Manly centre Tolu Koula’s sensational match-winner against Canterbury in Sunday’s elimination final instantly earned a place in the pantheon of great NRL post-season tries.
We’ve hand-picked the greatest and most iconic finals tries from the four-point era (1983-present), with the selection criteria a combination of importance to the outcome and out-and-out brilliance.
Eric Grothe (Parramatta, 1983)
‘The Guru’ scored arguably the most barnstorming individual try in the game’s history in the major preliminary semi against Canterbury.
Eels wing giant Grothe took an offload from Steve Ella and headed in-field, fending and bumping off five Bulldogs defenders before crashing over in the tackle of Steve Mortimer at the end of an iconic 60-metre run.
Andrew Farrar (Canterbury, 1985)
A gruelling semi-final between defending champs Canterbury and upstarts Balmain was locked 8-all at fulltime – and the teams appeared destined for a Tuesday replay after the first 19 minutes of extra-time failed to produce a scorer.
But rookie fullback Michael Potter chanced his arm on the Bulldogs’ 30-metre line and sent centre Farrar through a gap. Farrar brushed off Ross Conlon, outlasted the chase of John Davidson and took on Test fullback Garry Jack to plunge over in the corner for the match-winner.
Ellery Hanley (Balmain, 1988)
Balmain’s astonishing sudden-death charge from a fifth-place playoff all the way to the grand final had British centre superstar Ellery Hanley’s magic weaved throughout.
‘The Black Pearl’ scored in each of the Tigers’ do-or-die matches – including the only try of a 9-2 preliminary final victory over minor premier Cronulla.
Receiving the ball after brilliant lead-up work from Paul Sironen, David Brooks and Mick Neil, Hanley powered away to finish off a 60-metre special in the second half and seal an unlikely spot in the premiership decider.
Tony Iro (Manly, 1990)
Manly’s dazzling attacking armoury helped subdue Balmain 16-0 in the minor preliminary semi in 1990, most notably in a breathtaking 80-metre movement finished off by giant Kiwi winger Tony Iro.
Five-eighth wizard Cliff Lyons drifted across the Tigers’ defensive line, feigned a long ball before popping a short pass over the top for a flying Michael O’Connor.
The captain raced into Balmain’s half, before producing a brilliant move to get around Garry Jack. The fullback came at O’Connor again and reeled him in, but O’Connor unloaded for Iro, who crashed over in the tackle of Test teammate Gary Freeman.
Frank Stokes (Manly, 1991)
A piece of trademark sleight of hand from Cliff Lyons released powerhouse centre Kevin Iro into space during the first half of Manly’s epic 1991 minor semi loss to Canberra.
The big Kiwi brushed off Raiders fullback Gary Belcher, then offloaded inside as he was swamped by the cover tackle of Mal Meninga, with nuggetty Indigenous winger Stokes backing up to finish off a 60-metre special.
Terry Lamb (Bulldogs, 1995)
The sixth-placed, Super League-ravaged Bulldogs’ irresistible surge to one of the unlikeliest premiership triumphs of all time claimed another heavyweight scalp in the preliminary final, blitzing Canberra 25-6 at a soggy SFS.
After a tentative opening quarter, the Bulldogs posted the first try in the 26th minute – a sizzling 40-metre effort set up brilliantly by a Craig Polla-Mounter break and Rod Silva’s magical footwork and offload, finished off by support player extraordinaire Terry Lamb.
Wayne Bartrim (St George, 1996)
St George lock Bartrim scored a solo try for the ages in his side’s week one elimination of Canberra.
Scooting out of dummy-half from his own side of halfway, the Queenslander displayed dazzling footwork and surprising speed to leave a trail of Raiders defenders strewn in his wake and post the Dragons’ first four-pointer midway through the first half.
Bartrim buried a late sideline conversion to snatch a thrilling 16-14 upset as the seventh-placed Saints started a march that took them all the way to the grand final.
Rod Silva (Canterbury, 1998)
With Canterbury 18-6 down in the 74th minute of the preliminary final against Parramatta, backrower Robert Relf popped a sublime offload to a flying Silva despite the attention of three Eels.
The fullback dived over in the corner after a blistering 40 metre run to the corner, putting the Bulldogs’ phenomenal comeback into overdrive. The blue-and-whites eventually prevailed 32-20 over the shattered Eels after 20 minutes of extra-time in arguably the greatest finals revival ever.
Shaun Berrigan (Brisbane, 2006)
Brisbane trailed the Bulldogs 20-6 at halftime in the 2006 preliminary final showdown, but a length-of-the-field try four minutes after the break set a stunning comeback in motion.
The Broncos’ stand-in fullback Justin Hodges collected a long kick on his own try-line, got around two Bulldogs chasers and strode into open territory.
Hodges linked with Berrigan on Brisbane’s 40-metre line, and the hooker got rid of one defender before acrobatically planting the ball in the corner despite the desperate cover tackle of Willie Mason. The Broncos rode that momentum to pull off an unforgettable 37-20 victory.
Michael Witt (Warriors, 2008)
The eighth-placed Warriors’ plucky bid for historic finals survival was on life support when Melbourne’s Greg Inglis nailed a field goal in the 68th minute, but a last-ditch attacking raid by the rank underdogs instantaneously turned the finals series on its head.
Jerome Ropati stood up Israel Folau on the Warriors’ 30-metre line and slipped a wonderful offload to Manu Vatuvei.
‘The Beast’ stepped inside Cooper Cronk and powered down the sideline and, despite being ankle-tapped by countryman Jeremy Smith, threaded a brilliant one-hander between two Storm defenders to send Witt on a 20-metre run to the corner, sealing a miraculous 18-15 victory.
Witt infamously gave coach Ivan Cleary and an entire fanbase palpitations by bizarrely holding up the ball in celebration before dotting down, only just avoiding the lunging foot of Cam Smith. It was the first time an eighth-placed team had defeated the minor premiers under the McIntyre Finals System.
Jarryd Hayne (Parramatta, 2009)
A year after the Warriors’ giant-killing heroics, eighth-placed Parramatta repeated the dose against ladder-leading St George Illawarra with a 25-12 qualifying final boilover at Kogarah Oval.
Dally M-winning fullback talisman Hayne put an exclamation point on the victory with three minutes to go, receiving the ball 20 metres out from the Dragons’ line and beating eight defenders with a combination of footwork and power to score one of the great individual finals tries.
The Saints went out in straight sets, while the Eels went on an unforgettable run to the grand final.
Lewis Brown (Warriors, 2011)
The halftime score of 14-12 in favour of the Warriors over Melbourne in the 2011 preliminary final remained intact with four minutes of the pulsating second stanza remaining.
But rookie halfback Shaun Johnson clinched the Warriors’ shock grand final appearance, receiving the ball 20 metres out in front of the Storm’s posts, and displaying deceptive footwork, blistering speed and sleight of hand on a mesmerising cross-field jaunt.
Johnson offloaded for makeshift centre Brown to dive over out wide, while James Maloney’s sideline conversion confirmed a 20-12 boilover.
David Williams (Manly, 2013)
Manly had fought back from 14-0 down to lead Souths 18-14 in the 2013 preliminary final, before winger Williams’ unbelievable touchdown with 19 minutes remaining virtually sealed a grand final berth.
Sea Eagles halfback Daly Cherry-Evans split the Rabbitohs’ defence and fired a pass 10 metres out to his winger, who dragged the ball in from behind him and turned a moment before Greg Inglis arrived to bump him.
‘The Wolfman’ miraculously managed to stay in the field of play and kept his bearings to plant the ball in the corner for a freakish try.
Michael Morgan (North Queensland, 2016)
After Johnathan Thurston’s golden point field goal secured grand final glory for North Queensland against Brisbane in 2015, the NRL changed the rule for drawn post-season matches to include 10 minutes of extra-time.
But Thurston thwarted the Broncos again the following season after the teams finished a classic semi-final 20-all, producing a trademark show-and-go before finding Michael Morgan with a flick pass to score the match-winner.
The Cowboys protected their lead for the remaining five minutes of extra-time to advance to a prelim.
Matt Dufty (St George Illawarra, 2018)
The Dragons ambushed the Broncos in spectacular fashion courtesy of a 48-18 elimination final result at Suncorp Stadium – and they saved the best for last.
Getting the ball on their own 20-metre line from a Broncos error with less than 30 seconds to go, Ben Hunt, Cameron McInnes and Zac Lomax opted to counterattack, with Lomax punching a kick ahead on halfway.
Quicksilver fullback Dufty outstripped the home side’s scrambling cover to collect the bouncing ball and score a dazzling capper.
Josh Papalii (Canberra, 2019)
It was the most straightforward try on this list, but Papalii’s preliminary final match-sealer was as memorable as any.
A gripping clash with Souths was delicately poised at 10-6 in Canberra’s favour with seven minutes left when the powerhouse prop stormed through four Rabbitohs defenders to bring the house down at GIO Stadium, capping arguably the finest game of his career.
Brian To’o (Penrith, 2022)
Penrith’s back-to-back bid looked in a bit of trouble when Souths led the 2022 prelim 12-0 with five minutes of the first half remaining.
But the Panthers pegged a try back then hit halftime with all the momentum with another against the run of play on the bell.
To’o gloved a spilled Rabbitohs pass on his 20-metre line and bumped off Cody Walker to go all the way for a spectacular four-pointer. From 12-all at the break, the Panthers cruised to a 32-12 win over the shellshocked Bunnies.