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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3.
St George Illawarra Dragons (2005)
Coach Nathan Brown and his highly-fancied St George Illawarra Dragons were under the pump after losing their first four games of 2005, conceding over 40 points on three occasions.
An unforgettable Anzac Day win over 2002-04 Grand Finalists Sydney Roosters โ with Matthew Head setting up a late leveller for Matt Cooper before drilling the sideline conversion for a 26-24 result โ proved a catalyst for a revival.
The Saints won 15 of their last 18 regular-season fixtures to only miss out on the minor premiership to Parramatta on for-and-against, but their charge ended with an upset preliminary final loss to Wests Tigers.
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’.