1999 NRL Grand Final

Final game of Australian rugby league season April 2015 April 2015 1999 NRL Grand Final 1999 NRL Grand Final - Storm banner.jpg Stadium Australia, where the match was played 50pxMelbourneStorm 50pxSt George IllawarraDragons MEL Melbourne 16 STG St George 16 0 20 20 14 4 18 26 September 1999 Stadium Australia Sydney, Australia Clive Churchill Medal Brett Kimmorley (MEL) National anthem Hugh Jackman Bill Harrigan 107,999 Nine Network Ken Sutcliffe (host) Ray Warren Peter Sterling Paul Vautin Laurie Daley, Paul Harragon & Steve Roach (sideline) NRL Grand Final 1998 2000 The 1999 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 1999 NRL season. It was contested by the competition's two newest clubs: the Melbourne Storm, competing in only its second year (having finished the regular season in 3rd place); and the St. George Illawarra Dragons, in their first year as a joint-venture club (having finished the regular season in 6th place), after both sides eliminated the rest of the top eight during the finals. A new rugby league world record crowd of 107,999 was at Stadium Australia for the game. The attendance, which saw 67,142 more people attend than had done so for the 1998 NRL Grand Final at the Sydney Football Stadium, broke the record attendance for a Grand Final, eclipsing the previous record of 78,065 set in 1965 when St. George defeated South Sydney 12–8 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It was the last time that the Clive Churchill Medal was presented in a case before it was changed the following season where it is presented separately with a ribbon being worn around the neck. Due to its competitive nature, It has been regarded as one of the greatest NRL grand finals of all time.25 in 25: Ranking all the grand finals of the NRL era – cliffhangers, controversy and classics https://www.theroar.com.au/2023/01/12/25-in-25-ranking-all-the-grand-finals-of-the-nrl-era-cliffhangers-controversy-and-classics/ 2024-02-12 The Roar en-US Pre-match entertainment featured Hugh Jackman's rendition of the Australian national anthem. Background 1999 NRL season The 1999 NRL season was the 92nd season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the second to be run by the National Rugby League. With the exclusion of the Adelaide Rams and Gold Coast Chargers, and the merger of the St. George Dragons and Illawarra Steelers, seventeen teams competed for the NRL Premiership during the 1999 season, which culminated in the first grand final to be played at Stadium Australia. Melbourne Storm 1999 Melbourne Storm season The 1999 Melbourne Storm season was the second in the club's history. Coached by Chris Anderson and captained by Glenn Lazarus, they competed in the NRL's 1999 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season in 3rd (out of 17). table b Round Result W/L/W/W/L/W/L/W/W/W/W/B/L/L/L/W/W/L/W/W/W/W/W/W/L/B Ladder Position 3/7/4/3/6/5/5/4/4/4/3/3/3/4/6/5/4/7/6/6/5/4/3/2/4/3 green1 Win yellow1 Draw red1 Loss Bye blue1 gold green2 red2 Rugby League Tables St. George Illawarra Dragons 1999 St. George Illawarra Dragons season The 1999 St. George Illawarra Dragons season was the first in the newly formed joint-venture club's history. Coached by David Waite and Andrew Farrar, and captained by Paul McGregor, they competed in the NRL's 1999 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season in 6th place (out of 17). table b Round Result L/L/W/L/W/W/W/L/W/L/L/W/W/B/W/W/W/B/W/W/L/W/L/L/W/W Ladder Position 12/15/13/13/13/9/6/9/6/10/11/10/9/8/7/6/5/4/4/4/6/5/7/7/7/6 green1 Win yellow1 Draw red1 Loss Bye blue1 gold green2 red2 Rugby League Tables Teams Melbourne named an unchanged team from their preliminary final win against Parramatta. The injured Robbie Kearns and utility Brad Watts were named as the travelling reserves.THE TEAMS — GRAND FINAL The Daily Telegraph News Corporation Australia 22 September 1999 Sydney, New South Wales 73 In a bid to prove his fitness in recovering from a torn quadriceps muscle, Kearns admitted "if I was to play, it would break someone's heart in taking his spot, so I will really have to weigh things up before making a final decision."Kearns' fitness touches on sore point Newcastle Herald 22 September 1999 Newcastle, New South Wales 92 Three Storm players — Robbie Ross (corked thigh), Craig Smith (shoulder and knee) and Ben Roarty (shoulder) all spent time in recovery in the week leading up to the Grand Final, missing some training sessions, but made it through to take their places in the team.Walter Brad Star chamber - Storm threesome feel the pressure Newcastle Herald 22 September 1999 Newcastle, New South Wales 96 Kearns ruled himself out of the Melbourne team in the lead-up, making the call to sit out of the match due to his persistent thigh injury.Cockerill Ian Kearns rules himself out of Storm's biggest day The Age Fairfax Media 23 September 1999 Melbourne, Victoria 7 (Sport)Mathieson Sharon Anderson's gamble - All-forward bench, no Kearns Illawarra Mercury 23 September 1999 Wollongong, New South Wales 53 Melbourne had two players with Grand Final experience — Tawera Nikau (Cronulla, 1997) and Glenn Lazarus, who had won twice before with Canberra (1989, 1990) and Brisbane (1992, 1993).Mascord Steve Steve Mascord's Guide Sydney Morning Herald Fairfax Media 24 September 1999 Sydney, New South Wales 39 (Sport) St. George-Illawarra were also unchanged from their win over the Cronulla Sharks. The Dragons resisted the urge to change wingers, keeping Rod Wishart on the bench.Frilingos Peter RISKY BUSINESS — Waite sticks with fumbling Blacklock The Daily Telegraph News Corporation Australia 23 September 1999 Sydney, New South Wales 68 There was also no room in the team for the retiring Mark Coyne, who had not played for more than two months due to a neck injury, despite resuming training during the finals series. Prop forward Corey Pearson was also ruled out by the Dragons after he injured his shoulder in the club's qualifying final win earlier in the month.Keeble Tim Coyne misses finals berth Illawarra Mercury 22 September 1999 Wollongong, New South Wales 62 It was reported in the lead-up that Anthony Mundine had been suffering from a bout of tonsilitis, but was in no doubt of missing the match.Feed The Man fruit The Daily Telegraph News Corporation Australia 23 September 1999 Sydney, New South Wales 64Walter Brad Mathieson Sharon The Man's OK! Illawarra Mercury 23 September 1999 Wollongong, New South Wales 60 The Dragons had six players with past Grand Final experience — Wayne Bartrim, Nathan Brown, Brad Mackay, Anthony Mundine, Lance Thompson and Colin Ward. Of those players only Mundine had been on the winning side with the Brisbane Broncos in the 1997 Super League Grand Final. The Dragons would start favourite with the bookmakers, Melbourne given a 5.5 points start on FootyTAB, with the head-to-head odds of $1.45 for the Dragons, with the Storm at $2.55.Murray Dave Punters spend big on Dragons - 199 NRL grand final week Illawarra Mercury 23 September 1999 Wollongong, New South Wales 57 n center Melbourne Storm purple navy white St. George-Illawarra Dragons red white red 17 s Chris Anderson Robbie Ross 1 Craig Smith 2 Aaron Moule 3 Tony Martin 4 Marcus Bai 5 Matt Geyer 6 Brett Kimmorley 7 Glenn Lazarus (c) 8 Richard Swain 9 Rodney Howe 10 Stephen Kearney 11 Paul Marquet 12 Tawera Nikau 13 Matt Rua 14 Russell Bawden 15 Ben Roarty 16 Danny Williams 17 David Waite & Andrew Farrar Luke Patten 1 Jamie Ainscough 2 Paul McGregor (c) 3 Shaun Timmins 4 Nathan Blacklock 5 Anthony Mundine 6 Trent Barrett 7 Craig Smith 8 Nathan Brown 9 Chris Leikvoll 10 Lance Thompson 11 Darren Treacy 12 Wayne Bartrim 13 Craig Fitzgibbon 14 Rod Wishart 15 Brad Mackay 16 Colin Ward 17 Officials Bill Harrigan was appointed as the referee for the match, the sixth time he was appointed for a Grand Final match. Harrigan got the appointment ahead of fellow referee Steve Clark. The touch judges were John McCormack and Colin White, while Chris Ward was appointed as the video referee.Harrigan to referee final The Daily Telegraph News Corporation Australia 21 September 1999 Sydney, New South Wales 65 It was reported that Clark was disappointed to be overlooked for the appointment, enquiring with NRL CEO Neil Whittaker and NRL operations manager Graham Annesley whether death threats issued by a Dragons fan played any role in the decision to appoint Harrigan.Mascord Steve Clark asks NRL if death threats killed his chances Sydney Morning Herald Fairfax Media 23 September 1999 Sydney, New South Wales 42 Entertainment Before the match an "entertainment spectacular" was staged featuring Jay Laga'aia, Thelma Houston, John Swan, Mark Gable, Angry Anderson, Rick Price, Genevieve Davis, Hugh Jackman, and Vanessa Amorosi who sang her then latest single Have a Look.Getting in the mood Big League 22-28 September 1999 80 30 58-59Casamento Jo Denney Margot The Gospel according to Jay The Daily Telegraph 20 September 1998 Sydney, New South Wales 13 Houston was in Australia playing in the lead role in a production of the musical Fame.Gandon Mike Spectacular line-up of world-class performers Illawarra Mercury 25 September 1999 Wollongong, New South Wales 71 Jackman would sing the Australian national anthem prior to kickoff.Dixon Andrea This is the moment for Hugh Sun Herald 19 September 1999 Sydney, New South Wales 19 Broadcast On television, the match was broadcast live in Australia on the Nine Network under their Nine's Wide World of Sports branding. The Grand Final was, uniquely for commercial free-to-air television in Australia, broadcast without advertisements during the match itself. Subscription television channels Fox Sports and C7 Sport also had live coverage of the match.Craven Gladys GRAND FINAL 99 Sun Herald 26 September 1999 Sydney, New South Wales 4 (Supplement) Radio broadcasters included 2UE, whose Continuous Call team led by Ray Hadley broadcast more than 12 hours of coverage from the venue; while ABC Radio Sydney (then known as 2BL) also provided coverage from 1pm through 6pm local time. Youth broadcaster Triple J also provided coverage of the match with Roy & H.G. commentating. Match details St. George Illawarra were up 14–0 at half time, with a converted try and penalty goal to Craig Fitzgibbon, and a converted try to Nathan Blacklock. However, an Anthony Mundine knock-on over the try line early in the second half proved to be a major turning point in the match, with Melbourne running in tries through Tony Martin and Ben Roarty and winger Craig Smith kicking two penalty goals. An unconverted try to Dragons captain Paul McGregor couldn't stem Melbourne's momentum, with Craig Smith kicking the Storm to within four points of the Dragons at 18–14. In the 77th minute the Storm forced the Dragons to a goal line dropout. Melbourne's halfback Brett Kimmorley then bombed to Craig Smith's wing. Dragons ce Jamie Ainscough, anticipating a Melbourne try, caught Smith in a head-high tackle over the try-line,The consequences of a later, similar, head-high tackle would eventually cost Ainscough his career (see Gleeson, Martin, "On this Day: 26 August 2002: Wigan player has tooth removed – from arm", The Guardian.com, 22 August 2009). resulting in Smith being knocked unconscious and, in the process of falling to the ground, Smith knocking on. Referee Bill Harrigan requested video referee Chris Ward adjudicate on the decision.Prichard Greg Ward given keys to make right call http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/ward-given-keys-to-make-right-call-20120918-264ry.html 19 September 2012 The Sydney Morning Herald 19 September 2012 The Melbourne Storm were granted a penalty try, drawing them level with the Dragons. Being a penalty try, the subsequent conversion was taken from directly in front of the posts. Matt Geyer was successful in the conversion and the Storm, for the first time in the match, pulled ahead of the Dragons and took out their first grand final 20–18.1999 NRL Grand Final http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/seasons/nrl-1999/grand-final/melbourne-vs-st-george-illawarra/summary.html rugbyleagueproject.org Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson and Bill Bates 15 June 2016 The Melbourne side thus became the quickest expansion team to win a premiership, eclipsing the Canterbury side who won the 1938 premiership in just their fourth season. It was the last game of champion prop and captain Glenn Lazarus, who retired after a remarkable fifth grand final victory (having won premierships with the Canberra Raiders in 1989 and 1990 and with the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 and 1993). For traditional St. George fans the loss was hard to take. The club were unsuccessful in their four previous visits to the grand final (1985, 1992, 1993 and 1996) and had not won a premiership since 1979. It would not be until 2010 that they would return to another Grand Final, in which it would win its first premiership as a joint-venture.Crawford Adrian Dragons romp to sweet 16th http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/03/3028251.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20101005233229/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/03/3028251.htm dead 5 October 2010 13 June 2011 ABC News 4 October 2010Read Brent Wayne Bennett's Dragons blow away critics to end 31-year drought http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/dragons-blow-away-critics-to-end-31-year-drought/story-e6frg7mf-1225933577023 13 June 2011 The Australian 4 October 2010 The grand final attracted a peak television viewership of over 600,000 in Melbourne, a traditional Australian Rules football stronghold. Cockerill Ian Eye of the Storm The Sunday Age 4 1999-10-03 http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&docID=news991004_0014_7918 2009-10-06 Across Australia according to AC Nielsen figures, the match was watched by 2,440,500 viewers on television, an increase of 34% from the previous year.Paxinos Stathi NRL out to take Victoria by Storm Sydney Morning Herald Fairfax Media 28 September 1999 Sydney, New South Wales 44 Melbourne's 14-point comeback set the record for the largest successful comeback in Grand Final history, until it was surpassed by Penrith's comeback in the 2023 NRL Grand Final. Scoreboard #f1f5fc 1999 NRL Grand Final Sunday, 26 September 15:00 AEST (UTC+10) Melbourne Storm Melbourne 16 St George 16 St. George-Illawarra Dragons 20–18 0–14 20–4 ReportMiddleton David Rugby League 2000 2000 Harper Sports Sydney 0732265576 3Martin 53Roarty 57Smith (penalty) 75 4Smith pen 42 59 pen 64 (3/4)Geyer 77 (1/1) 3Fitzgibbon 13Blacklock 29McGregor 56 3Bartrim 15 31 (2/3)Fitzgibbon pen 23 (1/1) Stadium Australia, Sydney 107,9991999 NRL Grand Final https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/seasons/nrl-1999/grand-final/melbourne-vs-st-george-illawarra/summary.html Rugby League Project 8 March 2023 Bill Harrigan Colin White, John McCormack Chris Ward Clive Churchill Medal Brett Kimmorley (Melbourne) Opening matches Two opening matches were played on the ground prior to the Grand Final — the Jersey Flegg Cup final between Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Newcastle Knights, followed by the First Division final between Balmain Tigers and Parramatta Eels.Prentice Tim YOUR GUIDE — STORM V DRAGONS The Daily Telegraph News Corporation Australia 24 September 1999 Sydney, New South Wales 66 Canterbury won the Jersey Flegg Cup final 18–12 over Newcastle,Moore success as young Bulldogs win the day against gallant Knights Sydney Morning Herald 27 Sep 1999 32 Mascord Steven FairfaxNo luck for Knights - More finals heartbreak for Burraston's brave boys Newcastle Herald 27 Sep 1999 30 Keeble Brett Fairfax while Parramatta won the First Division final 44–8 over Balmain.Potter David Classy Eels claim first division title Courier Mail News Corporation Australia 27 September 1999 Brisbane, Queensland 4 (Sport) 1999 NSWRL Jersey Flegg Cup Grand Final Sunday, 26 September 10:30 AEST (UTC+10) Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Canterbury 16 Newcastle 16 Newcastle Knights 18–12 12–0 6–12 3 Amidy Barton Hall 3 Byrne (3/3) 2 Gambrill Perry 2 Johnston (2/2) Stadium Australia Sydney, New South Wales Tony Archer Brian Bonnie, Kevin Russell y center Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs blue white blue Newcastle Knights red blue white 17 s y Kevin Moore Nathan Barry Matthew Amidy Andrew Emelio Matthew Utai Luke Barton Nathan Murphy Dean Byrne Aaron Findlay Adam Brideson Ryan O'Hara (c) Sam Angianga Andrew Johnston Mark Leafa Glenn Hall Grant Wells Tim Murphy Brad Morrin Steve Burraston Matthew Petersen Ben Gambrill Andrew Johnson Paul Franze Justin Ryder Rob Smith Ben Jeffries (c) Josh Perry John Morris Mark White Clint Newton Matt Jobson Justin White Todd Polglase Russell Richards Adam Woolnough Matt Kennedy Jersey Flegg Big League 22-28 September 1999 80 30 1999 NSWRL First Division Grand Final Sunday, 26 September 12:30 AEST (UTC+10) Parramatta Eels Parramatta 16 Balmain 16 Balmain Tigers 9Whereat (2)McGuire Barnes Cross Bandy Patterson Moran Lyon 4Marsh (3/6)Whereat (1/1)Moran (0/1)Patterson (0/1)Barnes (0/1) 44–8 24–4 20–4 2Magnus O'Donnell 0Webber (0/1)Parker (0/1) Stadium Australia Sydney, New South Wales Kelvin Jeffes Martin Ryan, Tom Peek y center Parramatta Eels gold blue gold Balmain Tigers black #f60 black 17 s y Daniel Anderson Casey McGuire Shane Whereat Nathan Barnes Tim Patterson Nathan Cross 14 Jason Bell (c) PJ Marsh Adam Wheeler Dennis Moran Andrew Ryan Charlie Strachan Ian Hindmarsh Jay Bandy Jamie Lyon 23 Mitchell Sargent Wes Maas Jason Power David Bayssari Garth Wood David Parker 18 Jacin Sinclair Justin Yeo Nathan Webber Brendan Magnus Shayne Dunley Michael Ostini Ben Galea (c) Adam Starr Troy Wozniak Brad Smith Steve Price David Wright 15 Richard Villasanti 17 Tere Glassie 19 Luke O'Donnell 20 NSWRL 1st Division Big League 22-28 September 1999 80 30 See also 1999 Melbourne Storm season 2000 World Club Challenge References External links 1999 NRL Grand Final at NRL.com Match replay at NRL.com 1999 Grand final Category:Melbourne Storm matches Category:St. George Illawarra Dragons matches