1909 - Revolt, Coup, Forfeit and a future

Rugby League began its second year of existence having survived a busy and financially demanding opening season, culminating in a marathon pioneering Kangaroo tour to Great Britain.

With the tour still ongoing at the start of 1909, reports trickling in from England were stating that the Kangaroo’s had run at a considerable financial loss. Several star players had signed with English clubs for the end of the 1908-09 season and beyond, which would be a massive loss to the fledgling code in Australia, while others were reportedly being sent home early.

In February, South Sydney player Arthur Conlin penned a public letter to The Sun requesting the League to appoint a full time secretary at their upcoming General meeting, a suggestion which received immediate support from the clubs.

On March 5, the NSWRL Annual Meeting was held where startling observations about the management of the League’s finances had been made. With the secretary and founding father James Giltinan, getting his side ready for the 45^th and last game of their English tour, President Henry Hoyle and treasurer, the legendary Australian Test cricketer, Victor Trumper ran the meeting on their own.

Newcastle was unable to send any delegates, so it was stated at the meeting that Glebe’s Arthur Weymark and Souths Edward Fry had been appointed to act on behalf of the Newcastle club. Their appointment was questioned with Hoyle stating he had a letter from the Newcastle club, however he had forgotten to bring it, but would produce it the following morning. However the following day he was still unable to produce the letter.

The meeting carried on with Hoyle unable to provide a balance sheet while it was also revealed that Trumper and Giltinan had been banking monies for the League into a separate account under Trumper’s name. Trumper stated during and post meeting that the account was a trust fund and designed to hold the rent for the upcoming matches at the Agricultural Showground. A discussion was also had about the appointment of a full time secretary but none was elected.

After the meeting, North Sydney board member Alexander Knox stated that Norths were considering leaving the League if a balance sheet and full time secretary were not appointed while also intimating that Eastern Suburbs, Souths and Western Suburbs may also consider similar action. With the spat between Hoyle and Knox being played out in the media and causing division within the game, another general meeting had to be called to clear the air.

The infamous Newcastle letter about delegates finally arrived several days after the meeting but had not been signed therefore could not be accepted as official. This meant that the first meeting was made null and a new meeting was convened for March 15.

A fiery meeting took place at the rooms of the NSWRL with accusations, allegations and abuse hurled back and forth, particularly between Knox and Hoyle. After much confrontation, Henry Hoyle exclaimed “I have had enough. I mean to retire. Tomorrow I withdraw all my bonds. Now I tender my resignation.”

Upon this, the previous meeting elections were declared void and new elections took place that saw politician Ernest Broughton appointed as president, replacing Hoyle, while Horrie Miller was elected as Trumper’s successor for the Treasurer role. It was also agreed that a fulltime secretary would be appointed with Tom Phelan named in the acting role while Giltinan was en-route and a suitable candidate could be hired.

The balance sheet that was missing in the previous year was finally completed and submitted at the meeting. It was observed that Balmain’s games at Birchgrove Oval had been producing the best gate takings and so in 1909 it was agreed that they would play nearly all of their games at the ground.

Within less than a month, Broughton’s business matters took precedent and subsequently forced him to relinquish his position as President. He was replaced by another politician, Edward O’Sullivan, the games third boss within a month.

The Premiership season began on April 24 with defending premiers South Sydney beating Balmain 4-0 their first of 9 straight wins before a final round 5-0 loss to Newcastle prevented them from finishing the season undefeated. 1908 Runners-up Eastern Suburbs won five of their opening 6 games before losing their last four games while Balmain benefitted from all their home games, winning all of their last 8 games after losing their opening two.

In June 1909 the league appointed Edward Larkin as its first fulltime secretary, bringing an end to the reign of James Giltinan and finally adding some stability to the administration of the game.

Shortly after Larkin’s appointment, an idea by George Ball to have a series of games played between the national sides for both Rugby codes would be a great spectacle, as well as an opportunity to lure the best Rugby Union talent to Rugby League. He approached the Wallabies players but soon learnt that the 500 pounds he was allocated to pay them with, was a paltry amount.

After a meeting with John Quinlan and Larkin, it was decided to approach entrepreneur James Joynton-Smith for a loan. Joynton-Smith agreed and the purchasing of the Wallabies began.

In August, the semi-finals took place with Balmain defeating Easts 15-8 and Souths beating Newcastle 20-0 which saw Balmain and Souths progress to the final.

Upon learning of the secret activity to buy the Wallabies, President O’Sullivan publicly expressed his opposition to what he deemed acts of unprofessional behaviour and resigned. His replacement was none other than James Joynton-Smith who became the NSWRL’s fourth president, all of whom had held the office in 1909.

The competition was placed on hold after the semi’s for the third and fourth games between Australia and the visiting New Zealand Maori side. The first game was won by the visitors 16-14 before Australia squared the ledger in game 2 with a 16-13 victory. The Kangaroos won the third game 23-16.  During the tour, a Mr Robert Jack claimed that he was owed money by the Maori side owed to him for the organisation of their 1908 tour, which the Maori management disputed. Jack issued a court order against star player and Maori team manager Albert Asher who was arrested after the third game against Australia had been played.

When the NSWRL learnt of this development, they immediately settled the debt with Jack and had Asher released by the police so that he had enough time to get to the ground in time for kick-off in the fourth game, which the Kangaroos went on to win 20-13.

The competition was delayed even further when three hastily organised matches between the Kangaroos and the recently purchased Wallabies would take place. The Kangaroos won the opening game 29-26 before the Wallabies won the next two matches 34-21 and 15-6. After these games the League had still yet to raise enough from gate takings to repay Joynton-Smith for the money he outlaid, so a decision was made to play a fourth game on the same day as the Premiership final.

All year Balmain’s games had been played at 3pm, but the league then decided to move the kick-off for the Final to midday as the undercard to a fourth exhibition game between the Kangaroos and Wallabies. Balmain held a meeting before sending a letter to the League stating that their players would not be able to get to the ground in time after work, for a 2pm kick off, let alone a midday start and requested that the game be moved from the Agricultural Showgrounds which South Sydney had used as their home ground, to Wentworth Park, as it was a genuine neutral venue and closer to Balmain which would enable them to field a team. They also stated it was insulting to the competition to have the final deemed as a secondary game to an exhibition match.

The League informed Balmain that the program would not be changed. On the day of the final, Balmain players and officials who could get to the ground, stood outside and staged a protest while the Souths team took the field. At midday, Souths kicked off and scored a try against no-one and the game was declared over. Several days later, the referee for the game declared the game publicly and officially to South Sydney.

The League suspected Balmain would be a no-show, so they organised for a combined team to take on Souths to ensure a double header would still take place. Souths beat a Combined First Grade team 18-10.

The game attracted a paltry crowd of just 4,000 but it was just enough for the League to pay back Joynton-Smith, clear all its debts and finish the year with a very modest profit.

The drama wasn’t over though. A week after the Final, Balmain decided to start a fund raising campaign to launch legal action against the League over its decision to award the title to Souths. Alexander Knox got in Balmain’s corner along with former president Edward O’Sullivan to voice their disapproval at the League and its treatment of Balmain. Despite raising the necessary funds, Balmain eventually opted to abandon all legal proceedings after months of meetings and conversations, publicly and in house.

Arguably the most tumultuous season in the codes history but it was one that ended with huge improvements to playing rosters, finances, administration, security and stability of the game.

Stat of Origin (2019)

State of Origin gets underway in 2019 on Wednesday, June 5, in what will be the 40th year that the concept has been taking place. One-off Origin games were played in 1980 and 1981 before adopting the traditional 3 game series from 1982.

Few contests in the world have as much talk about statistics surrounding results as State of Origin though, given how close the contests typically tend to be.

We’ll hear about Queensland’s dominance in recent times, if we’re lucky, we may even be reminded of the ultimate dominance of New South Wales for 70 odd years prior to Origin and how significant that dominance was in building the oft-mentioned “Queenslander spirit and passion.”

But despite the closeness of the contest and all the talk of spirit and passion, there are some statistics that are quite overwhelming that just cannot be ignored, but have yet to be mentioned.

Until now that is.

Game I of the 2019 State of Origin series will take place at Suncorp Stadium. We’ve had 21 Game I matches played at Suncorp Stadium, with Queensland winning 11 and New South Wales 10. The last series openers played at Suncorp have been won by the Blues:
2014 – New South Wales won 12-8
2017 – New South Wales won 28-4

The Maroons last victory at home in Game I was:
2011 – Queensland won 16-12

Of the 11 times Queensland won at home in Game I, two were the first two games in 1980 and 1981, which they won. The remaining 9 saw them go on to win the series on 8 occasions. Only the 2005 series, where they won 24-20 in Game I at Suncorp, saw them lose the series.

For New South Wales, 10 of their wins at Suncorp in Game I has contributed to them winning 7 series.

Winning at Suncorp in Game I is clearly a huge contributor to series success for both sides. This is quite a telling stat. But it’s not the only one.

On 80 of the 103 occasions where a team has lead an Origin game at half-time, they have gone on to win the match. That’s a 77.67% chance of winning the game after leading at the break. Queensland has lead at half time on 49 occasions and won 41 times or 83.67% of the time. New South Wales has lead 54 times and went on to win 39 of those games, at 72.22%.

Teams leading at halftime at Suncorp have gone on to win the match on 82.35% of the time and to drill down even further, teams leading at halftime at Suncorp in Game 1 have won 18 of 21 matches, or 85.71%.

These stats combine to tell us that the opening 40 minutes of the opening State of Origin game this year could very well determine who will not only win the game, but also the series.

Data courtesy of my website Rugby League Project
Please donate to help me run the website at Patreon

Anzac Day Clashes (2019)

2019 marks 106 years since the start of World War I and 104 years since the inception of ANZAC Day in Australia. When the Great War ended in 1919, troops returning home were not met by parades and huge fanfare, because they arrived home to a country in the grips of the Influenza epidemic, which was so bad, people were not allowed to congregate in large groups, and if they were going to be in a populated area, they had to wear face masks.

In Rugby League, vast numbers of players and even officials from all over the country, volunteered to serve and protect their nation and the Commonwealth, many of whom lost their lives.

In 1927 the NSWRL held its first ever games on ANZAC Day, when all 4 matches from Round 2 took place.

Balmain defeated Newtown 14-13 at Wentworth Park
Wests defeated Glebe 12-4 at the SCG

University defeated Norths 21-9 at North Sydney Oval

St.George defeated Easts 23-7 at Earl Park.

Those were the first 4 of a total of 239 games played on ANZAC Day.

Interestingly enough, only 1 of those 8 sides and 1 of those 4 venues will be seen in the NRL on ANZAC Day in 2019, when the Roosters play at the SCG against the St.George-Illawarra Dragons.

In 1927, St.George, led by captain-coach and Immortal Frank Burge, took on the Roosters in the very first of what is now a traditional ANZAC Day match.

St.George	vs	Eastern Suburbs
Frank Meighan	Fullback	Rick Bevan
Stan Brain	Wing	Les Steel
Eric McCormack	Centre	Tom Barry
George Carstairs	Centre	George Harris
Frank Saunders	Wing	Hugh Byrne
Arnold Traynor	Five-Eighth	Larry Hedger
Bill Benson	Halfback	Norm Pope
Aub Kelly	Lock	George Boddington (c)
Bill Hardman	Second Row	Tom Fitzpatrick
Frank Burge (c)	Second Row	George Clamback
Jim Warwick	Front Row	G Hall
Arthur Justice	Hooker	Arthur Oxford
Clarrie Tye	Front Row	H Kavanagh

Former Bears player Lal Deane was the referee for this game, where a crowd of 5000 turned up to watch the match at Earl Park.

The game started with both sides playing expansive football which had the crowd on their feet and showing great appreciation. Frank Saunders and George Carstairs were very good early on, however it was the tri-colours who scored first when Arthur Oxford kicked a penalty goal. The Dragons hit back with a penalty goal to Eric McCormack and then later in the half Arnold Traynor and McCormack both kicked a field goal each to give the Dragons a 6-2 lead at halftime.

The Easterners resumed play in glorious style, as they broke through the Dragons defensive line, before the ball was kept alive and put through many hands before Tom Fitzpatrick dived over to complete a spectacular try under the posts. Oxford converted and Easts lead 7-6.

Tom Barry suffered an injury and this gave the Dragons an advantage. Some splendid passing and strong running saw the Dragons run away with the game, as they scored 5 unanswered tries late in the second half. Frank Saunders bagged a try double. George Carstairs and Jim Warwick also crossed for tries, as did Frank Burge, who scored a typical long range try after making a strong run that saw him break through the defensive line from inside his own half. McCormack converted just one of the 5 tries as the Dragons ran away with the match to win 23-7.

All ANZAC Day Clashes 1927-2018

1927	Glebe	4		Wests	12		Sydney Cricket Ground
1927	Newtown	13		Balmain	14		Wentworth Park
1927	Norths	9		University	21		North Sydney Oval
1927	St George	23		Easts	7		Earl Park
1928	Balmain	10		Souths	22		Birchgrove Oval
1928	St George	7		Newtown	2		Earl Park
1928	Easts	13		Norths	10		Agricultural Showground
1928	Wests	14		University	25		Pratten Park
1929	Balmain	18		Wests	18		Birchgrove Oval
1929	Norths	10		Easts	10		North Sydney Oval
1929	Souths	28		Glebe	2		Sydney Sports Ground
1929	St George	19		University	0		Earl Park
1931	Norths	0		Balmain	2		North Sydney Oval
1931	Souths	22		Newtown	17		Marrickville Oval
1931	St George	12		Wests	19		Earl Park
1931	Easts	40		University	2		Sydney Sports Ground
1932	Balmain	12		Souths	26		Birchgrove Oval
1932	Norths	10		Wests	25		North Sydney Oval
1932	St George	23		University	7		Earl Park
1932	Easts	28		Newtown	12		Sydney Sports Ground
1933	Newtown	7		Souths	9		Marrickville Oval
1933	Norths	8		St George	13		North Sydney Oval
1933	Easts	16		Balmain	3		Sydney Sports Ground
1933	Wests	32		University	22		Pratten Park
1934	Balmain	5		Wests	18		Leichhardt Oval
1934	Newtown	5		St George	10		Marrickville Oval
1934	Norths	3		University	4		North Sydney Oval
1934	Souths	3		Easts	0		Sydney Sports Ground
1935	Newtown	5		Easts	14		Marrickville Oval
1935	Norths	20		Canterbury	5		North Sydney Oval
1935	Souths	24		University	19		Sydney Sports Ground
1935	St George	8		Wests	16		Sydney Cricket Ground
1936	Balmain	13		Wests	30		Leichhardt Oval
1936	Newtown	20		Canterbury	4		Sydney Cricket Ground
1936	Norths	41		University	5		North Sydney Oval
1936	St George	7		Souths	11		Earl Park
1938	Balmain	22		Norths	5		Leichhardt Oval
1938	Canterbury	28		Wests	3		Belmore Sports Ground
1938	Newtown	3		St George	20		Henson Park
1938	Souths	21		Easts	14		Sydney Cricket Ground
1939	Canterbury	10		Balmain	30		Belmore Sports Ground
1939	Newtown	10		St George	32		Henson Park
1939	Norths	7		Easts	27		Sydney Cricket Ground
1939	Souths	8		Wests	6		Sydney Sports Ground
1940	Balmain	10		St George	10		Sydney Sports Ground
1940	Easts	23		Canterbury	9		Sydney Cricket Ground
1940	Wests	16		Souths	11		Cumberland Oval
1940	Norths	13		Newtown	6		North Sydney Oval
1941	Balmain	22		Norths	7		Leichhardt Oval
1941	St George	16		Canterbury	19		Sydney Cricket Ground
1946	Canterbury	31		St George	12		Belmore Sports Ground
1946	Easts	13		Balmain	20		Sydney Cricket Ground
1947	Norths	19		Canterbury	38		Sydney Cricket Ground
1947	Parramatta	13		St George	23		Cumberland Oval
1947	Wests	32		Easts	4		Pratten Park
1949	Manly	0		Souths	32		Brookvale Oval
1949	Newtown	41		Wests	17		Sydney Cricket Ground
1949	Easts	12		Norths	2		Sydney Sports Ground
1950	Balmain	20		Easts	11		Drummoyne Oval
1950	Canterbury	10		St George	13		Belmore Sports Ground
1950	Manly	18		Wests	25		Pratten Park
1950	Parramatta	8		Newtown	23		Sydney Cricket Ground
1950	Souths	23		Norths	15		Redfern Oval
1951	Canterbury	10		Parramatta	18		Belmore Sports Ground
1951	Manly	17		Souths	29		Brookvale Oval
1951	Norths	5		St George	25		Sydney Cricket Ground
1951	Easts	17		Newtown	10		Sydney Sports Ground
1951	Wests	40		Balmain	17		Pratten Park
1952	Manly	7		Wests	8		Sydney Cricket Ground
1952	Parramatta	12		St George	24		Cumberland Oval
1952	Easts	12		Balmain	2		Sydney Sports Ground
1953	Canterbury	20		Balmain	15		Belmore Sports Ground
1953	Manly	17		Newtown	14		Brookvale Oval
1953	Parramatta	11		Norths	17		Cumberland Oval
1953	Souths	23		St George	10		Sydney Cricket Ground
1953	Wests	19		Easts	17		Pratten Park
1955	Norths	35		Easts	16		North Sydney Oval
1955	Parramatta	28		Balmain	16		Cumberland Oval
1955	St George	30		Manly	12		Sydney Cricket Ground
1956	Balmain	22		Easts	9		Leichhardt Oval
1956	Newtown	14		St George	4		Sydney Cricket Ground
1956	Norths	16		Manly	49		North Sydney Oval
1956	Parramatta	22		Canterbury	21		Cumberland Oval
1956	Wests	11		Souths	14		Pratten Park
1957	Newtown	13		Souths	7		Henson Park
1957	Parramatta	10		Manly	17		Cumberland Oval
1957	Wests	27		Easts	16		Sydney Cricket Ground
1958	Newtown	7		Manly	12		Sydney Cricket Ground
1958	Parramatta	5		Balmain	7		Cumberland Oval
1959	Canterbury	3		Norths	36		Belmore Sports Ground
1959	Newtown	7		Souths	5		Henson Park
1959	Parramatta	2		Manly	7		Cumberland Oval
1959	St George	15		Easts	6		Sydney Cricket Ground
1960	Manly	13		Newtown	12		Sydney Cricket Ground
1960	Wests	22		Parramatta	8		Pratten Park
1961	Balmain	6		Parramatta	9		Leichhardt Oval
1961	Canterbury	18		Newtown	13		Belmore Sports Ground
1961	Norths	17		Manly	9		North Sydney Oval
1961	Souths	9		Wests	17		Redfern Oval
1961	St George	13		Easts	7		Sydney Cricket Ground
1962	Canterbury	26		Manly	3		Belmore Sports Ground
1962	Norths	19		Newtown	27		North Sydney Oval
1962	Souths	23		Balmain	16		Redfern Oval
1962	St George	30		Parramatta	9		Sydney Cricket Ground
1962	Wests	24		Easts	11		Pratten Park
1963	Balmain	13		Easts	5		Leichhardt Oval
1963	Newtown	11		Canterbury	19		Henson Park
1963	Parramatta	8		Manly	13		Cumberland Oval
1963	Souths	9		Norths	11		Redfern Oval
1963	Wests	8		St George	5		Sydney Cricket Ground
1964	Canterbury	11		Manly	31		Belmore Sports Ground
1964	Parramatta	17		Easts	11		Cumberland Oval
1964	St George	14		Balmain	4		Sydney Cricket Ground
1964	Wests	13		Norths	14		Pratten Park
1965	Souths	8		Wests	4		Sydney Sports Ground
1965	St George	24		Parramatta	5		Kogarah Oval
1966	Newtown	15		Souths	11		Sydney Cricket Ground
1967	Balmain	13		Manly	15		Sydney Cricket Ground
1967	Canterbury	13		Parramatta	10		Belmore Sports Ground
1967	Souths	15		Newtown	17		Redfern Oval
1967	St George	22		Easts	7		Kogarah Oval
1967	Wests	19		Cronulla	7		Lidcombe Oval
1967	Norths	18		Penrith	6		North Sydney Oval
1968	Canterbury	12		Norths	9		Belmore Sports Ground
1968	Manly	22		Easts	13		Sydney Cricket Ground
1968	Newtown	21		Balmain	25		Henson Park
1968	Souths	15		Cronulla	9		Redfern Oval
1968	Parramatta	21		Penrith	6		Cumberland Oval
1969	Manly	13		Balmain	18		Sydney Cricket Ground
1969	Wests	12		Parramatta	18		Lidcombe Oval
1970	Parramatta	12		Newtown	18		Cumberland Oval
1970	Easts	7		Souths	18		Sydney Cricket Ground
1971	Newtown	7		Wests	6		Henson Park
1971	Canterbury	26		Penrith	16		Belmore Sports Ground
1971	Norths	10		Manly	20		North Sydney Oval
1971	Easts	23		Cronulla	17		Sydney Sports Ground
1972	Balmain	8		St George	17		Sydney Sports Ground
1972	Canterbury	13		Easts	7		Belmore Sports Ground
1972	Cronulla	12		Wests	18		Endeavour Field
1972	Newtown	23		Penrith	5		Henson Park
1972	Norths	14		Souths	19		North Sydney Oval
1972	Parramatta	7		Manly	9		Cumberland Oval
1973	Newtown	16		Wests	14		Henson Park
1973	Easts	15		Souths	16		Sydney Cricket Ground
1974	Balmain	20		Canterbury	28		Leichhardt Oval
1974	Easts	41		Parramatta	0		Sydney Sports Ground
1975	Balmain	5		St George	31		Leichhardt Oval
1976	Balmain	18		Penrith	4		Leichhardt Oval
1976	Cronulla	11		Easts	22		Endeavour Field
1976	Manly	38		Norths	13		Brookvale Oval
1976	Wests	23		St George	13		Lidcombe Oval
1977	Manly	0		Easts	20		Sydney Cricket Ground
1977	Newtown	10		Cronulla	37		Sydney Cricket Ground
1978	Cronulla	35		Penrith	9		Sydney Cricket Ground
1978	Norths	16		Newtown	5		Sydney Cricket Ground
1978	Easts	22		St George	6		Sydney Cricket Ground
1979	Easts	9		St George	22		Sydney Cricket Ground
1980	Easts	14		Wests	7		Sydney Sports Ground
1981	St George	23		Penrith	15		Kogarah Oval
1982	Cronulla	7		Manly	13		Endeavour Field
1982	Illawarra	45		Canberra	0		Wollongong Showground
1982	Newtown	8		Parramatta	21		Henson Park
1982	Norths	28		Easts	12		North Sydney Oval
1982	Souths	27		Wests	22		Redfern Oval
1983	St George	45		Balmain	12		Kogarah Oval
1984	Balmain	16		Souths	2		Leichhardt Oval
1984	Illawarra	10		Canberra	14		Wollongong Showground
1984	Manly	12		Norths	26		Brookvale Oval
1984	Penrith	24		Cronulla	12		Penrith Park
1984	St George	24		Parramatta	20		Kogarah Oval
1984	Easts	54		Wests	6		Sydney Sports Ground
1985	Illawarra	0		Canterbury	6		Wollongong Showground
1985	Balmain	8		Easts	12		Leichhardt Oval
1985	Canberra	44		Wests	12		Seiffert Oval
1985	Norths	10		Penrith	22		North Sydney Oval
1985	Parramatta	16		Cronulla	12		Belmore Sports Ground
1985	St George	20		Manly	16		Sydney Cricket Ground
1986	Souths	2		Canterbury	26		Sydney Cricket Ground
1987	Manly	18		Easts	10		Brookvale Oval
1988	Manly	14		Souths	28		Brookvale Oval
1989	Illawarra	8		Canberra	44		Seiffert Oval
1989	Easts	6		Canterbury	30		Sydney Football Stadium
1992	Illawarra	23		Manly	10		Wollongong Showground
1993	Balmain	26		Parramatta	2		Leichhardt Oval
1993	Knights	19		Illawarra	18		Newcastle International Sports Centre
1993	Norths	18		Souths	20		North Sydney Oval
1993	Penrith	12		Cronulla	26		Penrith Park
1993	St George	14		Brisbane	20		Kogarah Oval
1993	Easts	14		Gold Coast	12		Sydney Football Stadium
1993	Wests	4		Manly	11		Campbelltown Sports Ground
1994	Canterbury	22		Wests	16		Belmore Sports Ground
1996	Easts	62		Souths	0		Sydney Football Stadium
1998	Adelaide	12		Cronulla	22		Adelaide Oval
1998	Balmain	10		Canterbury	26		Leichhardt Oval
1998	Melbourne	22		Penrith	14		Olympic Park
1998	North Qld	16		Easts	50		Willows Sports Complex
1999	Balmain	28		Wests	16		Leichhardt Oval
1999	Canberra	21		Knights	21		Bruce Stadium
1999	Cronulla	18		St George-Illawarra	16		Endeavour Field
1999	North Qld	20		Brisbane	20		Willows Sports Complex
2000	Canterbury	22		Melbourne	44		Stadium Australia
2002	St George-Illawarra	20		Easts	24		Sydney Football Stadium
2003	Parramatta	14		Brisbane	20		Parramatta Stadium
2003	Easts	20		St George-Illawarra	24		Sydney Football Stadium
2004	Brisbane	32		Penrith	14		Lang Park
2004	Easts	11		St George-Illawarra	8		Sydney Football Stadium
2004	Wests Tigers	30		Manly	22		Leichhardt Oval
2005	Easts	24		St George-Illawarra	26		Sydney Football Stadium
2006	Easts	12		St George-Illawarra	22		Sydney Football Stadium
2007	Easts	18		St George-Illawarra	4		Sydney Football Stadium
2008	St George-Illawarra	26		Easts	6		Stadium Australia
2008	Brisbane	32		Souths	18		Lang Park
2009	Melbourne	14		Warriors	14		Olympic Park
2009	North Qld	26		Manly	12		Willows Sports Complex
2009	Easts	0		St George-Illawarra	29		Sydney Football Stadium
2010	St George-Illawarra	28		Easts	6		Sydney Football Stadium
2010	Canberra	24		Souths	26		Bruce Stadium
2010	Melbourne	40		Warriors	6		Docklands Stadium
2011	Melbourne	14		Warriors	18		Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
2011	Easts	10		St George-Illawarra	24		Sydney Football Stadium
2012	Melbourne	32		Warriors	14		Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
2012	St George-Illawarra	28		Easts	24		Sydney Football Stadium
2013	Melbourne	28		Warriors	18		Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
2013	Easts	34		St George-Illawarra	10		Sydney Football Stadium
2014	Brisbane	26		Souths	28		Lang Park
2014	Melbourne	10		Warriors	16		Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
2014	St George-Illawarra	14		Easts	34		Sydney Football Stadium
2015	Brisbane	28		Parramatta	16		Lang Park
2015	Melbourne	10		Manly	12		Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
2015	Warriors	28		Titans	32		Mt Smart Stadium
2015	Knights	24		North Qld	26		Newcastle International Sports Centre
2015	Easts	12		St George-Illawarra	14		Sydney Football Stadium
2016	Melbourne	42		Warriors	0		Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
2016	Knights	10		Manly	26		Newcastle International Sports Centre
2016	St George-Illawarra	20		Easts	18		Sydney Football Stadium
2017	Melbourne	20		Warriors	14		Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
2017	Easts	13		St George-Illawarra	12		Sydney Football Stadium
2018	Melbourne	50		Warriors	10		Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
2018	St George-Illawarra	24		Easts	8		Sydney Football Stadium