BY CURTIS WOODWARD

@woodward_curtis

NRL grand final victories are sometimes set in stone, with the foundations placed by men before them that will live to their last breath without the premiership ring on their finger that others may have.

To win a title, the hard yards are done long before September or the first Sunday in October.

Sometimes the hard work is done the year before.

Here we name some legends of the modern game that helped ‘mould the gold’ but never got to enjoy the end result.

BEN KENNEDY – SEA EAGLES 2008

Many will remember Ben Kennedy as a Newcastle Knights legend that won a premiership alongside Andrew Johns in 2001. The hard-running second-rower didn’t make his way to Manly until 2005 and only played two seasons and retired at the end of 2006. But there are famous scenes of ‘BK’ in the crowd at the 2008 grand final celebrating as the Eagles smashed the Storm 40-0. Manly godfather Ken Arthurson loved Kennedy and went on record saying that Kennedy helped change the club. So much so, Kennedy made the Manly 60th anniversary legends team.

Round 10: 2023 Beetson Raudonikis Medal

DARREN SENTER / SCOTT SATTLER – WESTS TIGERS 2005

Both men played for Wests Tigers in 2004 but retired at the end of the season. Senter was originally a Balmain Tigers player that went into the merger and eventually became captain. The firebrand hooker was even on-field to celebrate as Wests Tigers defeated the Cowboys in their fairytale premiership celebrations. Sattler, a Panthers great, finished his career at Wests Tigers after winning a title at Penrith 2003 but his professionalism can’t be understated in helping shape some players that went on to win the competition.

ROY ASOTASI / MICK CROCKER – RABBITOHS 2014

When Russell Crowe bought the Rabbitohs, one of the first men he targeted was Bulldogs tyro Roy Asotasi. A fierce, loyal prop that spent a long time at the Bulldogs before switching to the Rabbitohs and played 133 games before announcing he was leaving Redfern halfway through the 2013 season to go to the Super League. Another chiseled veteran that helped shaped the Bunnies was Roosters and Storm great Michael Crocker. The Queensland forward worked his arse off for the Rabbits between 2009 and 2013 but announced his retirement due to injury and also just missed out on the premiership a year later.

MATTHEW JOHNS / TONY BUTTERFIELD – KNIGHTS 2001

Icons of the Newcastle club and both played in the historic 1997 decider at the Sydney Football Stadium. Butterfield retired at the end of the 2000 season after a heroic career that started as a foundation player of the Knights way back in 1988. Johns’ departure from the club sparked backlash in the region with the skillful half squeezed out of the salary cap and banished to the Super League. While playing for Wigan, he watched on as his brother and the Knights won the club’s second premiership.

WILLIE TALAU / NIGEL VAGANA / STEVE REARDON – BULLDOGS 2004

These guys may still feel unlucky, but the NRL shanked all the club’s premiership points midway through the 2002 season for cheating the salary cap. Steve Reardon debuted for the Dogs in 1991 and played off the bench in the 1998 decider. For a long time, Willie Talau and Nigel Vagana were the most lethal centre combination in the game. The barnstorming Talau debuted for Canterbury in 1998 and played in that year’s grand final but couldn’t get a contract for 2004. Vagana, one of the classiest outside backs of the modern era, took a contract with the Sharks and played 61 games for Cronulla over three seasons.

JOHN CROSS – PANTHERS 2004

John Cross was already a Steelers legend when he left the club at the end of the 1997 season and joined a Panthers club still in a hangover from the early 1990s and the fairytale premiership and the tragic death of Ben Alexander. Cross gave his guts through some tough times and was a leader for the club and played 109 games for the mountain men. In a swan song, Cross went back to the merged St George Illawarra club, and watched on as the Panthers won the title in 2003.

Special mentions: Brent Tate 2015, Michael Monaghan 2008, Braith Anasta 2013.

@woodward_curtis