Finding The Decades Greatest | Thebigtip

Trying to find the greatest rugby league team of the last decade might be a little too difficult. But you can still try, right ? A little imagination never hurt anyone.

Four elimination games with those winning teams facing off in semi final games and than a final. The Melbourne Storm’s winning sides of 2007 and 2009 were not considered. 

The 2000’s
ELIMINATION GAME TWO
2001 NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
vs.
2004 CANTERBURY BULLDOGS

Knights: R. O’Davis, T. Tahu, M. Gidley, M. Hughes, A. MacDougall, S. Rudder, A. Johns ©, J. Perry, D. Buderus, M. Parsons, S. Simpson, B. Kennedy, B. Peden. Bench: D. Abraham, P. Marquet, G. Grief, C. O’Brien.
Coach: Michael Hagan

Bulldogs: L. Patten, H. El Masri, B. Harris, W. Tonga, M. Utai, B. Anasta, B. Sherwin, M. O’Meley, A. Perry, R. Asotasi, W. Mason, A. Ryan ©, T. Grimaldi. Bench: C. Hughes, S. Bill Williams, R. Maitua, J. Thurston.
Coach: Steve Folkes

The second elimination game pitted the mongrel and determination of the 2004 Bulldogs up against the sheer brilliance of Andrew Johns and the Newcastle Knights. Could the Canterbury pack dominate their opposition and contain Johns?

The opening exchanges were vicious with both forward packs sorting each other out with some huge collisions before Willie Mason caught Josh Perry with a high tackle. Johns line finder and an indiscretion in the ruck from Mark O’Meley two plays later saw Johns opt for a shot at penalty goal. The Knights skipper slotted the shot from thirty four metres to give the Knights the lead.

9th MINUTE: JOHNS PENALTY GOAL (KNIGHTS 2-0)

Canterbury soon found themselves back in the arm wrestle and a pin point 40/20 attempt from Brent Sherwin had Adam MacDougall scurrying back. MacDougall did indeed stop the ball from going out but in the process knocked the ball on. The Bulldogs finally had some field position.

A perfectly placed bomb saw Willie Tonga put enough pressure on Robbie O’Davis for the Knights full-back to knock the ball dead and the Bulldogs had a repeat set of six.

The Bulldogs went for their old trick shot as Sherwin grubbered at the posts for a flying Hazem El Masri. But El Masri stumbled and could not keep his feet and the ball bounced over the top of him. Luckily for the Bulldogs, Luke Patten was backing up and dived on the loose ball.

19th MINUTE: PATTEN TRY, EL MASRI GOAL (BULLDOGS 6-2)

Some light footwork at the line from Roy Asotasi saw the Kiwi international break through the line and offload to Braith Anasta who only had to draw O’Davis to send Patten away for another try. But the final pass went to ground and the Knights survived.

The Knights plan to isolate Sherwin one-on-one finally paid dividends with Johns floating across field and finding a straight running Ben Kennedy on the halfway line. Kennedy only had to look to his right and he would have found Matt Gidley. But Kennedy ran away from his support and was finally brought down from behind by Corey Hughes and Anasta.

The Bulldogs desperately defended their line for three consecutive sets of six and were rewarded when a Sean Rudder grubber kick went dead.

But the ’Dogs were soon back on their own line when Matt Utai knocked on from dummy half.

Danny Buderus took the ball from the ruck soon after and darted out to his right and dummied to Steve Simpson with the Canterbury line falling hook, line and sinker for the dummy. Buderus crashed over and the video referee confirmed that the hooker had planted the ball. 

35th MINUTE: BUDERUS TRY, JOHNS GOAL (KNIGHTS 8-6)
HALF-TIME: KNIGHTS 8-6

A knock on from the kick-off from Rudder saw the ball spit out onto the Knights twenty metre line and a desperate Buderus dived on the ball from an offside position. The penalty was given and El Masri slotted the penalty goal from just off centre.

42nd MINUTE: EL MASRI PENALTY GOAL (8-ALL)

Sonny Bill Williams was thrown into the game on 50 minutes and the Bulldogs would reap the rewards instantly as Williams put a devastating shot on Mark Hughes which jolted the ball free.

The Bulldogs would attack the Knights line for what seemed an eternity and after five consecutive sets of six, the Knights somehow survived.

A deft offload minutes later from Asotasi set Patten away down the left and quickly shifted to Williams who had room to move and perfectly drew O’Davis to put Sherwin away under the posts.

61st MINUTE: SHERWIN TRY, EL MASRI GOAL (BULLDOGS 14-8)

With just on ten minutes to play, Canterbury began to play for a field goal and inched closer to the Knights line. A thirty metre attempt from Anasta barely missed to the right and was soon followed by another shot from Sherwin which slid under the crossbar.

The Knights needed something special and it came in the form of Timana Tahu and a seemingly straight forward scoot from dummy half. Tahu jinked at the line and powered his way through Johnathan Thurston and down to the Bulldogs twenty metre line. The following play saw Johns place a cross field kick for MacDougall who outjumped his opposite only to knock the ball backwards and into the waiting arms of Billy Peden. The sideline conversion from Johns levelled the scores with five minutes to play.

74th MINUTE: PEDEN TRY, JOHNS GOAL (14-ALL)

The game was on a knifes edge as both teams tried to jostle their way into field position for one last shot at field goal to secure the win.

A 45 metre attempt from Anasta missed badly to the left while Johns missed from 35.

The Bulldogs would seemingly have the last shot as they started their set of six from their own 30. But on the second tackle, Sherwin drifted to his left and picked up a flat running Reni Maitua with the ball bobbling in his hands. The referee deemed that Maitua had knocked the ball into the Knights player and ruled a knock on.

Newcastle scurried to the scrum to stop the clock with thirty seconds to play. Kennedy took the ball from the back of the scrum and ran open and was brought down thirty out. The second play went back to the right with Steve Simpson fighting his way forward.

Johns was set behind the play for the final shot and Canterbury were onto it as they rushed the Knights skipper. But Buderus swivelled back to his left and found Rudder wide open who slotted the field goal and the victory.

80th MINUTE: RUDDER FIELD GOAL (KNIGHTS 15-14)
FULL-TIME: KNIGHTS 15-14
MAN OF THE MATCH: DANNY BUDERUS

Next Elimination Game:
2002 SYDNEY ROOSTERS
Vs.
2006 BRISBANE BRONCOS