NSW women’s rugby league side in 1-0 grand final victory: here’s why it didn’t set a footy record

The Mounties NSW Women’s side has etched its name into rugby league folklore with a gutsy 1-0 grand final win in a genuine war of attrition – but the insane scoreline is not the lowest in the sport’s history.

In a breathtaking Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership grand final, the Mounties emerged victorious over the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on Saturday night thanks to a Tilly Power field goal with just two minutes remaining on the clock.

The intensity of the match at Sydney’s Leichhardt Oval was relentless, with numerous try-saving tackles, bone-jarring collisions, and players hobbling off the field or requiring medical attention. 

‘It was such a terrific game of footy. You can’t defend as much as that and not get a reward,’ Mounties coach Grant Izzard said.

‘They were outstanding – defence wins you games. Yes, we would have like to have been a bit more cleaner in our attack, but the Doggies put the pressure on us – all credit to them.

The Mounties had to contend with challenging weather conditions, a litany of injuries and a ferocious Canterbury Bulldogs side to claim the title

Mounties fans are pictured erupting as Tilly Power kicked the winning field goal to give them the NSW Women’s premiership

‘They were gallant in defeat – they had wounded, we had wounded. We just got them at the right time.

‘I actually think we won it in the first half when we defended six or seven sets in a row. We knew we could do anything after that.’  

There have been numerous rugby league games with extremely low scores, but the sole 0-0 result at the first-grade level in Australia took place on March 28th, 1982. 

Ironically, the match featured the flashy Canterbury Bulldogs outfit nicknamed ‘The Entertainers’ and Newtown, who had made the grand final the previous year. 

The weather played a significant role in the result on a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon in Sydney.

The hardy fans at Henson Park on March 28, 1982 could not believe the final scoreline in the clash between Newtown and Canterbury

Newtown fullback Phil Sigsworth scored 50 tries in his career and kicked 49 goals but he could not find a way to get the Bluebags onto the scoreboard on that day in 1982

Another game that took place on the same day, the Parramatta-Manly clash, also failed to produce any tries, with Mick Cronin’s kicking providing the only points.

The game at Henson Park was a hard-fought battle, with Canterbury barely edging out Newtown in both the scrum and penalty count. 

However, match reports suggest Newtown created more chances and was the unluckier of the two teams.

Jets’ coach Warren Ryan wryly remarked after the game that ‘the better team drew’, and there was much debate about an incident six minutes before fulltime in front of the Canterbury goalposts. 

Referee Barry Goldsworthy refused to award Newtown a penalty following the incident and instead ordered a scrum.  

North of the border, another 0-0 draw was played out in the Queensland Cup competition in 2010.

It was the year the rebuilding Wynnum-Manly Seagulls appointed club champion Paul Green as coach and their first assignment came against rivals the Burleigh Bears in round one.

Paul Green (pictured with former Wynnum Manly skipper Luke Dalziel-Don) won a premiership with the Seagulls in 2011, but his first game with his old club tossed up a history-making score

Nick Parfitt of the Bears is the highest points scorer in Queensland Cup history, but not even he could do anything to break the 0-0 deadlock.

‘I haven’t even gone close to being part of anything like it – you could tell it was unique,’ he said.

‘I didn’t even go close to getting a kick at goal or getting over the tryline. 

‘It was just weird no points were scored because the game had no shortage of drama at both ends of the field and the conditions weren’t exactly bad for rugby league.

‘It was simply chances couldn’t be converted into points.’

When the final siren sounded, Parfitt said many of his teammates were left confused.

‘The ones from New South Wales thought we’d carry on playing at the end of the 80 minutes,’ he said.

‘They thought we would be playing golden point like they do back home.

‘We don’t in this competition but it might not be a bad idea.’ 

Then there was the famous opening match of the 1995 State of Origin series. While it didn’t finish as the lowest score in rugby league history, the 2-0 result to Queensland was the lowest in any Origin game.

The 1995 Queensland Maroons were dubbed the Neville Nobodies because they were missing their Super League stars, but their tough defence soon made them somebodies

Queensland had no right to claim that victory, most notably because the Super League war had ripped the likes of Allan Langer, Kevin Walters, Steve Walters, Wendell Sailor, Steve Renouf, Willie Carne and Michael Hancock out of the team.

Lining up against them were internationals including Andrew and Matt Johns, Paul Harragon, Mark Carroll, Steve Menzies, Brad Fittler, Paul McGregor and Tim Brasher, all coached by Phil Gould.

Many Queenslanders became overnight household names in that gutsy display of defence to repel the star-studded Blues and the Maroons would go on to not only win the series, but sweep the shocked New South Welshmen. 

Former Newcastle fullback Robbie O’Davis spoke about how coach Paul ‘Fatty’ Vautin came up with the most simple of game plans to secure the famous result.

‘He pretty much got us together in one room and said ‘I can’t coach ducks to water, I’m not a coach’s bumhole… but I can make you best friends, and best friends will want to do anything for their mates,’ O’Davis said.

‘His philosophy was, if they don’t cross our line, we win.’