Rugby league boffins decades from now will look at the 2023 NRL premiership and marvel at the disparate scorelines between North Queensland’s and Wests Tigers’ two regular-season encounters.
The long-suffering Tigers enjoyed one of the greatest nights in Round 12 when they steamrolled the Cowboys 66-18, only to endure the heaviest loss suffered by any team in 88 years when the teams met in Townsville just six weeks later, crashing to an incomprehensible 74-0 loss.
In the wake of that extraordinary reversal, relive some of the most notable season series turnarounds the premiership has witnessed.
Canberra Raiders v Parramatta Eels (1993)
Also-rans Parramatta Eels were the giant-killers of the 1993 premiership’s early rounds, ruining defending champs Brisbane Broncos’ ANZ Stadium grand opening with a 12-8 boilover and stunning star-studded Canberra Raiders 10-8 at Parramatta Stadium three weeks later.
But another overall dismal Eels campaign was summarised by a horrific 68-0 loss to Canberra at Bruce Stadium in the penultimate round – at the time the third-biggest winning margin of all time. The Raiders ran in 12 tries despite losing Ricky Stuart to a broken leg during the onslaught.
South Queensland Crushers v Western Suburbs Magpies (1997)
The Crushers’ long, slow death march to extinction in 1997 included a 32-12 loss to Tom Raudonikis’ Magpies at Campbelltown during a 1-10 run to start the ARL premiership.
The Brisbane-based club’s fate was already sealed before it hosted Wests – who only required a win by any margin to make the finals – in the final round. But in one of the season’s biggest shocks, the Crushers pumped the shellshocked Magpies 39-18 at Suncorp Stadium.
The result knocked the Magpies out of playoffs contention, while the Crushers’ last-ever game created club records for their highest score and biggest winning margin, as well as a new mark for most individual points in a game courtesy of fullback Clint Schifcofske’s haul of 18.
South Sydney Rabbitohs v Newcastle Knights (1999)
For South Sydney fans, 1999 is chiefly remembered for their beloved club’s controversial expulsion from the NRL. But the Rabbitohs actually enjoyed one of their best seasons of the decade on the paddock – sitting eighth on the ladder with 10 wins after 19 rounds.
Ragtag Souths’ spirited efforts including a sizzling 27-4 win over premiership heavyweights Newcastle, just their third win in 16 matches against the Knights.
But the Rabbitohs’ seven-match losing streak to see out their fateful campaign featured what was to that point the proud club’s second-biggest loss in 92 seasons, a 60-0 rout at Marathon Stadium.
Mark Hughes scored three tries and Andrew Johns 24 points as the Knights ran riot just three months after the teams’ previous clash.
Melbourne Storm v St George Illawarra Dragons (2000)
The standard bearer for in-season rivalry reversals until the Cowboys and Tigers decided to shatter some records in recent weeks, the dual grand final rematches between the Storm and Dragons in 2000 were extraordinary.
Saints linchpin Anthony Mundine lit the fuse for the clubs’ Round 5 clash, labelling Melbourne “pretenders”. The defending premiers responded with an astonishing 70-10 win at the MCG – the highest score recorded by any team in 27 years.
In Round 18, with Mundine’s shock defection to boxing a few months old, the Dragons snapped a three-match losing streak with a 10-try, 50-4 rout of the Storm. The 106-point turnaround between the fledgling clubs’ matches remain immortalised as one another’s biggest-ever losses.
Wests Tigers v Melbourne Storm (2001)
It’s not often remembered Wests Tigers’ sophomore season – with Terry Lamb taking the coaching reins – began in promising style, including a 40-10 demolition of 1999 premiers and 2000 finalists Melbourne Storm, the joint venture’s highest score and biggest win to that point.
A week later, John Hopoate’s wandering digit was a precursor to the Tigers’ season imploding, with 50-plus defeats to Newcastle and Parramatta soon following.
But the Tigers’ campaign hit an on-field low point in Round 18 at Docklands, where the Storm – who would go on to miss the playoffs for the first time – destroyed them 64-0. Matt Geyer scored three of the Storm’s 11 tries from fullback and Matt Orford racked up 24 points.
Northern Eagles v New Zealand Warriors and Penrith Panthers (2002)
Northern Eagles’ rollercoaster three-season existence in every facet was encapsulated on the field by the swing of their results against the Warriors and Penrith Panthers in the joint venture’s final season.
The Warriors obliterated the doomed Eagles 68-10 in Round 5, Stacey Jones nabbing a hat-trick and Ivan Cleary scoring 28 points. The Eagles rallied in a mid-season purple patch, though, including a 28-24 win over the Panthers.
Approaching the last fortnight of the regular season, the Eagles stayed in playoffs contention with an 18-16 upset of the minor premiership-bound Warriors. But a week later – when a win would have put them in the finals – the Eagles inexplicably crashed to a 68-28 defeat to the 13th-placed Panthers.
It was viewed as a fitting end for a tumultuous merger.
Cronulla Sharks v North Queensland Cowboys (2005)
Cronulla got off to an absolute flyer in 2005, winning eight of its first 10 games – including a 38-6 smackdown of rising force North Queensland at Shark Park in Round 5.
But the wheels fell off for the Sharks, who despite still squeaking into the finals won only four of their remaining 14 regular-season games.
The rot set in with a Round 13 visit to Townsville, with the Cowboys inflicting a 56-14 scoreline on the Sharks as Paul Bowman, Matt Sing and Justin Smith all picked up doubles, and Matt Bowen, Johnathan Thurston and Steve Southern shared the Dally M points.
Sydney Roosters v North Queensland Cowboys (2007)
The warning signs that Chris Anderson’s stint as Sydney Roosters coach was not going to work out came early, with a trip to Townsville in Round 2 of the 2007 season garnering a 43-6 thrashing at the hands of a Johnathan Thurston- and Matt Bowen-inspired North Queensland outfit.
The clubs met at the SFS less than three months later and the Roosters turned the tables in spectacular fashion, powering to a 64-30 victory. Shaun Kenny-Dowall scored three tries in just his 10th NRL game as the Roosters scored their most points in a match in 72 years.
Melbourne Storm v Canberra Raiders (2013)
The Storm’s title defence began with a 7-0 run, which was halted when the Raiders came to visit and pulled off a 24-20 upset. It was the 2012 champs’ first loss in 16 games, with Canberra centre Blake Ferguson producing a two-try, man-of-the-match performance.
The Raiders’ season unravelled, however, and in Round 21 they suffered the biggest loss in their history – and the second-biggest by a home team in premiership history – courtesy of the Storm’s 68-4 rampage. Winger Sisa Waqa and Mahe Fonua grabbed hat-tricks in the 12-try spree.
North Queensland Cowboys v Wests Tigers (2014)
The unprecedented 2023 turnaround wasn’t the first time the Cowboys have flipped the season’s script on the Tigers.
In a promising 5-2 start to 2014 for Mick Potter’s Tigers, they subdued the Cowboys 16-4 at Campbelltown – though it was soured by man-of-the-match Robbie Farah’s dislocated elbow.
Fast-forward four months and the Tigers were in the middle of a six-match losing streak and on their way to a 13th-placed finish when the finals-bound Cowboys carved out a devastating 12-try, 64-6 victory in Townsville.
The Cowboys’ back-five all dotted down for a total of nine tries combined, with centre Matthew Wright bagging a treble.
Newcastle Knights v New Zealand Warriors (2020)
The Warriors’ 2020 campaign opened with an insipid 20-0 loss in terrible Newcastle conditions just as the New Zealand government was announcing it was closing the country’s borders due to the mushrooming COVID-19 situation.
Six months, a coach sacking, multiple moves and a lot of heartache later, the Warriors met the Knights again in Tamworth, the jettisoned club’s temporary training base before the premiership recommenced.
The Warriors produced one of the most memorable performances of the pandemic-ravaged season, smacking the finals-bound Knights 36-6 at Scully Park. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was untouchable, with the skipper and winger Adam Pompey both collecting doubles after they led by only two at the break.
New Zealand Warriors v Gold Coast Titans (2021)
The start of Nathan Brown’s tenure as Warriors coach flattered to deceive, his side shutting down the Titans 19-6 in their 2021 season opener at Gosford. It would prove to be the Warriors’ second-biggest win under Brown and one of only two times they would hold their opposition to one try.
The teams met again on the Gold Coast in the final round, the Warriors’ faint finals hopes having been extinguished a week earlier and the Titans requiring a win by 12 points or more to sneak into eighth spot.
The Titans ultimately cruised into the playoffs, destroying the Warriors 44-0. Fullback Jayden Campbell scored two tries and three Dally M votes in just his sixth NRL appearance as the visitors imploded, Jazz Tevaga and Matt Lodge finishing the match in the sin-bin after a late melee.
North Queensland Cowboys v Wests Tigers (2023)
Under the pump after an 0-7 start to the season and with an underperforming offence, Wests Tigers’ new regime under the returning Tim Sheens and right-hand men Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah appeared to click on a memorable night at Leichhardt Oval.
The maligned Tigers hammered 2022 preliminary finalist North Queensland 66-18, piling on 11 tries with unheralded types Jahream Bula, Starford To’a and Stefano Utoikamanu stealing the show. It seemed a corner turned for the Tigers and the end of the struggling Cowboys’ finals hopes.
But the Tigers returned to their losing, low-scoring ways, while the Cowboys sprung into action with consecutive wins over big guns Melbourne, Penrith and Souths.
The clubs met again just six weeks later and the Cowboys exacted the most brutal vengeance imaginable, eviscerating the Tigers 74-0. The 13-try avalanche represented the third-biggest winning first-grade margin of all time, while the 122-point turnaround shattered all previous records.