For the first time in the history of the Australian Rugby League, no Sydney based team made it to the NRL Grand Final. It is not a good time for the traditional supporters of the national football codes, as AFL has had a similar situation for the last three years.
It is not that surprising it hasn’t happened before for the NRL, as for a long time there were no interstate teams, and then for a while only one. Not only is there no NSW team in the final, traditional rival city Melbourne is the favourite to win.
Only ten years ago no one would have ever dreamed that a rugby league team from Victoria would even be playing in the competition, let alone winning it.
Unfortunately for me and other Melbourne supporters, the game was won narrowly by the Brisbane Broncos. As with most grand finals, it was a hard-fought game. Some would say that Melbourne should have won as there were a couple of refereeing decisions that could / should have gone the Storm’s way which would have reversed the result.
But it is often that way, and I don’t want to be a sore loser. The winner on the scoreboard at the end will always be remembered long after the controversy of an unpaid try has gone away.
Related Pages: Rugby League, AFL
