PLAYERS WHO HAVE MISSED THE NRL GRAND FINAL THROUGH SUSPENSION
* Arthur Beetson (Balmain) - 1969
The only rugby league Immortal to have missed a grand final through suspension. Beetson never got to win on the big day with his first Sydney club after he was rubbed out of the controversial decider against South Sydney for throwing a punch against the Rabbitohs in a major semi-final.
* Greg Pierce (Cronulla) - 1978
One of Cronulla's five club Immortals, Pierce missed out on the club's second-ever grand final appearance when he was banned for punching Western Suburbs' John Donnelly in the semi-final. Making matters worse for the Sharks was the fact Kiwi prop Dane Sorensen joined the forward on the sideline, suspended for a high tackle.
* Steve Roach (Balmain) - 1988
Went as far as to fly to England to be named for Warrington for the final two games of his four-match ban for a high shot on Chris Mortimer in the Tigers' fifth-spot playoff against Penrith. But the NSWRL blocked the matches from counting leaving Roach to listen to his side's loss to Canterbury on the radio from the other side of the world.
* Luke Ricketson (Sydney Roosters) - 2004
Ricketson called for a change in the demerit points system for grand finals after a grade-three striking offence ruled him out of the Sydney Roosters' thrilling clash with Canterbury. Ricketson had hit North Queensland's Nathan Fien in week three of the finals and had his defence that a pact had been made by Roosters forwards to stand up for each other laughed off by the judiciary.
* Carl Webb (North Queensland) - 2005
Grand finals weren't meant to be for Carl Webb. Cut from Wayne Bennett's 17 late ahead of the 2000 decider, Webb only had himself to blame in 2005 when he was banned for punching before North Queensland's appearance. Charged for hitting Melbourne's Ryan Hoffman in the second week of the finals, Webb tried to have the ban downgraded but failed and miss the Cowboys' first-ever title decider.
* Cameron Smith (Melbourne) - 2008
Perhaps the most infamous of all after it led to a $50,000 fine against the Storm when Craig Bellamy and then chief executive Brian Waldron were ruled to have questioned the integrity of the judiciary. Smith was charged for a grapple tackle on Brisbane's Sam Thaiday in the semi-finals and though he tried to fight it he failed and missed the Storm's 40-0 flogging at the hands of Manly.
* Issac Luke (South Sydney) - 2014
The last man to miss a decider, Luke was crucial in South Sydney's efforts to end their 43-year drought but couldn't play in the decider after a dangerous tackle on Sonny Bill Williams. Luke's Kiwis teammate pleaded with the judiciary not to ban him for the incident, but they disagreed and ruined his shot at history.
Others: Steve Bowden (Newtown) - 1981, John Lomax (Canberra) - 1994. Jim Serdaris (Manly) - 1997, Peter Ryan (Brisbane) - 1998.
Share
