Top 50 moments in NYC history: 5-1

The Canberra Raiders won the inaugural National Youth Competition grand final.

Author: Martin Gabor
Timestamp: Mon 27 Feb 2017, 07:00 AM

For the best part of a decade, rugby league fans have been treated to a new brand of footy by the best up-and-coming talent on the game's biggest stage. But with confirmation that the National Youth Competition will no longer exist beyond the 2017 season, we've decided to take a trip down memory lane and count down the finest 50 moments from the under-20s competition.

Top 50 moments in NYC history: 50-46
Top 50 moments in NYC history: 45-41
Top 50 moments in NYC history: 40-36
Top 50 moments in NYC history: 35-31
Top 50 moments in NYC history: 30-26
Top 50 moments in NYC history: 25-21
Top 50 moments in NYC history: 20-16
Top 50 moments in NYC history: 15-11
Top 50 moments in NYC history: 10-6

5. A classic game of two halves

2012 was the year the Mayans predicted the world would come to an end. For Rabbitohs players, Round 16 felt like their own version of the apocalypse. With James Roberts, Dylan Walker and Aaron Gray helping them to a 26-nil half-time lead, the Bunnies were expected to run away with a huge win over the Broncos. But when Roberts was taken off at the break to prepare for his NRL 18th man duties, everything changed. By the time Cameron McInnes came on for his NYC debut with 20 minutes to go, scores were level and Brisbane had all the momentum. But the Bunnies steadied the ship with a crucial converted try and looked home and hosed when Bryce Hegarty missed a kick that would've tied the game with minutes to play. It was false hope as the Broncos found one last bit of energy to cross with 30 seconds to go to steal the unlikeliest of victories with centre Aaron Whitchurch screaming through on an inside line to score. A win would have seen the Rabbitohs finish fourth and earn a second chance in the finals. Instead, they finished sixth and were bundled out in week one to a last-second Roger Tuivasa-Sheck try.

4. Warriors go back-to-back in golden point thriller

The Warriors headed into the 2011 Toyota Cup grand final as minor premiers and fresh from a record-breaking 64-0 win over the Bulldogs the week before. Their opponents were the second-placed Cowboys; an exciting team brimming with potential. Most people thought the Warriors would run away easy winners, and thanks to doubles to Konrad Hurrell and Dylan Collier, they held a 30-16 lead after 70 minutes. We could go into detail with what happened in the first half, but let's just skip to the denouement. A barnstorming run by Jason Taumalolo paved the way for Zac Santo to stroll over untouched, and the winger was in again five minutes later to make it a four-point game with plenty of time left on the clock. Then, with two minutes left, and with the Warriors on the line, Kyle Feldt plucked an intercept on the same blade of grass that he would make famous four years later to put the Cowboys on the attack, only for Chris Grevsmuhl to spill the ball 12 metres out. That should have been it, but Michael Parker-Walshe came up with a stunning one-on-one strip from the scrum to give his side one last chance. Two plays later, Grevsmuhl crashed over from close range to make it 30-all. Up stepped Feldt – the NYC's all-time leading points-scorer – with a very gettable kick to win them the game after the siren. It never looked like going over. Enter golden point. There was no drawn out shootout. Instead, Warriors No.6 Carlos Tuimavave split North Queensland's ruck to get within 15 metres. With the defence at sixes and sevens, halfback Jordan Meads stepped up as coolly as you'd like to slot the one-pointer to make it back-to-back grand final wins for the Junior Warriors. It was sweet relief for the Kiwis who lost the NSW Cup and NRL grand finals that day, while for the Cowboys, Feldt didn't have to wait too long to make up for the miss, with his 80th-minute try proving the catalyst for North Queensland's maiden NRL premiership in 2015.

3. 'Turbo' is simply the best

Hyperbole is one of the most dangerous traps you can fall into when doing a list like this. But every now and then, you are entitled to make an outlandish statement like the one you're about to read. Tom Trbojevic's performance for Manly against the Warriors in 2015 was the greatest individual display in the history of rugby league. Sorry Joey, your Origin return in 2005 was good, but this was better. And Gal, incredible effort back in 2011, but Tommy Turbo has you covered. So what's all the fuss about? Well, in the Round 20 meeting across the ditch, Trbojevic ran for an NYC-record 485 metres, scored four tries, made four line breaks, broke six tackles and produced three offloads in the Sea Eagles' 36-16 win. It's not like he was falling over the line for his tries either. The first was a 63-metre effort, and that was followed by 45, 95 and 65-metre tries, with the electrifying fullback scoring three of them untouched. It was the zenith in a season that saw him average 239.4 metres, 1.5 tries and 2.4 line breaks across 14 games, only to somehow miss out on the NYC Player of the Year.

2. Do you believe in miracles?

When the Panthers jogged off ANZ Stadium at half-time of the 2016 Holden Cup grand final with a 22-point lead, everyone assumed they were 40 minutes away from their second premiership in as many years. The afternoon had gone according to script, with Joseph Manu opening the scoring for the Roosters before the minor premiers ran in five unanswered tries to head into the sheds with what appeared to be an unassailable 28-6 lead. To make matters worse for the Chooks, inspirational No.9 Grant Garvey was off with a shoulder injury forcing youngster Victor Radley into the unfamiliar hooking role. Whatever Roosters coach Anthony Barnes said at the break will be used in inspirational YouTube videos for years to come, because while the rest of us were singing Penrith's praises, his troops were about to mount the biggest comeback in finals history. Workhorse Nat Butcher got the ball rolling in the 42nd minute with a soft try next to the posts, before Sitili Tupouniua followed suit off another Radley short ball to slash the margin to 10 points. Ratu Tuisese missed an opportunity to settle things down for the minor premiers, and Manu made him pay with his second try setting up a grandstand finish with 15 minutes remaining. Down by four, and with eight minutes left, you could see what was coming from a mile away. With Penrith on the attack, Radley stuck a foot out to charge down a Tyrone May kick, scooped up the ball and looked for support on the inside. He needn't have worried as Johnny Tuivasa-Sheck loomed up and sprinted 55 metres to score the match-winning try for the second time in as many weeks. Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards had a chance to level things up with a penalty goal, but it wasn't to be as the Roosters held on for a miracle 30-28 win, sparking one of the most boisterous renditions of the team song you're likely to hear.

1. The original and the best

"It's gotta be number one, doesn't it?" That's what Raiders skipper Jarrod Croker told NRL.com at the 2017 Telstra Premiership season launch on Thursday when we spoke about the 2008 NYC grand final. And yes Jarrod, you were right. Canberra's golden-point thriller in the inaugural Toyota Cup decider is the greatest moment in NYC history. In a matchup between the two top teams, the Raiders and Broncos produced the best finish to an under-20s match we've seen so far. Just look at some of the names from that game. The Raiders had Croker, Josh Dugan, Daniel Vidot and Shaun Fensom, while the Broncos had Ben Hunt, Alex Glenn, Josh McGuire and Andrew McCullough. The Raiders were minor premiers in 2008 and looked set to hoist the trophy when Dugan set up a try and scored one of his own in the second half to open up a 24-20 lead. But an audacious one-on-one strip by Jharal Yow Yeh in the dying stages of the contest levelled the scores, only for Ben Hunt to miss the match-winning attempt to send the game into extra-time. And that's where the magic of the NYC was born. In the lucky 88th minute, Canberra shifted the ball to the right inside their own half on the last tackle. Mick Picker realised the defence had jammed in so he put in a speculative chip kick for Croker who reeled it in, drew the fullback and passed to Jarrad Kennedy who showed just enough toe to get to the try line. Absolute scenes.