2005 NRL Grand Final

2005 (2005) NRL Grand Final  ()
Wests Tigers North Queensland Cowboys 30 16
1 2 Total WES 12 18 30 NQD 6 10 16
Date	2 October 2005
Stadium	Telstra Stadium
Location	Sydney, Australia
Clive Churchill Medal	Scott Prince, (Wests Tigers)
National anthem	Natalie Bassingthwaite
Referee	Tim Mander
Attendance	82,453
Broadcast partner
Broadcaster	Nine Network
Commentators	Ray Warren, Peter Sterling, Phil Gould
< 2004 NRL Grand Final 2006 >

The 2005 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2005 National Rugby League season. It was played on the night of Sunday, 2 October at Sydney's Telstra Stadium between 4th-placed Wests Tigers and 5th-placed North Queensland Cowboys, the only two clubs in the competition that hadn't yet been to the NRL grand final.

In a match-up suggested by bookmakers as a 500/1 chance for the 2005 grand final's opponents at the start of the season,^[1] the fourth-placed Wests Tigers and fifth-placed North Queensland Cowboys had both reached their first decider. The two teams had met three times during the regular season, with the Tigers having won twice. The most recent of these meetings was the Tigers' 50 – 6 victory in the first week of the finals series.

Airline Qantas added an extra two flights and the Townsville Bulletin newspaper chartered a Boeing 747 to take North Queensland fans to their team's first grand final.^[2]

Background

For the Wests Tigers, their first grand final appearance had come at the end of their sixth season (since the merger of the Balmain Tigers and the Western Suburbs Magpies). Only centre Paul Whatuira and full-back Brett Hodgson had previosuly played in a grand final. Whatuira won with Penrith in 2003 and Hodgson lost with Parramatta in 2001. Their fullback, Brett Hodgson was the 2005 regular season's top point-scorer.

For the North Queensland Cowboys, their grand final debut had come at the end of their eleventh season. Cowboys' five-eighth Johnathan Thurston, the 2005 season's Dally M Medallist, had won the previous year's grand final with the Bulldogs. Also, winger Matt Sing lost in 2000 with the Sydney Roosters. Their fullback Matt Bowen was the 2005 regular season's top try scorer. However their Queensland State of Origin forward Carl Webb had been suspended for punching so was forced to watch the grand final from the sideline.

Match day

Wests Tigers	Position	North Queensland Cowboys
1 Brett Hodgson	FB	1 Matt Bowen
2 Daniel Fitzhenry	WG	2 Ty Williams
3 Shane Elford	CE	3 Josh Hannay
4 Paul Whatuira	CE	4 Paul Bowman
5 Pat Richards	WG	5 Matt Sing
6 Benji Marshall	5/8th	6 Johnathan Thurston
7 Scott Prince (c)	HB	16 Justin Smith
8 Anthony Laffranchi	PR	8 Paul Rauhihi
9 Robbie Farah	HK	9 Aaron Payne
10 John Skandalis	PR	10 Shane Tronc
11 Ben Galea	SR	11 Steve Southern
12 Mark O'Neill	SR	12 Luke O'Donnell
13 Dene Halatau	LF	13 Travis Norton (c)
14 Liam Fulton	Int.	7 Brett Firman
15 Chris Heighington	Int.	14 David Faiumu
16 Bryce Gibbs	Int.	15 Mitchell Sargent
17 Todd Payten	Int.	17 Rod Jensen
Tim Sheens	Coach	Graham Murray

The grand final was played at Sydney's Telstra Stadium before a crowd of 82,453.^[3] Television coverage of the match was provided by Nine's Wide World of Sports with commentary from Ray Warren, Peter Sterling, Paul Vautin, Phil Gould, Matthew Johns, Andrew Voss and Ben Ikin.

The Veronicas and Pete Murray provided pre-match performances.^[4] A minute's silence was then held for the previous day's 2005 Bali bombings before Natalie Bassingthwaite sung the Australian national anthem.

1st half

At 19:00 AEST, Tim Mander, officiating his 2nd grand final, blew time on and the Tigers kicked off. In the eighth minute the Cowboys had almost reached the Tigers' twenty-metre line on the third tackle of the set when Payne ran from dummy-half and passed inside for Rauhihi to hit the ball up and stand in the takle, offloading to Thurston who passed to Matt Bowen. Bowen then threw a deft pass back on the inside to Justin Smith who charged toward the line and threw the ball blindly back over his head before being tackled. The loose ball was picked up by Thurtson and handed to Bowen to dash the remaining few metres to the line and touch down behind the uprights.^[5] For the third week in a row, Bowen was the first try scorer of the game. Josh Hannay converted the try so the Cowboys were leading 0-6. Ten minutes later the Tigers were down at the opposition's end of the field where halfback Scott Prince on the last tackle put up a kick that came down over the try line and was taken by Paul Bowman who was about to be tackled in goal and threw a speculative pass which was not caught by his teammate and Tigers forward Bryce Gibbs was there to fall onto the loose ball near the goal posts.^[6] Brett Hodgson kicked the extra two points so the scores were even at 6-6. Cowboys winger Ty Williams crossed the Tigers' try-line in the twenty-third minute but the video referee ruled no try due to an obstruction in back play.^[7] A few minutes later, Tigers' left winger Pat Richards (whose fractured ankle required six pain-killing injections for him to defy medical opinion and play in the match)^[8] crossed in the corner but the video referee disallowed the try as the ball was not properly grounded. In the thirty-fifth minute the Tigers received a Johnathan Thurston kick on their own try line, the ball going to Benji Marshall who ran with it, splitting the defence and charging down the left side and over the half-way line.^[9] Drawing a defender, Marshall then threw a flick pass behind his back to his winger Pat Richards coming through in support.^[10] Richards palmed off a Cowboys defender as he ran the remaining twenty metres to dive over and score,^[11] finishing one of the most famous grand final plays in history.^{[12][13][14][15]} Hodgson kicked the extra two points so now the Tigers were leading 12-6. Shortly before half time the Cowboys were penalised on their twenty-metre line and Hodgson took the kick at goal but missed.

Rogue Traders performed during the break.

2nd half

In the fifth minute the Tigers were mounting an attack ten metres from the Cowboys line when on the third tackle, hooker Robbie Farah put his prop forward Anthony Laffranchi through a gap to crash over the line and score near the uprights.^[16] Brett Hodgson kicked the extra two points so the Tigers were leading 18-6 . Ten minutes later the Cowboys were attacking the Tigers' try line when Thurston, ten metres out flicked the ball back to Travis Norton who charged over to score.^[17] Josh Hannay converted the try so the Cowboys were behind 18-12. In the sixty-third minute the Tigers had the ball down near the Cowboys' try-line and moved it out to Daniel Fitzhenry on the right wing to dive over in the corner. Hodgson kicked the goal from near the sideline to convert the try, taking the Tigers' lead out to 24-12. With six and a half minutes remaining, Tigers half-back Scott Prince attempted a field goal but missed. Shortly after that Cowboys winger Matt Sing almost scored a try but the video referee found that he'd knocked on. A few minutes later though, the Cowboys were down close to the Tigers' try line where their half-back Johnathan Thurston threw a cut out pass to Matt Sing to score on the right wing. Josh Hannay missed the conversion so the score was 24-16 in favour of the Tigers with under two minutes left to play.^[18] Seconds before the final siren the Tigers got one more try when Hodgson from ten metres out put a grubber kick into the Cowboys' in-goal area for Todd Payten to dive onto.^[19] Hodgson then converted the try so the final score was 30-16 and the Wests Tigers had their first premiership as a merged team.

30	Tigers
Tries	1 Gibbs 1 Richards 1 Laffranchi 1 Fitzhenry 1 Payten
Goals	5/6 Hodgson
16	Cowboys
Tries	1 Bowen 1 Norton 1 Sing
Goals	2/3 Hannay

Tigers captain Scott Prince was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal as man-of-the-match^[20] before being presented with the premiership trophy by Australian Prime Minister John Howard. It was the final match with the Tigers for their winger Pat Richards who joined English Super League club Wigan Warriors for the 2006 season.

The match had the highest television ratings for a night time grand final in history.^[21] As winners of the grand final the Wests club received $400,000 in prize money.^[22]

Timeline

• 8th Minute: North Queensland 6-0 (M.Bowen try; Hannay goal)
• 18th Minute: Tied 6-6 (Gibbs try; Hodgson goal)
• 35th Minute: Wests Tigers 12-6 (Richards try; Hodgson goal)
• 45th Minute: Wests Tigers 18-6 (Laffranchi try; Hodgson goal)
• 55th Minute: Wests Tigers 18-12 (Norton try; Hannay goal)
• 63rd Minute: Wests Tigers 24-12 (Fitzhenry try; Hodgson goal)
• 76th Minute: Wests Tigers 24-16 (Sing try)
• 80th Minute: Wests Tigers 30-16 (Payton try; Hodgson goal)

2006 World Club Challenge

Main article: 2006 World Club Challenge

Having won the NRL grand final, Wests had earned the right to play against 2005 Super League Champions, the Bradford Bulls in the following February's World Club Challenge.

References

1. ^ Wilkins, Peter (29 September 2005). "NRL final a marketing dream come true". The 7.30 Report. http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2005/s1471475.htm. Retrieved 30 August 2011. 
2. ^ Baynes, Dan (28 September 2005). "Tigers Face Cowboys as Australia Gets 500/1 NRL Final". bloomberg.com. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=at3mFBdhc5ZY&refer=australia. Retrieved 30 August 2011. 
3. ^ Ubha, Ravi (2 October 2005). "Wests Tigers Beat Cowboys 30-16 in Australia's NRL Grand Final". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=au1tZWlrUlHE&refer=australia. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
4. ^ Halloran, Jessica (3 October 2005). "Stereotype fun: toys for boys and short skirts for girls". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/stereotype-fun-toys-for-boys-and-short-skirts-for-girls/2005/10/02/1128191607835.html. Retrieved 30 August 2011. 
5. ^ "Grand final by the clock". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 October 2005. http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/grand-final-by-the-clock/2005/10/02/1128191605932.html. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
6. ^ Pritchard, Greg (3 October 2005). "Fairytale for Wests Tigers". The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/news/league/fairytale-for-wests-tigers/2005/10/02/1128191609599.html. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
7. ^ Masters, Roy (3 October 2005). "Princes of turf feed on roar emotion". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/princes-of-turf-feed-on-roar-emotion/2005/10/02/1128191607853.html. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
8. ^ Walter, Brad (3 October 2005). "Winger sidesteps pain barrier". The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/news/league/winger-sidesteps-pain-barrier/2005/10/02/1128191609602.html. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
9. ^ Flanagan, Martin (8 October 2005). "A grand old story can get you in". The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/a-grand-old-story-can-get-you-in/2005/10/07/1128562999242.html. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
10. ^ Jordan Baker and Stephen Gibbs (3 October 2005). "Try-hungry Tigers ride the Cowboys out of town". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/tryhungry-tigers-ride-the-cowboys-out-of-town/2005/10/02/1128191607826.html. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
11. ^ Maxton, Richard (15 September 2011). "Six most pivotal Tigers finals moments". NRL.com. http://www.nrl.com/six-most-pivotal-tigers-finals-moments/tabid/10874/newsid/64816/default.aspx. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
12. ^ Wilson, Andy (29 September 2007). "Richards steers clear of razor's edge to guide Wigan revival". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/sep/29/rugbyleague.sport. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
13. ^ "Tigers' rip-roaring premiership triumph was one for all ages". Brisbane Times. 21 December 2009. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/tigers-riproaring-premiership-triumph-was-one-for-all-ages-20091221-la39.html. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
14. ^ ANZ Stadium - Event Highlights at anzstadium.com.au
15. ^ "15 best scores". foxsports.com.au. 11 April 2011. http://www.foxsports.com.au/other-sports/foxsports-15yr-anniversary/we-bring-you-the-15-best-scores-broadcast-on-fox-sports-in-the-past-15-years/story-fn8b1swq-1226034772457. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
16. ^ "Tigers claim historic premiership". abc.net.au. 2 October 2005. http://www.abc.net.au/cgi-bin/common/printfriendly.pl?http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1472930.htm. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
17. ^ Wilson, Andy (3 October 2005). "Tigers' Warrior puts the grand into final". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2005/oct/03/rugbyleague.sport2. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
18. ^ "Tigers roar to NRL title". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 October 2005. http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/tigers-roar-to-nrl-title/2005/10/02/1128191605073.html. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
19. ^ news.bbc.co.uk (2 October 2005). "Prince steers Wests to NRL title". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_league/4302272.stm. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
20. ^ Pritchard, Greg (3 October 2005). "Marshall magic gives Cowboys the flick". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/high-of-the-tigers/2005/10/02/1128191607844.html. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 
21. ^ Dale, David (2005-10-04). "Footy beats sex, not tennis". The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia: Fairfax Digital). http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv--radio/footy-beats-sex/2005/10/03/1128191657690.html. Retrieved 2010-01-01. 
22. ^ Saville, Margot (2005-10-10). "Balmain club not out of woods yet". The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia: Fairfax Media). http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/balmain-club-not-out-of-woods-yet/2005/10/09/1128796404431.html. Retrieved 2010-08-10. 

External links

• Grand Final - Tigers 30 d. Cowboys 16 at rleague.com
• NRL 2005 - Grand Final at rugbyleagueproject.org