Canberra Raiders 1989 grand final: looking back at the 'greatest ever' win. Just two minutes in to extra time, a Chris O'Sullivan field goal put the Raiders one point ahead of the visibly flagging Tigers. The nineteen year old Bradley Clyde was a deserved man of the match. “At that time I was only young so I wasn’t even thinking about coaching really,” Walters said. That year they had been swept up in the hoopla of the occasion, joining street parades and public receptions thrown in the lead-up to the grand final. Meninga, who was 29 when the Raiders won that premiership, was a veteran of the side. This article needs additional citations for verification. Download the new FOX SPORTS App to get the latest news and scores from your NRL team. Meninga's conversion levelled the scores and took the game into extra time. At the beginning of the 1980s, the New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL) was looking to expand its Sydney-based premiership into other areas of the state. A hint of nostalgia crosses Walters’ face when he is shown the 1989 team photo, with the faces of those six young men highlighted. This was published 6 years ago. Having been there the previous year and having been in a position to win the game ... it was just not to be." Sironen, one of the Tigers' best, who coach Warren Ryan controversially substituted out of the game with 15 minutes to go, later said, "If I'd had a rope on Sunday afternoon I would have strung myself from the goalpost, I felt so bad. Legend: H = Home, A = Away, N = Neutral; W = Win, L = Loss, D = Draw, Rep = Representative Status, App = Starting Appearances, Int = … After suffering through the presentation of trophies to Meninga and his team, the Tigers gladly retreated to their dressing room. Deep down many knew they'd probably missed their chance." Instead of being there to rescue them, the emergency vehicles were waiting to salute them. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. Canberra Raiders 1989 grand final: looking back at the 'greatest ever' win To celebrate the Canberra Raiders 25th anniversary of their historic 1989 … This is also known as Online Behavioural Advertising. "I said to them, 'With the greatest of respect, please hold that off until we win [a grand final]' and the headline in The Mirror the following day was, 'No, Prime Minister'," McIntyre said. Raiders won 19 to 14 at Sydney Football Stadium. Includes official live player and team stats. Tigers fans, while devastated, were proud of their team. Fortunately the players, who had with them the trophy spoils of that day's 19-14 NSW Rugby League grand final win against the Balmain Tigers, couldn't have been more wrong. While the likes of Clyde and halfback Ricky Stuart were relative youngsters, overall the Raiders were an experienced, battle-hardened unit by grand final day, having stared down nine sudden death matches in a row to make the Sydney Football Stadium decider. Their vintage didn't exactly inspire the confidence of young footballers. With something like that, you've worked towards it for years. You can also subscribe via iTunes or for Android users, listen on the iPP Podcast Player app. But if the Raiders and their fans were in nirvana, the Tigers were in a living hell. “There’s also been some others — Dean Lance and Ivan Henjak, is Wayne Collins in that photo? Manly legend Steve Menzies joins Ben Ikin, Ben Glover and guest host Zac Bailey as they preview State of Origin 2 and discuss the Sea Eagles’ rebuild issues. Canberra 19 (Tries: Belcher, Ferguson, Jackson; Goals: Meninga 3; Fld Goal: O'Sullivan 1) Quite a few of us were getting a bit older and there was no doubt that '89 was our peak," Pearce said. Pearce and teammates, including champion prop Steve Roach, were said to be still speechless an hour after the match. The impact on the Tigers was long lasting, and for some the memory still hurts. He credits Sheens largely for the career paths chosen by he and his four comrades. Fast forward to 2016 and the collective achievements of Kevin Walters, Mal Meninga, Craig Bellamy, Ricky Stuart, Laurie Daley, and coach Tim Sheens look quite incredible. While many aspects of the game surprised him on review, particularly its pace, he needed no reminding of his dejection in its aftermath. Some had been boozing since the early hours of the day, in contrast with the players who had been forced to sit in a 'dry' aircraft for almost an hour at Canterbury airport before their flight home. "Emotionally it was very difficult to bounce back from back-to-back grand final losses. “I liked the way that his relationship with the players was really strong, and I think you need that to be a good coach. Twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March till August, resulting in a top five of South Sydney, Penrith, Balmain, Canberra and Cronulla (who finished equal with Brisbane but beat them in a play-off for fifth) to battle it out in the finals. "The club was packed and they cheered us as we came in. Among those six men are the past three Australian coaches, the past four NSW coaches, and the past two Queensland coaches. When their next shot came two years later, the Raiders weren't going to make the same mistake. Before his current role he was ACT Editor for The Canberra Times, and before that deputy sports editor. "And we knew it was a monumental achievement for the city which had been right behind us since 1982." “To get the best out of your players you’ve got to build strong relationships and that’s what Tim did that I remember more than most.”. "I remember thinking that we'd created history [and] that no one could take that away from us," Clyde said [in 2009]. According to the Fox Sports Lab it’s unlikely any squad of players, especially in the State of Origin era, has ever produced so many representative coaches. Details of Canberra Raiders in the NSWRL 1989 season. By the match day they were emotionally drained and, in the end, well beaten by a fine Manly side. Walters, reminiscing about the 1989 side, recalls Meninga was one of the players who seemed destined to go on to bigger and better things. “Looking back Tim was a great coach of that team and had a great career, so I guess if you do want to go on and become a coach it’s nice to pick up things from other coaches that have taught you along the way. A total of 62 State of Origin coaching caps, and 46 Test matches in charge of the Kangaroos, cover the group. Canberra's first ever premiership; the first Grand Final won by an out-of-Sydney club; the first that went to extra time. It was only when he reached ground level that he glimpsed Laurie Daley famously overhead pass the ball to John 'Chicka' Ferguson, who sidestepped three Tigers and barged over for the most famous try in Raiders history. Walters, 21 years old at the time, hadn’t given thought to the prospect of one day coaching a football team, let alone his home state. There's nothing you can compare it to, but I suppose the nearest thing you can come to it is what Warren Ryan said: 'It's like losing a member of your family'." The little known Queenslander charged ahead, stepping, palming and spinning out of tackles before carrying two Tigers defenders over the line. Stuart's favourite pair had been stolen that week. © 2005-2020 Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson and Bill Bates. When the siren sounded, the ecstatic Raiders embraced and jumped and fist pumped in the centre of the one-year-old stadium. Walters admits he never would have guessed so many of his Raiders teammates would forge such impressive coaching careers. “It’s quite incredible when you look back at it,” Walters told foxsports.com.au. Fox Sports Lab breaks down the 1989 Raiders coaching credentials. ... Tigers v Raiders - Grand Final, 1989. But you would never have imagined just how far the Raiders’ class of 1989 would come. Midway through the frenetic second half, fullback Gary Belcher scored for the Raiders, but it seemed too little too late, especially given the Tigers were soon to push further ahead to 14-8. “Certainly Mal, you always thought that Mal being the legend he was in Canberra he would go on and try to coach somewhere,” he said. A NOTE ABOUT RELEVANT ADVERTISING: We collect information about the content (including ads) you use across this site and use it to make both advertising and content more relevant to you on our network and other sites. November 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) They’ve all had different coaching stints in the NRL as well. Mal Meninga in action during the 1989 grand final. Despite the brave talk on the day about coming back better the next season, the fact was the Tigers had lost two grand finals in a row. The Clive Churchill Medal winner on the day, lock Brad Clyde, remembers a sense of having achieved something huge for his home city, which was, and still is to a lesser degree, derided by many outsiders. They were experienced, focused and in form, and they needed to be against the previous year's beaten grand finalists. Whether they were in Sydney or at home in Canberra, about 15,000 supporters cheered in commemorative T-shirts they'd bought in the days beforehand. John-Paul Moloney is the Group Managing Editor of Australian Community Media. However the game started to go very badly for Canberra 12 minutes in when Tigers winger James Grant intercepted a pass from prop Brent Todd and streaked to the line to score. As much as it was possible in a city that was, as one newspaper put it, "festooned with green, blue and white streamers ... [where] there is green hair, green bread, green fountains and [where] the Raiders' absurd theme song has been flogged to death on every radio station", the players kept a lid on their mood. McIntyre remembers leaving his seat to walk downstairs to commiserate with the team. “They have all sort of surprised in different ways.”. He’s just one game into his new job in charge of the Maroons and, so far so good, he holds a 100 per cent win rate.