It is Grand Final Week 2025, and every yarn, quote and angle is being pulled out for every last click and newspaper flick.
So, here’s my shout.
What’s in a number?
Specifically, the number five.
If you know me, you will know I’m a believer of repetition in numbers and especially in rugby league.
The NSWRL began in 1908, so we start at 1915 with the eye of the tiger.
In 1915, the Tigers claimed their first premiership.
Ten years later, the Magpies were runners up to South Sydney.
By 1935, the Rabbitohs were back but dismantled by cross-city rivals Eastern Suburbs 19-3.
1945 saw the Roosters reign supreme again – the challengers this time were the Balmain Tigers.
Fast forward to 1955 and Souths were at it again but this time against my beloved Bluebags.
In a nail-biting decider at the Sydney Cricket Ground, between Jack Rayner’s Rabbits and Dick Poole’s Newtown, the Bluebags took an 8-4 lead into the SCG sheds, only for Souths to outlast them 12-11.
Souths lost the grand final to St George in 1965 before the Chooks beat the Dragons in 1975.
St George lost the 1985 grand final to Canterbury who then turned the peculiar trend on its head.
Canterbury won both the 1985 and 1995 grand finals.
The Tigers and Magpies were back in 2005 – this time in the form as Wests Tigers.
On an unforgettable night at the Olympic Stadium, Wests Tigers made history against a fellow grand final baby in North Queensland.
It took the Cowboys exactly ten more years to get back to the first Sunday night in October.
You guessed it… 2015.
And against the Brisbane Broncos.
It’s now 2025 and this Sunday, the Melbourne Storm roll into town.
To play the Broncos…
