In his latest book, The Great Grand Finals, experienced sports journalist Liam Hauser covers over 60 rugby league grand finals, highlighting all the champion teams, the great players and historic moments. And to celebrate the NRL GF this month, in this edited extract he takes us through one of the most memorable, and possibly greatest, in the history of the game – the 1989 NSWRL grand final – long before golden point came into play…
BALMAIN TIGERS vs CANBERRA RAIDERS
Sydney Football Stadium: September 24, 1989
Canberra’s quest for its maiden premiership, coupled with Balmain seeking its first title in 20 years and not wanting back-to-back grand final defeats, suggested the 1989 grand final would be eye-catching. Little did anyone know that it would be described as arguably the best ever rugby league grand final. It was intriguing enough that Balmain had come third and Canberra fourth, with minor premier Souths and the second-placed Penrith not managing any victories in the playoffs.
After Cronulla convincingly beat Brisbane in a play-off for fifth, the Tigers and Raiders were the only victorious teams in the remaining five finals before the decider. Balmain required two victories while Canberra needed to win three consecutive do-or-die matches, after winning its last five matches in the round-robin season. Canberra had eight players backing up from the 1987 decider, with Mal Meninga having replaced Dean Lance as captain while Tim Sheens had taken over as coach in 1988. Canberra’s John Ferguson had also been in a losing grand final: with Newtown in 1981.
Balmain had 10 players backing up from the 1988 decider, while the 1989 squad also included former Canterbury premiership winner Steve O’Brien. One of Balmain’s first-time grand finalists was 19-year-old centre Tim Brasher, while Canberra’s team included 19-year-old Bradley Clyde and 20-year-old Laurie Daley – both of whom played State of Origin earlier in the year. The Tigers paid for going a little over the top in the first seven minutes as they were penalised three times, with Steve Roach and Gary Freeman punished for roughing up in tackles.
From wide to the right of the posts, Meninga was off-line with a goal-kick. Nursing an arm injury, Garry Jack sent the ensuing 22-metre dropout rolling into Canberra’s in-goal area. Lance inflicted a punishing tackle on Roach, before the Raiders were penalised when a defender was held back as Ferguson played the ball without a dummy-half in place. From a similar angle to Meninga’s missed kick, Andy Currier raised the flags to put Balmain in front 2–0.
The Tigers quickly returned to enemy territory, with Canberra fullback Gary Belcher doing well to escape the in-goal area. Moments later the Raiders moved the ball left near the quarter-line, with Brent Todd going sideways and passing while tackled. Balmain winger James Grant reached to catch the ball right-handed as he scurried to score an intercept try, and the score remained 6–0 as Currier was unable to convert from nearly the same position as his first kick. Brasher won the race to a subsequent Freeman chip-kick but couldn’t beat Belcher, before Jack fumbled on a kick return as Meninga barrelled him. The Raiders had an extended run of possession, only for Belcher’s forced pass to go forward as winger Matthew Wood was trybound.
Clyde produced a bone-jarring tackle on Jack, before Wayne Pearce drove Clyde back in a powerful tackle. Following a knock-on and a penalty against Freeman, Steve Walters was held just centimetres from the tryline before Paul Sironen was penalised for fielding the ball in an offside position after Daley’s kick ricocheted off Freeman. Meninga lowered the margin to four points with a simple penalty goal before Balmain displayed poor handling, but the Raiders failed to benefit. Belcher and Meninga combined to send Wood racing down the right wing, only for Jack to brilliantly drag him into touch before Wood rolled over the tryline.
With just over a minute left in the first half, Elias moved the ball to the right and down the blindside following a play-the-ball on Balmain’s 22-metre line. Roach fed Currier who nearly stepped out while running before he put boot to ball. A drunken bounce for Belcher enabled Grant to field the ball, and Belcher couldn’t stop him hurling an inside pass to Currier. Sironen accepted Currier’s pass and charged to score near the left post with Clyde clutching at him. Balmain’s 12–2 half-time lead wasn’t a true reflection of the opening 40 minutes, considering both tries were somewhat opportunistic while Canberra had had a couple of near misses and appeared more efficient in possession.
THE SECOND HALF
Lance coughed up possession just 15 seconds into the second half, and Balmain made a couple of blunders before Pearce nailed Wood over the sideline as a try beckoned. The Raiders again looked threatening when a risky unload from Belcher went astray, and then the rub of the green suddenly went Canberra’s way. Bruce McGuire seemingly tried to milk a penalty as he played the ball forward and used Steve Walters as a shepherd while the Raiders hooker was yet to return onside.
First time grand final referee Bill Harrigan deemed that the Balmain second-rower was at fault, and Gary Coyne played the ball near the tryline in the set after the contentious penalty. Steve Walters, Ricky Stuart and Belcher threw long passes to the left before Daley turned the ball back to Ferguson. Evading a couple of defenders, Ferguson drew the defence and gave a reverse pass to Belcher who escaped Currier’s clutches and broke through to score.
Meninga converted with 23 minutes remaining, before the Tigers failed to capitalise on a ‘six again’ call. Shortly after Raiders replacement Paul Martin fumbled a Freeman kick, Freeman sent halves partner Mick Neil through a gap in the red zone. An ankle-tap from Meninga knocked him to ground with a try imminent, before the Tigers shifted the ball right on the next play. Elias lofted it to Pearce, only for Balmain’s skipper to knock-on as Brasher was unmarked in support.
Roach seemed unimpressed as coach Warren Ryan riskily replaced him with Kevin Hardwick in the 65th minute, before a bomb from Elias bounced off Meninga and was fielded by an offside Stuart. An easy penalty goal increased Balmain’s lead to 14–8 with 70 minutes gone, before Martin erred again when he spilled a poor pass under pressure. With six minutes left, Meninga smothered Elias’ 15-metre field goal attempt before Elias had a bit more time two tackles later as he took another shot, only for the ball to thud into the crossbar. Surely the premiership would have been safely in Balmain’s grasp had the ball gone just a few centimetres higher?
Belcher was held on the halfway line on the last tackle before McGuire lost possession, and soon Canberra received a vital offside penalty. The Raiders lost ground before Stuart chipped early in the tackle count, and this produced another turning point as the Tigers failed to clean up. Canberra received six more tackles, and the question was whether the Raiders could score an equalising try or if the Tigers could hold on after squandering several chances to reinstate a lead beyond six points.
Clyde played the ball to Chris O’Sullivan on the 10-metre line on tackle five, and the dummy-half put up a bomb to the left. Jack failed to defuse it in the contest before Daley came up with it and threw an overhead pass to the left. Ferguson used his sidestep to elude Grant, Neil and a slipping Pearce before burrowing over the tryline as Sironen and Elias couldn’t hold him out. From just outside the line of the left post, Meninga tied the score with his conversion before the siren sounded just 15 seconds after play restarted.
EXTRA TIME
The match had been played at breakneck speed but the players were so exhausted that they were out on their feet with 20 minutes of extra time required. Balmain had to see it out minus Roach and Sironen, who was replaced by Michael Pobjie in another risky move just before the end of regulation time after the interchange had been signalled three minutes earlier. In the second minute of extra time, Stuart’s clearing kick went straight down Jack’s throat but the Balmain fullback knocked it on. From the scrum in the quarter, Stuart fired the ball left to O’Sullivan who steadied and booted a field goal to nudge Canberra ahead 15–14.
The match took its toll as handling errors crept in while the Raiders had better territory, and Meninga sliced an angled penalty kick. Brasher erred as he knocked the ball over the dead-ball line instead of letting it go, meaning the Tigers had to drop-kick from their uprights rather than the quarter-line. With the siren about to signal the halfway mark of extra time, Stuart was marginally off-line with a 44-metre field goal attempt.
Shaun Edwards replaced Pobjie, and Canberra was content to send kicks into touch. Jack unloaded on a kick return with less than six minutes left, and then Pearce made a break and fed Brasher who was tackled 11 metres in Canberra’s half. The Tigers lost their way as they threw the ball around, and Pearce’s unload found O’Sullivan. Stuart hooked a 35-metre field goal, before Currier put in a hopeful kick near his quarter-line. The ball dribbled to Meninga before replacement Steve Jackson accepted Meninga’s pass on the inside, and had enough energy to charge at the line.
Several tired defenders clutched at Jackson but they could not prevent him reaching to ground the ball left-handed over the tryline as he was brought to the turf just short of the line. The Raiders rejoiced although Balmain still technically had a chance of winning as Meninga sliced a kickable goal with just over a minute left. But the Tigers could barely walk, and Canberra had little trouble holding on until the end. Canberra had won 19–14 in an outstanding grand final that lasted 100 minutes.
The Raiders not only became the first team to overcome a 10-point half-time deficit to win a grand final, but also became the first team to win the premiership from fourth place since the top-five was introduced. They were also the first nonmetropolitan club to win the premiership. It was also the first time that a GF was decided in extra time, and little did anyone know that it would be the last time Balmain contested a decider. Clyde, meanwhile, earned the Clive Churchill Medal.
THE FINAL STATS
Canberra 19 (G.Belcher, J.Ferguson, S.Jackson tries; M.Meninga 3 goals; C.O’Sullivan field goal) defeated Balmain 14 (J.Grant, P.Sironen tries; A.Currier 3 goals); Crowd: 40,500; Referee: Bill Harrigan; *After 20 minutes extra time
THE GREAT GRAND FINALS: RUGBY LEAGUE’S GREATEST CONTESTS by Liam Hauser, New Holland Publishers rrp$35.00, is available from all good book retailers or online at www.newhollandpublishers.com
By LIAM HAUSER
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