The Bulldogs celebrated their 1995 grand final win over Manly on Sunday while Canberra wound the clock back 12 months earlier with their ninth win on the trot.
Retro rugby league was all the rage for the ‘90s heavyweights with Canterbury smashing the Sea Eagles 42-4 at Allianz Stadium on the day they celebrated their famous upset premiership win three decades ago.
Canberra extended their winning streak by thumping Newcastle 44-18 to make it the first time they had achieved the feat since ‘94 when Immortal centre Mal Meninga signed off with a premiership.
That triumph is the Green Machine’s most recent trophy in the cabinet but their halfback that day, Ricky Stuart, has this year’s team in top spot after 21 rounds and more than a fighter’s chance of breaking their lengthy title drought.
1. Shades of ‘95 as Dogs
The Dogs’ premiership three decades ago was one of the more remarkable ones in premiership history considering they finished the regular season in sixth, becoming the first, and to this day, only team to win from that low in the finals bracket.
Their victory over the Manly machine in the title decider was a huge boilover because Bob Fulton’s minor premiers had lost just two matches all year but with a slice of luck and plenty of pedigree Bulldogs mongrel, they unsettled the Silvertails 17-4.
This year they are one of the title favourites and although they have not tasted premiership success since 2004, there is an expectation that they can go all the way.
Whether they will or not remains to be seen but they have the firepower, a healthy roster, on-field cohesion and off-field camaraderie.
It’s a far cry from the rabble that coach Cameron Ciraldo inherited a couple of years ago.
On the same, kinda, relaid turf of the old Sydney Football Stadium where they lifted the premiership trophy 30 years ago, this was a statement win – the Dogs showed that they have the muscle to match anyone in the middle as well as the flair to rack up points in style.
Sunday’s rout meant Canterbury-Bankstown became the third club after the Roosters and Rabbitohs to register 1000 wins in premiership history.
Bronson Xerri scores a try. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)
2. Haumole’s early return ends in agony
Anthony Seibold rolled the dice on Haumole Olakau’atu making a comeback from his shoulder injury ahead of schedule and the gamble backfired.
The star second-rower reeled out of an attempted tackle on Viliame Kikau early in the second half and Manly medicos confirmed that he had suffered a dislocation.
Surgery is all but certain this time around and he won’t be seen on a playing field again until 2026.
This loss has dropped Manly out of the top eight with the Dolphins replacing them via the two points from their bye.
After upsetting the Storm in Melbourne last week, the Sea Eagles played like a team that was still feeling the pinch from that herculean effort.
Injuries have weakened their pack all season and while they had plenty of willing workers rolling up the sleeves against the Dogs, they had no punch with their only strike weapon, Olakau’atu, making just four runs before injury ended his involvement early.
Three of their next four matches – Roosters, Raiders and Dolphins – are against fellow finals contenders and it’s hard to see the Sea Eagles running the gauntlet in the closing six rounds to jag a playoff berth.
3. Galvin switch gaining momentum
The Lachie Galvin late-season switch is starting to gather steam with the former Wests Tigers playmaker combining brilliantly with halves partner Matt Burton to slice and dice the Sea Eagles.
Jason Saab made a meal of a Burton bomb early in the proceedings to present prop Sam Hughes with a rare try and when Galvin, Connor Tracey and Stephen Crichton spun the Steeden wide with sizzling speed, winger Jacob Kiraz made it 12-0 within the half-hour.
A Turbo injection of speed helped Saab hit top gear to score in the corner in his 100th NRL match less than three minutes from half-time to cut the gap to eight at the break.
But another right-side raid created by Galvin led to Crichton sending Kiraz over again in a carbon copy of their first-half strike.
Bronson Xerri was forced off in the first half when he copped one stray boot from Viliame Kikau and then another more impactful one as his teammate spun around while trying to make a tackle.
But he had better luck in the second half, crossing twice as the scoreline blew out to 30-4 as Manly’s overworked defenders started running out of petrol.
Enari Tuala touched down and Hughes doubled his career try tally to four when he notched another in the 76th minute.
4. Raiders dish out another Viking slap
You can’t buy confidence and the swagger that the Raiders have at the moment would be worth its weight in gold.
Stuart deserves credit for instilling belief in his team from the get-go this season even though they were expected to finish at the bottom of the ladder.
The fact that they are first with six rounds left is testament to the snowball effect of a few early-season upsets which turned into a strong 7-3 start to the year which is now a 16-3 record courtesy of their nine-game winning streak.
Just like last weekend against the Eels, they were made to work for their win but after a late flurry blew out the scoreline to 40-16 last week, they transformed an 18-18 half-time deadlock into a 28-point triumph without conceding any damage on the scoreboard in the closing 40 minutes.
Apart from Hudson Young and Joe Tapine, no Raider would be considered in the top five in the NRL in their position but such is the belief in this side, there is no chink in their armour from the No.1 jersey to the last player on the bench.
Kaeo Weekes turned in yet another impressive display at fullback, scoring a try, setting up another and linking with his outside backs to expose Newcastle’s defence on either edge.
5. O’Brien unhappy with Bunker over decoy call
The struggling teams who know they are not going to make the finals often get to this point in the season and start to give up the ghost.
That was not the case for Newcastle in Canberra on Sunday for the first 45 minutes but once the Green Machine got on a roll, the visitors simply didn’t have the class to stay with their in-form opponents.
Long-term injuries to Kalyn Ponga and Fletcher Sharpe have blunted their already rusty attack and the players knew deep down that they were going to find it difficult to win, let alone be able to stem the flow of points.
Knights coach Adam O’Brien said his team should not have stopped in defence when they thought Xavier Savage was held on the ground in the lead-up to Tom Starling’s try in the 48th minute which kicked off a 26-0 Raiders avalanche in the second term.
“We stopped on last play there. That deflated us a bit and we’ve got to be able to overcome that,” he said, bemoaning the fact that they conceded four tries on sixth-tackle plays.
“I won’t make excuses for our guys. I completely disagree with the Bunker overturning the other one,” he added in reference to the next try to Matt Timoko.
Bunker official Grant Atkins ruled Jack Cogger tried to milk a penalty after making a poor defensive read on a decoy runner even though Noah Martin ran past his outside shoulder.
“He clearly went to the outside shoulder and they say he played at the man. If he’s not there? If he’s inside him, he’s not playing at the man.
“Grant got it really right when we stopped in the line but he got that one wrong.”
The Kick: Bring back Retro Round
The NRL calendar is already crowded with five themed rounds so why not add one more.
Celebrate the game’s past with a dedicated Retro Round. The 1995 celebrations helped attract a massive crowd to Accor Stadium on Sunday and an official Retro Round where every team wears a commemorative playing strip would be a surefire hit with the fans.
Even the newest club, the Dolphins, has a rich history in the Queensland Cup and when the Perth Bears enter the comp the year after next, they could bring back one of the old iconic North Sydney uniforms – the Avco Finance 1980s masterpiece would get my vote.
It’s not that hard to come up with an occasion for each team to celebrate, although the Sea Eagles are not as partial to memories of ‘95 as the Bulldogs are so it could be a two-yearly cycle where each club gets to choose which blast from the past they’d like to recognise.
And of course the NRL and clubs could make a buck out of it by creating retro style jerseys. Perhaps they could bring back old-school prices as well so fans don’t have to shell out nearly $160 for their retro threads.
