For the ‘S’ instalment of the A to Z of the NRL, we’ve examined ‘The Top Seven of Seventy’: the top seven scores of 70 points or more. It’s a rare feat (though less so in International footy, where there’s a bigger gap between the weak and strong), with the first two in 1935 (poor Canterbury), and the next five between 2000 and 2008.
Newcastle hold the eighth highest score, beating Canberra 70-32 in 2006, but they don’t make this list as they ‘only’ won by 38 points.
St George 91 Canterbury-Bankstown 6; Earl Park, 11 May 1935
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have a proud on-field history, with eight premierships: their off-field history is another story; possibly R-rated. They also hold the unflattering record of the NSWRL/ARL/Super League/NRL’s two biggest losses, in their debut year, in the space of a week: to St George by 85 points, and Eastern Suburbs by 80 points.
The Dragons scored 19 tries, with Max Hollingsworth (four), Len Kelly (three), Percy Fairall (two), Les Griffin (two), and Jim Rutherford (two) scoring doubles. Griffin added 15 goals to his two tries. The poor Berries were tryless, with three goals to Tom Carey. Then a week later…
Eastern Suburbs 87 v Canterbury-Bankstown 7; Sydney Sports Ground, 18 May 1935
…the Roosters put 87 points on them. The legendary Dave Brown scored five tries and kicked 15 goals, a total of 45 points (remember that tries were three points back then), out of 19 Roosters tries: Ross McKinnon (three), Andy Norval (two), Joe Pearce (two), Viv Thicknesse (two), and Fred Tottey (two) also scored doubles. Fred Chaplin scored Canterbury’s only try.
Despite these beltings, Canterbury (who won two games from 16) didn’t finish last; the wooden spoon went to the winless University. At the other end, Easts won the minor premiership with a 15-1 record, and beat Souths 19-3 in the premiership final.
Parramatta Eels 74 v Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 4; Parramatta Stadium, 23 August 2003
Parramatta and Cronulla both had poor years in 2003: Parramatta finished ninth with 11 wins from 24 games, while the Sharks finished 12th (of 15) with eight wins. One of the Eels’ 11 wins was a 70-point belting of the Sharks at Parramatta Stadium late in the season.
Jamie Lyon scored five of Parra’s 14 tries as the Eels scored 50 points in the second half. Adam Dykes (5/7) and Michael Witt (4/5) kicked nine goals between them.
Canberra Raiders 74 v Penrith Panthers 12; Canberra Stadium, 10 August 2008
The Noughties-era Raiders never threatened to add to the club’s three premierships, but they could destroy teams when in the mood.
It all came together one glorious Sunday afternoon in Canberra. The Raiders were having a good year, charging for the finals (a statistical oddity had them making the finals in every even-numbered year from 2004 to 2016), while Penrith would comfortably miss the finals.
Terry Campese scored 36 points (two points off equalling Mal Meninga’s haul of 38 against Easts in 1990) with four tries and 10 goals. Canberra scored 13 tries and won the second half 36-0. It’s the only time the Raiders have topped 70 points. The closest they came after that was a 60-6 win against the Wests Tigers at Bruce in 2016.
Penrith Panthers 72 v Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 12; Penrith Stadium, 7 August 2004
A year after winning the premiership, Penrith were in a good position to go back-to-back, finishing fourth in 2004, and belting a struggling Manly (who would finish third last) by 60 points.
Rhys Wesser (three), Richard Fa’aoso (two), Luke Lewis (two), and Amos Roberts (two) scored doubles as Penrith racked up 13 tries. Roberts added 10 goals to his try double. Penrith had the game won by halftime, leading 30-12.
Unfortunately for Penrith, their quest for consecutive premierships ended in a preliminary final loss to Canterbury, with the Bulldogs winning the grand final.
Brisbane 71 v Newcastle 6; Suncorp Stadium, 27 May 2007
Lang Park/Suncorp Stadium is an intimidating place for visiting team and fans; just ask poor Newcastle, who conceded 71 points against the Broncos in 2007. With Andrew ‘Joey’ Johns retiring at the start of the year, the Knights would finish second last. The Broncos, defending their 2006 premiership, barely squeezed into eighth place, and were then smashed 40-0 by Melbourne (who won the 2007 premiership before it was stripped) in week one of the finals.
Before this humiliating finals exit, over 27,000 Broncos fans watched their team score 12 tries (doubles to Tonie Carroll, Justin Hodges, and Brent Tate) against poor old Newcastle, giving mascot Buck the Bronco a nice workout.
Melbourne 70 v St George-Illawarra 10; Melbourne Cricket Ground, 3 March 2000
Anthony Mundine’s said a lot of stupid things in his career, but his infamous sledge of the Melbourne Storm would really hurt.
Before the grand final rematch in round five (the 2000 season had started early due to the Sydney Olympics) Mundine said of the Storm’s 1999 premiership, “They are a strong team, but I see us as the champions. They didn’t deserve the win.” Of course, he didn’t mention his bombed try early in the second half, with the Dragons leading 14-2, which would have arguably sealed the premiership.
An angry Storm side – more intent on revenge than Liam Neeson in one of his movies – belted Mundine and his Dragons, scoring 12 tries (doubles to Brett Kimmorley, Tasesa Lavea, and Robbie Ross). Lavea kicked eight goals for a total of 24 points.
Melbourne continued their perfect finals record (three from three), finishing sixth, but lost to third-place Newcastle. Seventh-placed Parramatta’s upset of the second-placed Roosters meant – under the confusing McIntyre System – the Storm’s season was over.
The Dragons missed the finals, with Mundine ditching rugby league halfway through the 2000 season to start his boxing career. Mundine made a decent fist of boxing (pun intended) with a 48-10 record, but also kept running his mouth, usually when he needed publicity before a big fight.
