Springs09
Juniors
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After what seems like a decade of Roosters/Storm domination I had a look back over ladder positions from the last 2 decades to see how well the salary cap is doing at what it aims to do - create an even spread of playing talent across the competition, making the comp close, competitive and fair.
Anyway, top 4 is usually the benchmark for a team's competitiveness that year when it comes to premierships, as no one is yet to win one from outside. From 2011 (when Melbourne started dominating again) this is how many times each team made the top 4:
Melbourne - 8
Sydney Roosters - 6
South Sydney - 5
Manly - 4
Brisbane - 3
North Queensland - 2
Canberra - 2
Cronulla - 2
Wests Tigers - 1
Canterbury - 1
Penrith - 1
Parramatta - 1
No Appearances: St George Illawarra, Gold Coast, New Zealand, Newcastle
This compared to the corresponding period last decade (2001-2009)
Canterbury - 5
Brisbane - 4
Sydney Roosters - 4
Melbourne - 4*
Newcastle - 3
Parramatta - 2
Cronulla - 2
New Zealand - 2
Penrith - 2
St George Illawarra - 2
Manly - 2
Canberra - 1
Wests Tigers - 1
North Queensland - 1
Gold Coast - 1
No Appearances: South Sydney
- 15 teams made the top 4 at least once from 2001-09 with the only exception being Souths who struggled after being readmitted to the comp. Only 12 have made the top 4 at least once from 2011-19 with Storm and Roosters both making it more times than any team from 01-09.
- Since 2013 only 2 teams have been minor premiers, Roosters 4 times and Melbourne 3 times. 6 different teams were minor premiers from 2001-09, no team won it 4 times, the closest being Melbourne at 3 but were cheating the cap at the time.
- Both teams had similar periods of dominance last decade, however Roosters only won 1 minor premiership and had several poor years afterwards while Melbourne's dominant period was when they were cheating the salary cap.
- Aside from their disrupted year in 2016, Roosters have not finished lower than 2nd every other year since 2013.
- Storm, Roosters and Souths have all made over 5 prelim finals in the last 9 years, with Storm the most at 7. No team made 5 prelims from 2001-09.
- 7 teams have made the top 8 less than 3 times since 2011, with Titans only once (due to the Eels' salary cap drama), Warriors only once since 2012 (coming 8th), Tigers 8 straight without a top 8 appearance and Knights 6 straight without a top 8 appearance.
- From 2001-09, only 5 teams made the top 8 less than 3 times, one of them being Gold Coast who only came in in 2007. Tigers only made it once but that came with a premiership, Penrith only twice but including a premiership and minor premiership, and Cowboys made it three times, making the prelim all three times and the GF once.
Of course, there's a lot more to these results than just the salary cap working or not working. But is dominance like this good for the game? Dynasties can be enjoyable but how long can they last before fans start getting sick of them? How many neutrals are looking forward to seeing the Roosters or Storm in the GF once again? Will the Roosters and Storm eventually come back to the playing field or will they be top 4 bound for years to come?
For example, you'd think the salary cap would even out such things as Melbourne being able to keep the best hooker of all time in Cameron Smith who seems to want to play until he is 40, current NZ international hooker Brandon Smith and apparent best player in the QLD cup and former NYC player of the year hooker Harry Grant.
Anyway, top 4 is usually the benchmark for a team's competitiveness that year when it comes to premierships, as no one is yet to win one from outside. From 2011 (when Melbourne started dominating again) this is how many times each team made the top 4:
Melbourne - 8
Sydney Roosters - 6
South Sydney - 5
Manly - 4
Brisbane - 3
North Queensland - 2
Canberra - 2
Cronulla - 2
Wests Tigers - 1
Canterbury - 1
Penrith - 1
Parramatta - 1
No Appearances: St George Illawarra, Gold Coast, New Zealand, Newcastle
This compared to the corresponding period last decade (2001-2009)
Canterbury - 5
Brisbane - 4
Sydney Roosters - 4
Melbourne - 4*
Newcastle - 3
Parramatta - 2
Cronulla - 2
New Zealand - 2
Penrith - 2
St George Illawarra - 2
Manly - 2
Canberra - 1
Wests Tigers - 1
North Queensland - 1
Gold Coast - 1
No Appearances: South Sydney
- 15 teams made the top 4 at least once from 2001-09 with the only exception being Souths who struggled after being readmitted to the comp. Only 12 have made the top 4 at least once from 2011-19 with Storm and Roosters both making it more times than any team from 01-09.
- Since 2013 only 2 teams have been minor premiers, Roosters 4 times and Melbourne 3 times. 6 different teams were minor premiers from 2001-09, no team won it 4 times, the closest being Melbourne at 3 but were cheating the cap at the time.
- Both teams had similar periods of dominance last decade, however Roosters only won 1 minor premiership and had several poor years afterwards while Melbourne's dominant period was when they were cheating the salary cap.
- Aside from their disrupted year in 2016, Roosters have not finished lower than 2nd every other year since 2013.
- Storm, Roosters and Souths have all made over 5 prelim finals in the last 9 years, with Storm the most at 7. No team made 5 prelims from 2001-09.
- 7 teams have made the top 8 less than 3 times since 2011, with Titans only once (due to the Eels' salary cap drama), Warriors only once since 2012 (coming 8th), Tigers 8 straight without a top 8 appearance and Knights 6 straight without a top 8 appearance.
- From 2001-09, only 5 teams made the top 8 less than 3 times, one of them being Gold Coast who only came in in 2007. Tigers only made it once but that came with a premiership, Penrith only twice but including a premiership and minor premiership, and Cowboys made it three times, making the prelim all three times and the GF once.
Of course, there's a lot more to these results than just the salary cap working or not working. But is dominance like this good for the game? Dynasties can be enjoyable but how long can they last before fans start getting sick of them? How many neutrals are looking forward to seeing the Roosters or Storm in the GF once again? Will the Roosters and Storm eventually come back to the playing field or will they be top 4 bound for years to come?
For example, you'd think the salary cap would even out such things as Melbourne being able to keep the best hooker of all time in Cameron Smith who seems to want to play until he is 40, current NZ international hooker Brandon Smith and apparent best player in the QLD cup and former NYC player of the year hooker Harry Grant.
