NRL Round 5 featured stirring breakthrough wins for previously winless Manly and North Queensland, renewing hopes of a finals push after most fans and critics had drawn a line through their names for 2021.
In the third edition ofย Zero Tackleโs Top 8, This Warriors Life's Will Evans counts down the best revivals horror starts during the NRL era.
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6. Manly Sea Eagles (2009)
The defending champs were rocked during the 2009 pre-season when the NRL suspended star fullback Brett Stewart over an alleged sexual assault (he was later found not guilty in court). Manly sunk to an 0-4 start โ including losses to 2008 also-rans the Bulldogs, Penrith and Newcastle โ before Stewartโs return inspired a Round 5 breakthrough against Wests Tigers.
Stewart succumbed to a four-month injury layoff a week later, but the Sea Eagles nevertheless carved out a 14-win campaign and snared fifth spot after finishing the regular season with four straight victories. Their bid for back-to-back titles came unstuck via a week one defeat to the Storm and the fickleness of the McIntyre Finals System.
Parramatta 2009 doesn’t even get a mention?!?!
5 wins from 18 rounds and go on to make a GF… that’ll do me!
I take your point – but this list was based purely on teams that lost a bunch of games at the start, going 0-3, 0-4, 0-5 etc.
The ’09 Eels won two of their first three so I didn’t consider them for this. Absolutely the greatest late-season charge since Souths’ Miracle of ’55 – in fact I put them at No.2 in the ‘Late-season Rallies’ top 10 in my book ‘The NRL Book of Lists’.