The NRL finals are where rugby league dreams are made…and destroyed.
The post-seson pressure-cooker proved too much for these unfortunate individuals, whose September follies have gone down in rugby league infamy.
Steve Mavin (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
Few players are associated with one unfortunate display to the same extent as flamboyant South Sydney winger Steve Mavin and his shocker in the 1987 minor semi.
Canberra centre Peter Jackson terrorised the Rabbitohs rookie, who fluffed three Jackson kicks as the Raiders raced to a 16-0 lead after 15 minutes, forcing Souths coach George Piggins to hook the crestfallen Mavin.
The youngster changed into his civvies and left the SFS before halftime, listening to the death throes of the 46-12 rout on the radio at home.
Daryl Halligan (North Sydney Bears) and Anthony Xeureb (Penrith Panthers)
Kiwi sharpshooter Halligan is recognised as arguably the greatest goalkicker in premiership history, but an off day with the boot in his first season after switching from rugby union cruelled long-suffering North Sydney’s bid for a grand final berth.
Halligan’s struggles ultimately took the spotlight off an absolute shocker from Penrith’s replacement fullback Anthony Xeureb.
The Bears fought back from a 12-0 deficit in the 1991 major semi against the Panthers to level the scores at 14-all with Halligan bagging an intercept try from a brain-explosion pass from Xuereb, who then allowed another Bears try by leaving a bouncing ball in his in-goal..
But a one-from-five effort with the boot from Waikato 15-a-side convert Halligan – including a penalty miss in the dying minutes – allowed the Panthers to sneak home 16-14 despite scoring only two tries to Norths’ three.
Halligan went on to win a premiership with the Bulldogs in 1995 and unforgettably booted them into a grand final in 1998, before becoming the first player to score 2,000 first-grade points. Xuereb’s career would consist of just 34 games in the top flight.
Paul Carige (Parramatta Eels)
Paul Carige crafted a reputation as an occasionally brilliant, but regularly erratic, performer at wing and fullback for Parramatta – and the latter qualities shone through in the Eels’ devastating 1998 preliminary final loss to Canterbury.
The blue-and-golds had already coughed up an 18-2 lead with 11 minutes to go when Carige’s in-goal gaffe gave up a line dropout inside the final 30 seconds.
Carige then collected a missed field-goal attempt as the siren sounded and mystifyingly booted the ball downfield, after which Bulldogs five-eighth Craig Polla-Mounter’s long-range shot at a one-pointer fell just under the cross-bar.
The 24-year-old was unable to capitalise on his reprieve during extra-time, taking the ball over the sideline twice via diabolical errors of judgement.
“He has made some of the dumbest plays I’ve ever seen in the game of rugby league,” exasperated Eels great Peter Sterling said in commentary. Carige never played first grade again.
Jason Bulgarelli (Canberra Raiders)
Robust centre Bulgarelli came from the clouds to cement a backline spot for top-four surprise packet Canberra late in 2003, but he was partially responsible for the Raiders making a straight-sets exit from the finals.
The Raiders and Warriors had struggled for 20 minutes of the second half to break a 16-all semi-final deadlock – and with five minutes to go it seemed certain the Green Machine were headed for a prelim when half Mark McLinden threaded through a grubber near the try-line.
Bulgarelli only had to claim the bouncing ball, which sat up kindly for him, but the ball agonisingly rebounded out of his hands. Stacey Jones slotted a field goal a couple of minutes later to end the Raiders’ campaign.
Ashton Sims (Brisbane Broncos)
Wholehearted forward Sims’ three-season stint in Brisbane is chiefly remembered for a costly error in the Broncos’ dramatic semi-final loss to the Melbourne Storm in 2008.
The Broncos led 14-12 with less than 90 seconds of a pulsating encounter left when Sims had the ball jolted free by a punishing Sika Manu tackle. Two plays later, Greg Inglis dived over in the corner to break the Broncos’ hearts.
Manu Vatuvei (Warriors)
Enigmatic winger Vatuvei had a night to forget in the Warriors’ 40-10 loss to the Broncos in week one of the 2011 finals.
In a performance reminiscent of his infamous outing at Parramatta Stadium in 2007, ‘The Beast’ made five handling errors to repeatedly put the visiting Warriors on the back foot.
A consolation four-pointer wasn’t enough to erase the damage of a mistake-riddled display, but in trademark fashion Vatuvei responded with a blinder in the semi-final upset of Wests Tigers a week later and the preliminary final boilover in Melbourne.
Dale Copley (Brisbane Broncos)
Twenty-year-old Copley’s horror start in the 2011 preliminary final against Manly seriously dented the hopes of a Brisbane side already reeling from the injury withdrawal of retiring legend Darren Lockyer.
The wing tyro accidentally knocked the ball from teammate Jack Reed’s grasp as he was about to score an early equaliser, before Copley coughed up possession 10 metres out from the Broncos’ line to gift a try to Sea Eagles opposite Will Hopoate.
Copley was also caught out defensively as Hopoate extended Manly’s lead to unassailable 16 points in the second stanza, although the hapless youngster did cross for the last try of the Broncos’ brave 26-14 loss.
Tony Williams (Manly Sea Eagles)
A key component in Manly’s 2011 premiership success, rampaging back-rower Williams’ last match for the club was arguably his worst.
A ‘T-Rex’ dropped ball led to Melbourne’s first try in the 2012 preliminary final, while bad defensive errors opened the door for two further four-pointers in the Storm’s resounding 40-12 win.
Williams’ running game also went missing – carrying the ball just five times – to end his Sea Eagles tenure on a sour note before reuniting with Des Hasler at Canterbury.
Shaun Kenny-Dowall (Sydney Roosters)
One of the Sydney Roosters’ most consistent players of a highly successful error, Kenny-Dowall’s opening-minute brain explosion set his side on course for a heavy defeat at the hands of Brisbane in the 2015 preliminary final.
The rangy Kiwi – a grand final hero two years earlier after playing all but five minutes of the Roosters’ win over Manly with a broken jaw – fielded Ben Hunt’s first kick of the night near the sideline on his own 30, before inexplicably floating a pass towards his fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck.
Broncos No.1 Darius Boyd plucked it out of the air to race away for a try and the Roosters never recovered, crashing to a 31-12 loss.
Solomone Kata (Warriors)
Shaun Johnson unfairly copped the lion’s share of the blame for the Warriors’ 27-12 elimination final exit at the hands of Penrith in 2018, but the seeds of defeat were sown by the injury exit of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck during the first half…and a horror period from game-breaking centre Kata.
The nuggetty powerhouse conceded a penalty for a diagonal play-the-ball, coughed up the pill seconds after RTS’s injury and clumsily rushed out of the line to allow opposite number Peachey to score his second try in the ensuing set as a 10-point lead descended into a six-point halftime deficit.
Patrick Herbert (Gold Coast Titans)
Former Warriors centre Herbert found a home with 2021 finals bolters Gold Coast Titans, but his two-season stint for the club will unavoidably be remembered for one flashpoint moment.
After earlier costing the Titans a try in their elimination final against the Roosters when involved in an obstruction mix-up with David Fifita, Herbert had the opportunity to atone as the underdogs threatened to pull off a last-minute try from deep in their own territory.
But Herbert ignored unmarked Titans winger Corey Thompson and went for the try-line himself, then threw a wayward flick pass that consigned his team to a heart-breaking, season-ending 25-24 loss.
Taane Milne (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
The erratic and regularly ill-disciplined Milne was already having a forgettable 2022 preliminary final for Souths, making a modest 66 metres and committing two errors – one of which almost gifted Penrith a try.
Having coughed up a 12-0 lead, the Rabbitohs were still alive at 24-12 down with 16 minutes left when Milne produced a horrific swinging arm on Panthers forward Spencer Leniu to join the ranks of players to be sent off in a finals match.
Penrith coasted to a 38-12 victory.