’d played a single game for the club. The 2012 Dally M medallist had his contract terminated for an off-field altercation on Australia Day, and with the incident close to the start of the season, there was no time to recruit a replacement. When the season started, injuries hit, and there were some bizarre and serious ones along the way. Justin O’Neill ruptured…

Cameron McInnes finished as the NRL’s top tackler in the regular season, with 1,146 tackles, averaging 49.8 per game. McInnes has now had at least 1,100 tackles a season in all three of his years at the Dragons. In his final season in the NRL, Gareth Widdop led the competition in goal-kicking percentage with 88.2 (minimum 10 attempts). Euan Aitken was the only Dragons player to appear in all 24 games they played this season. The Dragons named five different players at fullback (Corey Norman, Gareth Widdop, Matthew Dufty, Tristan Sailor and Zac Lomax) throughout the season, the most fullbacks used by any team.…

IT was a case of déjà vu in the NRLW as Brisbane claimed their second title in as many years after another dominant campaign. Following two wins from three games in the regular season, the Broncos finished in first position and faced St George Illawarra in the decider at ANZ Stadium. The Queensland side entered the game as marginal favourites, but they blew their opponents off the park with a dominant 30-6 victory. Hooker Lavinia Gould scored in the opening three minutes before Raecene McGregor extended their lead to 10 in the first-half. The Dragons worked their way back into the match, but the Broncos showed why they’re the best with a classy second-half display. Julia Robinson, Chelsea Lenarduzzi and Amber Pilley all bagged tries to ensure the Broncos would…

AFTER storming home late to qualify for last year’s grand final, there was plenty of hope around Sydney’s eastern suburbs when the 2019 NRLW competition kicked off. Unfortunately, the Roosters’ blowout defeat to the Broncos in the 2018 decider foreshadowed the tough road ahead as the Tri-colours failed to win a game this season, finishing with the wooden spoon. Not much went right for Rick Stone’s side as they finished the season with the worst attack and defence to take their record to one win and six losses in two years. Backline stars Isabelle Kelly and Karina Brown weren’t at their attacking best, while an injury to Simaima Taufa didn’t help their cause as they fell flat in 2019. The writing was on the wall from the outset as they…

IF you’re anything like me, you’re still recovering from grand final day. It will take weeks as stories from the epic encounter between the Roosters and Raiders continue to filter through. Though it was at times controversial, you can’t take away from the Roosters and the dynasty they have built. They had their backs against the wall for much of the game and managed to find the energy to ice the few opportunities they were presented. As for Raiders fans, I’ve been where you are. It will take some time to recover but I hope grand final week was something special. As the Canberra coach and players all said after the match, this is just the beginning for them – and after that brilliant performance, that seems like a guarantee.…

WALKING WOUNDED: Mitch Aubusson is helped from the field. MAKING A SPLASH: Trent Robinson cops a Gatorade bath. LEGEND’S CALL: Mal Meninga blows the famous Viking Horn. PARTY STARTERS: One Republic put on a great show. EXPERIENCED: Luke Ricketson and Brad Clyde. GREEN TEAM: The Raiders fans came out in droves. TASTE OF SUCCESS: Latrell Mitchell can’t hide his elation. TAKE A BREAK: Cooper Cronk is sin-binned in his last game. TAKING IT IN: John Bateman reflects after the siren. DOUBLE TROUBLE: The premiers celebrate their historic success. BIG BOPPER: Josh Papalii was hard to stop. POWERING THROUGH: Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was one of the best on the field for the Roosters.…

SYDNEY ROOSTERS 14 (Sam Verrills 7’, James Tedesco 73’ tries; Latrell Mitchell 3 goals) D. CANBERRA 8 (Jack Wighton 31’ try; Jarrod Croker 2 goals) Half-time: Sydney Roosters 8-6 Crowd: 82,922 Scrums: Canberra 6-5 Penalties: Canberra 7-5 Sin Bin: Cooper Cronk (Roosters) 50’ Sent Off: Nil Referee: Ben Cummins Assistant Referee: Gerard Sutton Touch Judges: Nick Beashel, Chris Butler Goalkickers: Latrell Mitchell (Roosters) 3 from 5, Jarrod Croker (Raiders) 2 from 2 Completion Rates: Sydney Roosters 31/36, Canberra 30/37…

NEWTOWN 20 (Sione Katoa (2) 54’ 76’, Jackson Ferris (2) 63’ 80’ tries; Braydon Trindall 1 goal, Greg Eastwood 1 goal) D. BURLEIGH 16 (Anthony Don (2) 22’ 30’, JamalFogarty 47’ tries; Jamal Fogarty 2 goals) Half-time: Burleigh 10-2 Scrums: Burleigh 8-4 Penalties: Newtown 8-5 Sin Bin: Ronaldo Mulitalo (Jets) 38’ Sent Off: Nil Referee: Todd Smith Assistant Referee: Tyson Brough Touch Judges: Benjamin Teague, Jacob Whitehouse Goalkickers: Braydon Trindall (Jets) 1 from 4, Greg Eastwood (Jets) 1 from 1, Jamal Fogarty (Bears) 2 from 3 Completion Rates: Newtown 30/43, Burleigh 26/36…

NOBODY could have predicted a grand final between Newtown and Wentworthville in 2019, but that’s exactly what we got after the seventh and eighth-placed sides embarked on miracle finals runs to the decider. But only one team could have the fairytale finish, and it was Newtown who claimed the spoils in a thrilling finish. The Jets prevailed 20-15 in extra time, on the back of brilliant performances by fullback Will Kennedy and lock Billy Magoulias. Newtown were staring down the barrel of consecutive grand final defeats, before coming from behind twice in stunning fashion. The first half was a see-sawing affair as the teams exchanged tries. An excellent Kennedy offload sent Ronaldo Mulitalo over for the opening try, before Wenty returned serve when Josh Hoffman barged over from a set…

FROM day dot, the Sunshine Coast were sure things to win the 2019 Intrust Super Cup. The Falcons lost just one game throughout the season, and broke record after record as they coasted to the minor premiership. But then they were stunned by Townsville in a qualifying final, before being bundled out by Burleigh in the prelims. This pitted the Bears against Wynnum Manly in the decider, where a dominant second half saw Burleigh coast to a 28-10 triumph. The two sides had met just three weeks before in the qualifying finals, where Burleigh edged the Seagulls in a high-scoring thriller, 34-32. There was little to separate them heading into the grand final, but Burleigh set the tone early with the first two tries. Tyronne Roberts-Davis bagged the opening four-pointer…

IT’S hard enough to win one premiership. But two? In a row? Well, that’s almost impossible. Not since the Broncos of 1992-93 had a team defended a title in a unified competition, but history was rewritten this season when the Roosters backed up last year’s triumph to etch their names in the record books. They may have started the NRL season as premiership favourites, but the Tri-colours had to survive a string of injuries to their senior players to hold the trophy aloft on grand final night. Their 14-8 win over the Raiders typified their high standards. The Roosters conceded only 363 points throughout the regular season and that continued in the finals as their line was breached just three times. Even with Cooper Cronk in the sin bin they…

Josh Hodgson finished the regular season with 12 one-on-one steals – three times more than any other player, and more than all but two teams in the competition (Raiders 25 steals, Storm 15). Hodgson is already the NRL era leader in one-on-one steals with 19. The Raiders’ 374 points against are the fewest points the club has conceded in a single season since the Super League season in 1997 (337 points against). The Raiders’ nine wins and three losses away record is the club’s best record away from home since 2003. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad led the competition in goal escapes (11), kick-return metres (1,601), and was fourth overall in metres (4,028).…

WHEREVER Wayne Bennett goes, success typically follows – that’s why there was such a buzz around Redfern when the supercoach joined the club at the start of the season. Following last year’s preliminary final exit, there was great optimism Bennett could lead the famous club back to premiership glory. Their season couldn’t have started better as they kicked off the new campaign with a win over rivals and defending premiers, the Roosters, and went on to win 10 of their first 11 games to lead the competition. A stunning start to the season saw a number of players inevitably selected for representative teams, and that was when the Bunnies’ downfall began. Injuries and suspensions led to a four-game losing streak and they quickly slipped down the ladder, before a late-season…

Maika Sivo is now the fifth Fijian-born winger to finish the season as the NRL’s top tryscorer (Noa Nadruku, Suliasi Vunivalu, Akuila Uate, Semi Radradra), and the third to achieve this in his rookie season (Nadruku 1993, Vunivalu 2016). The Eels’ 58-0 win over the Broncos in Week One of the finals is the largest ever margin in an NRL finals game. The Broncos’ 58-0 defeat to the Eels in the finals is also the largest ever losing margin in an NRL game in history, breaking a 75-year-old record held by the Newtown Jets (55-7 over the Dragons, 1944). The Eels offloaded more than any other team in 2019, offloading 302 times at an average of 12.6 per game.…

THERE’S a reason the great white shark is the ocean’s apex predator. The killing machine is relentless, ruthlessly taking down whatever comes its way. That was a trait shared with the Cronulla Sharks, but for a number of reasons, that clinical approach went missing in 2019. There were signs throughout the year that they were ready to go in for the kill, but when it mattered most, the hunter became the hunted. Just like a DVD that skips just as they reveal the killer, Cronulla’s season promised so much but stalled when they least expected it. Injuries crippled their momentum, but generation next stepped up to help them qualify for the finals with a win over the Wests Tigers in Round 25. At that stage, people thought they could rattle…

The Broncos’ 432 points are their fewest scored since the 1989 NSWRL season, and their fewest scored in a 24-game season. The Broncos’ for-and-against of minus 57 is the club’s worst for-and-against in their history. Payne Haas averaged the most running metres of any prop in the competition (190m), the most minutes of any prop (65 mins) and led the entire competition in post-contact metres per game (72m). David Fifita led all forwards in tackle-breaks in 2019, breaking 100 tackles during the regular season. He broke 17 tackles in Round 23 alone, the equal-most by any player in a game this season.…

WHEN reflecting on Penrith’s 2019 season, it’s best to slice their campaign into four pieces; a shocking pre-season, a poor start, an inspired comeback and a disappointing finish. Big things were expected at the foot of the mountains with the return of coach Ivan Cleary after a protracted contract saga, and many experts predicted the Panthers would finish inside the top four – but after a mixed campaign, weighed down by off-field controversy and poor results, the mountain men missed the finals by a single competition point. 1. PRE-SEASON SHOCKER Some would say Penrith’s season was over before a single ball was kicked as their pre-season was marred by lewd tapes going viral just days out from the season opener. Not only did utility Tyrone May miss the entire season…

The Knights were the only team in the top eight at the halfway point of the season (fourth in Round 12, fifth in Round 13) to end up missing out on a finals berth. The Knights used only 27 players this season, the fewest they’ve used in a full season since 2007, where they also had 27 different players take the field. The Knights’ 10 wins in 2019 are the club’s most in a season since 2014 Kalyn Ponga’s 140 points are the most points scored in a season by a Knights player since Kurt Gidley’s 160 points in 2009. Connor Watson’s 17 tackle-breaks in Round 17 against the Bulldogs are the equal-most of a player in a single game this season.…

SUSTAINED success beckoned after the Warriors snapped a long finals drought in 2018. But arguably the biggest roster gamble in the club’s history back-fired as the NRL’s most inscrutable team reverted to a familiar pattern: slow start, midyear surge, late-season capitulation – and their third 13th-place finish in five years. “It’s a lost opportunity,” coach Stephen Kearney lamented to Big League. “Obviously consistency was an element. That was over-highlighted by the last month of footy for us – I don’t think it was a true reflection of the year. But we weren’t good enough in certain areas of our game.” Rookie half Adam Keighran starred in a season-opening 40-6 demolition of Canterbury, suggesting the Warriors would cruise into the post-Shaun Johnson era. But they soon descended into catch-up mode, winning…

The Cowboys’ 378 points scored is the club’s worst return in a full season since 1998, where they scored 361 points. 2019 was the fourth year running Kyle Feldt finished as the club’s top tryscorer (11 tries). Feldt now has the most seasons as the Cowboys’ top tryscorer of any player in their history. Thanks to playing only 18 games, Jason Taumalolo’s 3,538 running metres is his lowest seasonal total since 2013. The Cowboys named nine different players on the wing (Kyle Feldt, Javid Bowen, Murray Taulagi, Ben Hampton, Nene Macdonald, Gideon Gela-Mosby, Justin O’Neill, Enari Tuala and Jordan Kahu), the most used by any team.…

HISTORY and mythology abound with stories of rebirth, but for the Phoenix to rise, first must come the ashes. As they reel from their second wooden spoon and the worst season in the club’s history, the Gold Coast Titans are clinging to the belief that from the darkest days comes the promise of a new dawn. Touted as top eight contenders before a ball was kicked, Gold Coast’s season stumbled, showed signs of recovery and then spectacularly imploded, ending with a club-record losing streak. A first-up 21-0 loss at home to Canberra was cause for concern, but on the back of consecutive wins against the Panthers and Knights, the Titans sat in 11th position through six rounds and with their tails up went to Tamworth to face the Tigers. They…

THEY started the competition as pre-season fancies, but the Dragons know there’s still a lot of work to do if they want to contend with the Broncos on the biggest stage. Having claimed the wooden spoon last year, St George Illawarra poached Brisbane’s playing stocks, recruiting five stars to come to Sydney in a bid to turn the club’s fortunes around. The glitz and glamour of the club’s season launch promised plenty, and after a slow start, it looked like they were ready to realise their potential. However, the Dragons were handed a reality check in the grand final when they were smashed 30-6 by the Broncos in a match that saw them fumble their way out of the contest before half-time. The panache they showed in wins over the…

JAMES Tedesco capped off one of the greatest individual seasons by capturing his first Dally M medal at Sydney’s Horden Pavilion, pipping Melbourne’s Cameron Smith for the top gong. The pair were level on 12 points when voting went behind closed doors, but a stunning run in the post-Origin period proved decisive as the superstar fullback finished on a whopping 34 votes, the most since Cowboys legend Johnathan Thurston accrued 36 in 2007. It completed a dream 2019 campaign that saw him win the Brad Fittler and Wally Lewis medals after he scored the match-winner as NSW won back-to-back State of Origin titles, while he also dominated the attacking stats throughout the NRL season. “I’m relieved. Everybody was telling me I was a big chance to win it and I…

Friday, October 18 6.20pm France v Lebanon 6.45pm England v PNG (women’s) 7.10pm England v Wales 7.35pm Tonga v Cook Islands 8.10pm Samoa v Fiji 8.35pm Australia v New Zealand (women’s) 9pm Australia v New Zealand 9.25pm PNG v USA Saturday, October 19 11.30am New Zealand v PNG (women’s) 11.55am France v Wales 12.20pm England v Lebanon 12.45pm Samoa v Cook Islands 1.10pm Tonga v Fiji 1.45pm New Zealand v PNG 2.10pm Australia v USA 2.35pm Australia v England (women’s) 3pm Lebanon v Wales 3.25pm England v France 4pm Fiji v Cook Islands 4.25pm Tonga v Samoa 4.50pm New Zealand v USA 5.15pm Australia v PNG 5.40pm Australia v PNG (women’s) 6.05pm New Zealand v England (women’s) Finals 6.55pm Men’s semi-final 7.20pm Men’s semi-final 7.45pm Women’s final 9pm Men’s final…

IT may have taken Canberra a quarter of a century to reach another grand final, but veteran forward Sia Soliola has vowed it won’t take as long to do it all again. As much as last Sunday’s 14-8 loss broke the hearts of the Raiders, Soliola said it will only make them stronger and he sees positive signs for the future. “This is just the start of it,” Soliola told Big League. “It’s not the way we wanted it to end, unfortunately we weren’t on the winning side, but we’ll let it settle in and we’ll learn from it. “We’ve got a lot of young players and they’ll only get better from the experience. We’ll be back.” The Raiders may have been on the wrong end of some divisive refereeing…

ROOKIE dummy-half Sam Verrills has declared he won’t be challenging co-captain Jake Friend for the No.9 jersey at the Roosters next season, despite starring for the club in the grand final. The 20-year-old hooker did an exceptional job while filling in for Friend over the past three months, and while some experts are calling for Verrills to take the permanent job next season, he’s certain Friend is still the main man in 2020. “No way mate, he’s the No.9 – he’s the club captain and I’m still here to learn off him,” Verrills told Big League. “I was so happy to see ‘Friendy’ out there. I’ve always looked up to him as a person and a player. I’ve always wanted to play with him. To play with him and win…

FOR the first time since 2013, the Clive Churchill medal was awarded to a member of the beaten team – a worthy recipient, Canberra five-eighth Jack Wighton. The star playmaker has been brilliant throughout the 2019 season, and although he’d trade in his Clive Churchill medal for a premiership ring, it was a fitting reward for a great campaign. Wighton scored the Raiders’ lone try of the grand final when he split the Roosters’ defensive line, and looked dangerous every time he touched the ball. He recorded 97 metres, six tackle-breaks and a team-high 253 kicking metres. “This is the numbest feeling I’ve ever felt,” Wighton says following the heartbreaking loss. “It was a numb feeling to achieve something so big, but it’s probably the worst moment of my life…

1. James Tedesco 7 He’s had more influential games this season, but when it mattered most, he was on deck to score the winning try as he backed up Daniel Tupou. 2. Daniel Tupou 8 The most under-rated player in the team was at his best with 185 metres to get his side on the front foot while he also made the decisive break. 3. Latrell Mitchell 7 Had few opportunities with the ball but produced a stunning flick pass to help set up the match-winner. His jamming defence was crucial, as was his late conversion to make it a six-point game. 4. Joseph Manu 5.5 He is one of the best centres in the world right now but Manu was well contained, limited to just 48 running metres on…

IN 2014, South Sydney snapped a 43-year first-grade premiership drought. Now, their 41-year wait for an under-20s title has finally ended. The Rabbitohs came from fifth position to win the Jersey Flegg Cup for the first time since 1978, edging Canberra in a thrilling grand final. Souths stunned minor premiers Cronulla on their way to the decider, teeing up an unlikely meeting with the Raiders, who finished third before beating the Sharks and the second-placed Roosters. Canberra started favourites, but South Sydney claimed a 16-14 win in a drama-charged decider. Halfback Blake Taaffe starred for the Rabbitohs, scoring two tries and guiding his team around the park in a nervous second half. The opening stages were frantic to say the least – Canberra opened the scoring inside two minutes, before…

IN a tight tussle for the minor premiership, Townsville, Burleigh and Wynnum Manly spent the entire season going blow for blow. But when it mattered most, they were all upstaged by the Sunshine Coast Falcons, who rose above the pack to win the 2019 Hastings Deering Colts. The fourth-placed Falcons stunned minor premiers Townsville in the first week of the finals, before coming from behind against Burleigh to reach the decider. They claimed one last scalp in the grand final, flying home in the final 20 minutes to win 34-28. Wynnum Manly halfback David Quinlin scored the opening try, before Falcons No.7 Jack Wright threw a sizzling pass to send Blake Wilson over. Lachlan Perry stormed over from close range to restore the Seagulls’ lead, but it was once again…

Cooper Cronk is the first player since multiple Parramatta Eels in 1981-83 to win three premierships in a row. Cronk retires having played nine grand finals in 17 seasons, winning six of them. The Roosters have finished second or higher on the ladder in all bar one season of Trent Robinson’s seven-year tenure as head coach. The Roosters have now won four premierships in the NRL era, the most of any club. The Roosters have featured in eight of the possible 22 grand finals in that time. Five Roosters have appeared in the club’s past three grand final victories – Boyd Cordner, Jake Friend, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Mitchell Aubusson and Daniel Tupou.…

THE year started like clockwork for the Storm when people tipped them to fall off their perch following a decade of dominance. But as they’ve always done, they proved the doubters wrong and clinched another minor premiership to confirm their status as one of the teams of the decade. The fact they did it without Billy Slater was astounding, but in the end his absence and the fact former club great Cooper Cronk was in a Roosters jersey proved their undoing. While they finished the regular season with the best attack and defence in the competition and lost just four games by a combined eight points, there was always a lingering doubt as to whether they had another gear for the finals. A late-season decision to drop Brodie Croft, bring…

Wayne Bennett has now taken each of the four clubs he has coached at (and in every tenure) to at least the preliminary finals. Damien Cook was the game’s premier dummy-half runner again, leading the competition with 1,486 dummy half run metres in the regular season. He also led all hookers in try assists (17) and line-break assists (18). Cameron Murray led all forwards in try-scoring this season, finishing with 10 tries in the regular season and adding an additional two in the finals. With his try in the preliminary final, Dane Gagai scored 10 tries in a season for the first time in his nine-year NRL career. Gagai has scored 11 tries in just 13 Origin games.…

GOOD coaches will always tell their players to not believe the hype, but the best coaches can get their squad to prove the naysayers wrong and shock the world. That was the position the Sea Eagles were in, with few giving them a chance of playing finals footy after they finished one win clear of the wooden spoon with the worst defence in the competition in 2018. Enter Des Hasler. The mad professor – as some like to call him – enjoyed a blessed first stint at the club, guiding them to premierships in 2008 and 2011. But the task ahead seemed like a bridge too far. However, as he always does, Hasler fed off the doubt and inspired a belief within the playing group that fuelled them throughout 2019.…

The Sharks have now made the finals for five consecutive seasons – the longest streak in the club’s history. Paul Gallen retires as the most-capped Shark (348 games) and the all-time leader in total running metres with 55,173m. Andrew Fifita’s nine offloads in Round 10 v the Sea Eagles was the most in a single game by any player this season. Josh Dugan made the most errors throughout the regular season in 2019 with 37. The Sharks scored the third-most tries this season with 92 tries – only scoring fewer tries than the Roosters (108) and the Storm (104).…

A FINAL-round loss in front of a packed house at Leichhardt Oval consigned Wests Tigers to a ninth-place finish for the third time in four years, extending the club’s playoffs absence to eight seasons – an unwanted NRL-era record. But after the tumult of Ivan Cleary’s exit, an air of stability and progress is emanating from the club under Michael Maguire. Despite coming up one win short of the finals, Maguire – the Tigers’ fourth coach in seven seasons – is reluctant to give 2019 a pass mark. “We didn’t achieve what we set out to,” Maguire confirmed to Big League. “I saw a group of men grow in many ways but they judge themselves on why they play rugby league, which is getting into the finals. “There was a…

James Maloney’s 31 forced drop outs are the most forced in a season on record. The Panthers used the most players in the competition with 33, while handing debuts to nine players – also the most in the competition. James Tamou made the most tackles in a single season of his 11-year career in 2019, with 775 tackles made at an average of 32.3 per game. Nathan Cleary’s 34 points in Round 25 are the most points scored by a player in an individual game since Terry Campese’s 36 points in Round 22, 2008 against the Panthers. The 34 points are also now a Penrith club record.…

ONCE again, the Bulldogs would have liked to start their season how they ended it. After a 30-14 thrashing of the Broncos at ANZ Stadium to wrap up the season – their seventh win from 10 games – questions of what could have been played on a loop in the minds of their coach, players and fans. “This year we started with the youngest group in the comp and we’ve built our season on what we’ve done,” coach Dean Pay said post-game. “We’re going to have a similar group next year and some of our young boys have got 25 games in them now. There is a lot of hard work to do. We’ve got to make sure we’re ready to go in Round 1 and we can put some…

Stephen Kearney is the longest-serving New Zealand-born coach of the Warriors (73 games). Ivan Cleary (154 games) and Daniel Anderson (92 games) are the only coaches with more games at the Warriors. Ken Maumalo finished the 2019 season on 17 tries, more than doubling his career output. Maumalo now has 31 tries in 87 games, improving on his prior record of 14 tries in 64 career games. Leeson Ah Mau was the only Warriors player to play all 24 games this season. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s 368 running metres in Round 17 v the Broncos is the all-time most running metres achieved by a single player on record.…

FOR the past few years, the Dragons’ fortunes have followed a similar trajectory – a blazing start instigates talk of a possible premiership, before a slump over the Origin period results in a do-or-die run towards the finals. Last year’s campaign ended in finals football and heartbreaking defeat, but gave the playing group and fans plenty of reason to believe they would be a contender once more. For the first six rounds, they looked the part. After blowing out some early cobwebs, the Red V won four in a row to enter the top half – but that was as good as it got. The usual slump came early, but they never recovered. They won as many games over the next 18 rounds as they had in the first six,…

The Titans’ four wins this season is the club’s worst return in their history. It’s their second wooden spoon-claiming year. The total of 651 points against is the most the Titans have conceded in a single season. Despite finishing in last position, the Titans only handed first grade debuts to two players, Tanah Boyd and Jesse Arthars, in 2019 – the fewest number of debutants in the competition. Dale Copley finished as the Titans top tryscorer despite only playing 15 games, (nine tries). Nine tries is also the equal-lowest return for a Titans top tryscorer in a season, tied with Anthony Don in 2014.…

THEY may have missed out on a spot in the grand final on for-and-against, but it’s a marked improvement for the Warriors and a sign they are inching closer to fulfilling their destiny as an NRLW powerhouse. With two wins from three matches, Luisa Avaiki’s side finished third due to a blowout second half against the Dragons. The 2019 campaign started swimmingly as they edged the Roosters 16-12 thanks to a Charntay Poko masterclass. The halfback (pictured) scored a try and nailed a 40/30 as she took control and steered her side to victory. The following week was meant to be a celebration of women’s rugby league in New Zealand, only for the Dragons to spoil the party. The inaugural standalone NRLW clash started well for the hosts as they…

FULLBACK It was the tightest tussle in our polling, with James Tedesco edging last year’s Dally M medallist Roger Tuivasa-Sheck by a single point. While the Warriors skipper ran for more metres than anyone in 2019, Tedesco was the number one attacking weapon, finishing the regular season with 15 tries, 13 assists, 22 line-breaks and 148 tackle-breaks. He emerged as the focal point in a system featuring some of the best players in the game and claimed the Brad Fittler medal as the Blues’ best in their Origin triumph. WINGER Tuivasa-Sheck may have narrowly missed out, but there was still plenty to celebrate across the ditch with Ken Maumalo adjudged the best winger of 2019. Having scored 14 tries in his first four seasons, the left-edge specialist roared into form…