NRL: Flying the flag on a grand stage

Adam Blair played in the 2009 grand final. Photo / Getty Images

There was a time when spotting a Kiwi on NRL grand final day was almost mission impossible.

We take it for granted now but in days gone by New Zealanders involved in rugby league's biggest game were rare birds indeed.

A total of eight Kiwis - five Roosters and three Dragons - will run out on to Stadium Australia today; more than in the entire decades of the 1970s and 1980s combined.

Since then there has been a growing trend of men from the shaky isles involved in Australian league's showpiece. Across the period 2000-2009, New Zealand players racked up 47 grand final appearances, collecting 17 winners' medals.

There has been Kiwi representation in the last 16 consecutive grand finals; the 1993 decider between Brisbane and St George was the last occasion with no New Zealanders involved.

Our first grand final Kiwi was tough-tackling hooker Bill Noonan, who represented the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the 1974 decider versus Jack Gibson's Eastern Suburbs. There was plenty of hype and hoopla in Sydney but Noonan can only remember "one, maybe two" phone calls from reporters on this side of the Tasman during the big week.

Pre-match entertainment at the Sydney Cricket Ground comprised marching girls and a brass band, quite a departure from the multi-layered extravaganzas of today.

To this day, Noonan finds the 19-4 loss a bitter memory as they had convincingly beaten the Roosters in the preliminary final and were highly confident. Things unravelled from the first minute though, when "Gibson's henchman" took out their chief playmaker. The Dogs never recovered.

It was the era of unlimited tackle, players retreating just a couple of yards behind the marker and no rules around stripping the ball - so tacklers would be constantly attacking the ball. And the man.

Noonan would place one forearm over his face as he took the ball up, as a necessary defence against the barrage of swinging arms, elbows and stiff-arm tackles.

The scrums were "real, fair dinkum" and Noonan recalls an early game where the opposing hooker, Australian legend John O' Neill, "belted him" at every opportunity as the packs went down.

The rough treatment wasn't just coming from the opposition. "We played touch' footy at training but it was hardly ever that," remembers Noonan. "For the first few months most of my team were pretty unhappy that I had stolen an Australian's place and they showed it."

His contract was worth A$3000, though match payments in those days were significant. "We got $200 for a win and only $20 for a loss," Noonan recalls, "so there was a big incentive to win. After a while they realised I was normal' and could play; they accepted me as I could help them make money."

The Christchurch youngster had almost missed his chance at the big time. Bulldogs chairman Peter Moore, along with coach (and now leading barrister) Kevin Ryan journeyed to Christchurch to meet a few players but Noonan, a keen surf lifesaver, had gone to the beach.

A friend paddled out among the waves to tell him that "a couple of blokes in flash suits want to see you" and Noonan rode in, eventually to sign a contract. In a real sign of the times, he turned down the Kiwi selectors for the tour of Great Britain in 1972, not thinking it was right to take the spot of someone living in New Zealand.

The late Henry Tatana was the next Kiwi spotted on the last Sunday in September. Universally recognised as one of the toughest players in the game, the goal-kicking prop had been part of the Bulldogs in 1974 but didn't get on the park. He was then recruited by the Dragons but the Southern Sydney side lost 38-0 to the Roosters in 1975, a game that was remembered most for Graeme Langlands and his white boots.

For the next 12 years, grand finals were the exclusive domain of Australians with the occasional Brit involved.

There were an increasing number of talented New Zealanders plying their trade across the Tasman but they were at the wrong clubs at the wrong times.

Not a single player from Graham Lowe's fabulous Kiwi side of 1983-1985 (with luminaries such as Dean Bell, Olsen Filipaina, Fred Ah Kuoi, Clayton Friend, Kurt Sorensen, Mark Graham and Hugh McGahan; recognised as one of the best teams in our history alongside the 1953, 1971, 2005 and 2008 squads) ever tasted the thrill of grand final day.

Fast forward to 1987. Manly beat Canberra 18-8 in the premiership decider and for the first time there were Kiwis (Darrell Williams and Brent Todd) in both teams. Williams, at the Mount Albert Lions the year before, played alongside legendary centre Michael O'Connor and became the first New Zealander to win the game's ultimate prize.

The then 24-year-old, who says the post-game celebrations lasted "a month", was lucky to be involved in the game, needing six painkilling injections before the match and another round at halftime. He had torn anterior and medial cruciate ligaments in his knee the year before, but decided to keep it a secret and play through the pain - fearful that the Brookvale club would tear up his newly-inked contract if they knew.

Of the modern influx of his countrymen, Williams is succinct: "I feel very proud every time I see a Kiwi doing well over here. I think we have added a new dimension to the Australian game."

Lumbering prop Todd was the loser that day, but would play three more grand finals for the Green Machine', with victories in 1989 and 1990 and defeat in 1991. Gary Freeman, representing the Balmain Tigers in 1988 and 1989, was the only other Kiwi to make a grand final in the 1980s.

Every year since 1994 there has been at least one New Zealander featuring in the grand final and more than a few match-winners. Think of Matthew Ridge kicking Manly to victory in 1996; Tawera Nikau inspiring an unlikely second-half comeback in 1999; Hair Bears' Joe Galuvao and Tony Puletua propelling the Panthers in 2003; a fearless 18-year-old Sonny Bill Williams against the Roosters in 2004; Benji Marshall's magic for the Tigers in 2005 and Adam Blair storming over the Eels last year.

For the ultimate pub trivia question, nippy winger Jason Williams was the first from Aoteroa to score a try on the big day, dotting down for the Bulldogs in 1994.

In the same game, Daryl Halligan become the first Kiwi to kick a goal, but all in vain as the Sydney side lost heavily to Ruben Wiki's Raiders.

KIWIS IN GRAND FINALS
All-time total (including 2010): 86
* 2000s: 47 (Storm duo Jeff Lima and Adam Blair along with Roosters hardman Jason Cayless appeared in three each)
* 1990s: 24 (Daryl Halligan played in three with the Bulldogs)
* 1980s: 5 (Gary Freeman and Brent Todd both appeared in two and Darrell Williams appeared in one)
* 1970s: 2 (Henry Tatana and Bill Noonan)