{"id":294781,"date":"2023-10-03T08:09:23","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T08:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=294781"},"modified":"2023-10-03T08:09:23","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T08:09:23","slug":"the-heartache-and-horror-stories-of-rugby-leagues-biggest-comebacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-league\/the-heartache-and-horror-stories-of-rugby-leagues-biggest-comebacks\/","title":{"rendered":"The heartache and horror stories of rugby league\u2019s biggest comebacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As Penrith celebrated by posing for photos with Norm Provan, Arthur Summons and Mick Fanning in one dressing room, Brisbane were just down the hallway, mute at first, then sombre with a side of XXXX.<\/p>\n

Like the Eels a year earlier, heartbreak gave way, at least in the interim, to a sense of achievement in the company of family and friends.<\/p>\n

Like Parramatta \u2013 who had been through salary cap scandals, wooden spoons and laughing-stock status to make the 2022 decider \u2013 Brisbane had risen from the club\u2019s lowest ebb to be here.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely proud of that, but 100 per cent we butchered it,\u201d prop Payne Haas said afterwards.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp by 16 with 20 to go? That\u2019s going to hurt for a long time, but you have to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Easily said. And provided they can keep a talent-laden roster together, the Broncos have Haas, Reece Walsh, Pat Carrigan, Ezra Mam and serious potential to end the club\u2019s premiership drought.<\/p>\n

In historic terms though, it\u2019s not so easily done, as the cautionary tales of rugby league\u2019s \u201cother side\u201d \u2013 those on the wrong end of stunning big game comebacks \u2013 tell us.<\/p>\n

1999: Storm 20 bt Dragons 18 after the Dragons led 14-0 at half-time
<\/b><\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Paul McGregor, Wayne Bartrim and Lance Thompson ponder what might have been.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Fairfax Photographic<\/cite><\/p>\n

Jamie Ainscough turned to coach David Waite after full-time, with then prime minister John Howard, the Dragons No.1 ticket-holder, in conversation too.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think I will go down in history?\u201d Ainscough asked Waite.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, probably,\u201d was the response. Waite wasn\u2019t wrong, if perhaps a bit understated.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Anthony Mundine spills the ball with the try line begging under pressure from Melbourne\u2019s Craig Smith.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Fairfax Photographic<\/cite><\/p>\n

Ainscough\u2019s high shot on Craig Smith and resulting penalty try was the final act in Melbourne\u2019s stunning revival, having trailed 14-0 after Nathan Blacklock streaked away for one of the great grand final tries.<\/p>\n

Anthony Mundine is, of course, remembered for spilling a ball over the line when he had an unmarked man outside him, while the Dragons were dropping like flies as Melbourne roared home \u2013 prop Craig Smith requiring dozens of stitches for a tongue that was \u201csplit like a snake\u2019s\u201d.<\/p>\n

St George Illawarra farewelled several retirees and missed the finals in 2000 as Mundine sensationally quit the game and Waite was sacked.<\/p>\n

1989: Raiders 19 bt Tigers 14 after the Tigers led 12-2<\/b><\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Shattered: Bruce McGuire after Balmain\u2019s loss to the Raiders in 1989.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Fairfax Photographic<\/cite><\/p>\n

<\/b>Long regarded as the greatest grand final until worthy challengers emerged in recent times, the \u201989 decider was also played in sweltering conditions – Rex Mossop declaring before kick-off that \u201ca player will have a heart attack out there today\u201d.<\/p>\n

The infamous call to bench Steve Roach and Paul Sironen, Steve Jackson\u2019s try, Canberra\u2019s thrilling extra-time comeback and Benny Elias\u2019 field-goal attempt cannoning into the crossbar were all worthy cause for cardiac arrest.<\/p>\n

Especially that last one, considering claims the SFS crossbar was \u201ctwo inches too high\u201d according to ex-Raiders chairman John McIntyre in conversations recalled around the game\u2019s 30-year anniversary.<\/p>\n

When coach Warren Ryan left the club a year later declaring there was \u201cno juice left in the orange\u201d, he was correct. Balmain\u2019s ageing roster disbanded, and the Tigers played just one more finals game in their history before merging with Western Suburbs.<\/p>\n

1998: Bulldogs 32 bt Eels 20 after the Eels led 18-2<\/b><\/h3>\n


<\/b>Not a grand final, but Parramatta were entitled to think they were on their way with a 16-point lead and 11 minutes on the clock in this storied preliminary final. Cue bedlam.<\/p>\n

Craig Polla-Mounter and Daryl Halligan emerged from the extra-time contest with a couple of the best clutch moments in history, and Paul Carige receded from rugby league amid abuse and endless social media jibes that still persist.<\/p>\n

A week earlier, Eels icon Peter Sterling had praised Carige for \u201cone of the best tackles of the season\u201d on The Footy Show<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s made some of the dumbest plays I\u2019ve ever seen in a game of rugby league,\u201d was Sterling\u2019s withering summation of Carige\u2019s last moments in the NRL, a series of inexcusable errors that still make Eels types cringe 35 years later.<\/p>\n

Carige has kept the lowest of profiles since. Parramatta stayed at the pointy end of the ladder and swept all comers in 2001, before being swept aside themselves by Newcastle on grand final day. They are, of course, still yet to conquer that grand final mountain.<\/p>\n

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