2014 NRL Grand Final

Australian rugby league match September 2014 April 2026 2014 NRL Grand Final 2014 NRL Grand Final logo.svg 100px 50pxSouth SydneyRabbitohs 50pxCanterbury-BankstownBulldogs SOU South Sydney 16 CBY Canterbury 16 6 24 30 0 6 6 5 October 2014 ANZ Stadium Sydney Clive Churchill Medal Sam Burgess Australian National anthem Simon Gleeson Shayne HayneGerard SuttonSteve Carrall (Touch Judge)Jason Walsh (Touch Judge) 83,833 Nine Network Ray WarrenPhil GouldPeter SterlingAndrew Johns NRL Grand Final 2013 2015 The 2014 NRL Grand Final was the concluding and premiership-deciding match of the 2014 NRL season. Played on the evening of Sunday 5 October 2014 at ANZ Stadium, the match was contested by the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. South Sydney won the match with a decisive 30 points to 6 victory, ending a 43-year premiership drought by claiming their 21st title. South Sydney forward Sam Burgess, who suffered a broken cheekbone from the game's opening tackle, was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal as the best player on ground. The match was preceded by the 2014 National Youth Competition Grand Final and the 2014 NRL State Championship. British-American musician and songwriter Slash and American alternative rock band Train performed at the event as pre-match entertainment, and Simon Gleeson performed the Australian National anthem. The match was broadcast live throughout in Australia by the Nine Network. Background History Founded in 1908, Souths had won more premierships—20—than any other club. However, they had not appeared in a Grand Final since 1971. Over the subsequent decades, the club had battled financial problems before being excluded from the National Rugby League competition ahead of the 2000 season due to a failure to meet the league's criteria for inclusion. After litigation and high-profile public campaigns, the club was readmitted into the competition for the 2002 season. For Canterbury, founded in 1934, the Grand Final was the club's 18th. Their most recent Grand Final appearance was a 2012 defeat to Melbourne, with their last premiership coming in 2004 against the Sydney Roosters. The clubs had met each other in just one previous Grand Final in 1967, with South Sydney prevailing 12–10. 2014 season 2014 NRL season 2014 South Sydney Rabbitohs season 2014 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs season thumb|ANZ Stadium, where the match was played South Sydney finished the regular season in third position, before defeating Manly and the Sydney Roosters in the finals series. Canterbury finished in seventh place, and made the grand final after successive sudden-death victories over Melbourne, Manly and Penrith. Both sides had met each other twice during the course of the season, in rounds 7 and 25. The two teams were tied with one each, with Canterbury winning the first encounter 15–14, and South Sydney winning the second encounter 21–14. Teams South Sydney RabbitohsPositionCanterbury Bankstown BulldogsGreg Inglis FullbackSam PerrettAlex Johnston WingCorey ThompsonDylan Walker CentreJosh MorrisKirisome Auva'a CentreTim LafaiLote Tuqiri WingMitch BrownLuke Keary Five-eighthJosh ReynoldsAdam Reynolds HalfbackTrent Hodkinson (c)George Burgess PropAiden TolmanApisai Koroisau HookerMoses Mbye Dave Tyrrell PropJames Graham (c)Ben Te'o 2nd RowJosh JacksonJohn Sutton (c) 2nd RowTony WilliamsSam Burgess LockGreg EastwoodJason Clark InterchangeTim BrowneKyle Turner InterchangeDale FinucaneChris McQueen InterchangeDavid KlemmerTom Burgess InterchangeFrank PritchardMichael MaguireCoachDes Hasler Both teams' first choice hookers were ruled out from playing in the week leading up to the Grand Final: For South Sydney, Issac Luke was suspended for a dangerous throw in the Preliminary Final against Sonny Bill Williams of the Sydney Roosters and was replaced by Apisai Koroisau.South Sydney's Issac Luke charged with dangerous throw, could miss NRL Grand Final http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/south-sydneys-issac-luke-charged-with-dangerous-throw-could-miss-nrl-grand-final-20140928-10n4if.html The Sydney Morning Herald Fairfax Media 28 September 2014 5 October 2014 For Canterbury, captain Michael Ennis withdrew after suffering a fractured foot in the Preliminary Final against the Penrith Panthers; he was replaced by Moses Mbye as hooker, and the captaincy was shared between James Graham and Trent Hodkinson.Australian Associated Press NRL grand final: Michael Ennis ruled out by Canterbury Bulldogs due to fractured foot http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-04/bulldogs-rule-ennis-out-of-nrl-grand-final/5790644 ABC News Australian Broadcasting Corporation 4 October 2014 5 October 2014 Match report #f1f5fc 2014 NRL Grand Final Sunday, 5 October 19:35 AEDT (UTC+11) South Sydney Rabbitohs South Sydney 16 Canterbury 16 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 30 – 6 6–0 24–6 Report 5Johnston 20G Burgess 56Auva'a 73Reynolds 78Inglis 80 5Reynolds pen 27 57 pen 64 75 79 (5/7)S Burgess (0/1) 1Williams 49 1Hodkinson 50 (1/1) ANZ Stadium, Sydney 83,833 Shayne Hayne Gerard Sutton Steve Carrall, Jason Walsh Bernard Sutton, Luke Phillips Clive Churchill Medal Sam Burgess (South Sydney) The first half of the match was a low-scoring affair. There was only one try—to South Sydney's Alex Johnston—while Adam Reynolds kicked a penalty goal to give Souths a 6–0 half-time lead. Canterbury equalised ten minutes into the second half through a converted try to Tony Williams. George Burgess restored Souths' lead shortly thereafter, before further tries to Kirisome Auva'a, Reynolds and Greg Inglis in the final ten minutes of the match. The final score was Souths 30, Canterbury 6.http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-match-report/nrl-grand-final-south-sydney-win-first-title-in-43-years-with-victory-over-canterbury-bulldogs-20141005-10qmr5.html NRL Grand Final: South Sydney win first title in 43 years with victory over Canterbury Bulldogs Chammas Michael 5 October 2014 Sydney Morning Herald 5 October 2014 Souths' Sam Burgess played the entire match, despite fracturing his cheekbone and eye socket in contact in the opening tackle with James Graham.http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/sam-burgess-also-has-fractured-eye-socket-20141007-10rboc.html Sam Burgess also has fractured eye socket MacSmith James 7 October 2014 Sydney Morning Herald 7 October 2014 He was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal, as the man of the match in the grand final. Souths player Dave Tyrrell was stretchered from the field after he was knocked out in the 68th minute following a head clash with Canterbury player James Graham.http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-05/burgess-inspires-rabbitohs-to-end-title-drought/5791666 Sam Burgess inspires South Sydney Rabbitohs to end title drought with 30-6 NRL grand final win over Bulldogs ABC News 5 October 2014 5 October 2014 Leslie, Cameron Fullback Greg Inglis, who scored the final try of the game in the final minute of play, won his first valid premiership ring after previously featuring in the Melbourne Storm's 2007 and 2009 sides which had their premierships stripped from them due to salary cap breaches.Greg Inglis win first legitimate NRL premiership in South Sydney Rabbitohs win over Canterbury Bulldogs, ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 6 October 2014 Opening Games U20s Grand Final 2014 National Youth Competition (rugby league) season #eeeeee Sunday, 5 October 1:30pm (AEDT) New Zealand Warriors U20s New Zealand Warriors 16 34 – 32 Brisbane 16 Brisbane Broncos U20s ANZ Stadium, Sydney NRL State Championship 2014 NRL State Championship 2014 New South Wales Cup 2014 Queensland Cup #eeeeee Sunday, 5 October 3:50pm (AEDT) Penrith Panthers Penrith 16 28 – 32 Northern Pride 16 Northern Pride ANZ Stadium, Sydney Entertainment thumb|right|Train (pictured in 2025) headlined the pre-match entertainment. List of NRL Grand Final performances Former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash performed "Bent To Fly" from World on Fire, with the accompanying vocal track by Myles Kennedy being played over loudspeaker.Ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash to tour Australia for World On Fire album https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/exguns-n-roses-guitarist-slash-to-tour-australia-for-world-on-fire-album/news-story/690b3eb2fa2aad30686d49c2c3b526e8 News.com.au News Corp Australia 14 September 2014 5 October 2014 The performance of the song was accompanied by a montage of the 2014 NRL season on ANZ Stadium's screens. Slash also performed the guitar riff from Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child o' Mine", before closing the set with an improvised solo. Train performed as the main act, playing "Hey, Soul Sister", "Angel in Blue Jeans", and "Drops of Jupiter". Match Officials Shayne Hayne and Gerard Sutton were the match referees. It was Hayne's fourth grand final as he has officiated in the 2009, 2010 and 2013 grand finals. It was Sutton's first grand final as referee. Steve Carrol and Jason Walsh were the touch judges, and the video referees were Bernard Sutton and Luke Phillips. The standby referee was Ben Cummins and the standby touch judge was Brett Suttor. Records The 2014 NRL Grand Final was the most-watched club game in the history of rugby league, with a five-city average television audience of 2.597 million, with a peak of 3.098 million viewers. Combined with 1.354 million regional viewers tuning in, the game had an average audience of 3.951 million viewers, and a national peak audience of 4.650 million viewers.http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/nrl-gf-the-mostwatched-match-ever-20141006-3hdq1.html NRL GF the most-watched match ever 6 October 2014 http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/rabbitohs-win-is-the-highest-rating-nrl-grand-final-ever-20141006-10qqmd.html Rabbitohs' win is the highest rating NRL grand final ever 5 October 2014http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/rabbitohs-2014-nrl-grand-final-win-the-mostwatched-game-in-rugby-league-history/story-fni3fbgz-1227081472109?nk=ab7edc6e4e330a8ca6d1338dbdf76df3 February 2022 The crowd of 83,833 was the largest attendance at a sporting event at Stadium Australia since its 2001 reconfiguration. Post-match 2015 World Club Challenge Souths' premiership victory qualified them for the 2015 World Club Challenge, their first ever appearance in the end of year event, in which they beat St. Helens RFC 39-0 at Langtree Park. See also Sports 2014 NRL season NRL Premiership winners References 30em External links news on this topic South Sydney wins first premiership in 43 years 2014 NRL Finals Series website 2014 Holden Cup Grand Final 2014 Category:Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs matches Category:South Sydney Rabbitohs matches Grand Final