Winning a premiership is the ultimate in rugby league.
Remember what Mal Meninga said after the 1989 NSWRL Grand Final: “This is greatest thing that’s ever happened to me in football. Beats playing for Australia, beats playing for Queensland. This is what it’s all about, winning the grand final.’
Or Matthew Johns after the 1997 ARL Grand Final: “Better than Lego.” This quote has been immortalised in the introduction for The Matty Johns Podcast.
Sadly, some clubs haven’t experienced premiership success, so, in the interests of your iso-entertainment, this edition of the A to Z of the NRL will examine the unlucky ones. To be fair, we’ll only include those who’ve played at least 10 years in the top grade.
Annandale Dales (1910 to 1920)
The “Dales” played 11 seasons in the NSWRFL, never made the finals and collected three wooden spoons. Their highest win tally was five in 1910 and 1911. It got a lot worse. From 1917 to 1920, they won just two games from 55, including zero in 1918 and 1920. They also lost 16 straight games from 18 July 1917 to 10 May 1919. They suffered their biggest loss in their winless final season: 52-3 to Wests.
Auckland/New Zealand Warriors (1995 to current)
When the New South Wales Rugby League expanded to the Australian Rugby League in 1995, the Auckland Warriors were included to try and grow rugby league beyond Australia and capitalise on the fierce Trans-Tasman Test rivalry.
While the Warriors have been exciting at times, they’re yet to win a premiership. They never made a finals series as the Auckland Warriors, but had more success when they became the New Zealand Warriors in 2001. Their best year was 2002, winning the minor premiership and playing their first grand final. Their next grand final was 2011, when they charged from sixth to meet Manly-Warringah in the decider. They’ve only made one finals series since (finishing eighth in 2018, when they were knocked out by Penrith in the elimination final).
To be honest, it’s hard to see them pushing for a premiership anytime soon, especially as they haven’t played a home game since 2019.
At least they’ve made plenty of money from their 1,322,996 jerseys since 1995.
Glebe Dirty Reds (1908 to 1929)
While the Reds never won a premiership, they had a reasonable record over 22 seasons in the NSWRFL. They were runners up four times (1911, 1912, 1915, 1922) and won one minor premiership (1911). They did better in the City Cup, winning in 1913 and runner up six times. At the end of the 1929 season, the New South Wales Rugby Football League General Committee voted 13–12 to expel them. Overall, they played 297 games, winning 163, drawing six and losing 128.
They returned to rugby league in 2017, merging with Concord-Burwood United to become the Glebe-Burwood Wolves, and playing in the Ron Massey Cup.
Gold Coast-Tweed Giants/Seagulls/Gladiators/Chargers/Titans (1988 to current)
The Gold Coast Rugby League club has had nearly as many identities as actors who’ve played Batman, but they’ve been more George Clooney than Michael Keaton with their on-field record.
It started with the Giants, who finished second-last in 1988, before becoming the Seagulls, and dropping Tweed from their name.
While their Queensland cousins the Brisbane Broncos became an early-nineties powerhouse, the Seagulls went backwards (despite having Wally Lewis as captain-coach), collecting three wooden spoons from 1991 to 1993.
Then came the Gladiators; while they won the 1996 World Sevens Plate final, they were replaced by the Chargers before the ARL season proper. After finishing 18th (out of 20) in 1996, the Chargers benefited from the stand-alone ARL Optus Cup, finishing seventh (the Gold Coast’s first finals appearance) and beating Illawarra in the first week of the finals. Their dream ended with a heavy loss to the Sydney City Roosters.
The Chargers finished second-last in 1998 before they were kicked out.
The Gold Coast were without a team for a decade before the Titans entered the NRL in 2007. They were originally called the Dolphins before the Redcliffe QRL club threatened severe legal action.
The Titans finished third in 2009 and made the preliminary final in 2010 (losing to the Roosters). Had the Titans made the grand final, would they have given the minor-premiers St George-Illawarra a contest infront of a pro-Sydney crowd? If nothing else, it would have been a fairytale grand final appearance, joining Parramatta in 2009, the Warriors in 2011, North Queensland in 2017, and Canberra in 2019.
It’s been a swift decline since then, only making two finals series’ (2016, 2021), and collecting two wooden spoons (2011 and 2019). However, some big signings and an improved 2021 suggests better times ahead at Robina.
Illawarra Steelers (1982 to 1998)
While they have one of the best club songs, and – along with Canberra – began the NSWRL’s expansion from suburban Sydney, they never won a premiership as the Steelers. The closest they came was 1992, finishing third. They beat St George in the major preliminary semi-final, lost to Brisbane in the major semi-final, and lost to the Dragons in the preliminary final.
They also made the 1997 ARL finals but – as mentioned in the Gold Coast section – lost to the Chargers.
At least they won the 1992 Tooheys Challenge (in their brilliant white jerseys: see below), beating Brisbane 4-2.
The Steelers merged with St George in 1999, becoming the St George-Illawarra Dragons. While their jersey is the traditional Dragons Red V, they incorporate the Steelers in their away jerseys, and play regularly at Wollongong’s WIN Stadium. They’ve have played in two grand finals, beating the Roosters in 2010, and losing to Melbourne in 1999.
From 2012 to 2017, the Illawarra Cutters played in the NSW Intrust Super Premiership. They won the comp in 2016 and beat Burleigh in the NRL State Championship. They became St George-Illawarra in 2018, inline with the NRL side. The stand-alone Steelers played in the 2021 SG Ball Grand Final, losing to Canberra.
University (1920 to 1937)
The “Students” collected 10 wooden spoons in 18 seasons, not surprising considering they were amateurs playing against professionals. They lost 42 straight games from April 28, 1934 to August 29, 1936.
They did make the 1926 NSWRL Grand Final though, losing 11-5 to Souths.
AND THE REST…
Adelaide Rams (1997 to 1998)
Hunter Mariners (1997)
Newcastle Rebels (1908 to 1909)
Northern Eagles (2000 to 2002)
South Queensland Crushers (1995 to 1997)
Western Reds (1995 to 1997)
