EVEN the mighty Storm will be fighting against history this September as they attempt to parlay their emphatic minor premiership into the big prize with a grand final win.

Going into round 26 there are still nine sides in the race for the title, although in one way or another history is counting against every contender.

With data from Fox Sports Lab, we look at every side’s historical obstacle to victory between now and the grand final.

STORM

Round 20

- No side since Manly in 1972 (11 straight) has won 10 straight matches including the grand final.

- Only three of nine sides to win 20 or more regular season matches have gone on to win the grand final (Roosters 1975, Eels 1982, Storm’s stripped premiership in 2007).

In other words, the Storm might be too successful for their own good. A win against the Raiders this weekend will be their seventh in a row, putting them on track to win their last 10 games before holding the trophy aloft this year, assuming they win their qualifying final.

A win against Canberra would also be their 20th victory of the season.

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ROOSTERS

- Only two sides in the NRL era (1998-2016) have missed the finals the season before winning a premiership.

Those two teams were the Wests Tigers, who finished ninth in 2004 before Benji Marshall’s famous flick pass took them to the trophy in 2005, and the Roosters, who finished 13th in 2012 and won the minor premiership and premiership double in 2013.

So while some might see the Chooks’ poor 2016 (15th) as a reason to rule them out this season, Trent Robinson will be thinking the opposite having been the last coach to achieve the bounce back feat.

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BRONCOS

- No team has conceded 50 points in a game and won the premiership in the same season.

Brisbane and history were looking good together until their uncharacteristic capitulation against the Eels last Thursday.

Suddenly their defence looks fragile, so much so that Wayne Bennett has this week enlisted outside help to repair it, in the form of Peter Ryan, a former Broncos enforcer and current defence coach for Super Rugby side the Brumbies.

Even if their leaky defence can be fixed, the most costly by-product of the home loss to the Eels might yet be the loss of a week one home final, with the Broncos now looking set for a visit to the Roosters for their qualifying final.

Ben Hunt and Anthony Milford after the Broncos’ thumping loss to the Eels. Source: AAP

EELS



- Only two sides in the NRL era (1998-2016) have missed the finals the season before winning a premiership.

Like the Roosters, Parramatta missed the finals last season, although had they not been docked 12 competition points for salary cap breaches they would have qualified for the playoffs in eighth spot.

Perhaps the more significant history against the Eels is their own club history.

A powerhouse in the 80s, Parramatta haven’t won a premiership since, with their title drought currently stretching to 31 years.

SHARKS

- No team has won back-to-back premierships in a unified competition since Brisbane in 1992-93.

- No team has won the premiership from outside the top four.

Cronulla’s rebuttal to this would presumably be: ‘No team cares less about the weight of history than us’ following last season’s history making title, the Sharks’ first ever, having been involved in the first grade competition since 1967.

However, going back-to-back is a massive ask, and doing it from outside the top four, which now looks likely to be their fate, is improbable to say the least.

PANTHERS

- No team has started the season at 2-7 or worse and gone on to win the premiership. In fact only one side who has made such an inauspicious start has made the grand final (St George in 1930).

- No team has won the premiership from outside the top four.

All of a sudden the Panthers are doing it tough just to qualify for the finals after a slip up against the Dragons that pits them in a possible do-or-die visit to Manly this Saturday.

However, even if they make the eight, Penrith’s poor start has forced them to red line throughout the back half of the season, only to face a bunch of elimination games against higher ranked opponents if they’re to win the grand final.

COWBOYS

- Only two teams in the NRL era have used more than 31 players and won the competition (Roosters: 34 in 2002, and Brisbane: 32 in 2006). The Cowboys have currently used 32 players so far this campaign.

- No team has won the premiership from outside the top four.

The absence of Johnathan Thurston has been difficult for the Cowboys to cover. Source: News Corp Australia

North Queensland are limping into the finals and may yet miss the playoffs if they lose Thursday’s Queensland derby against the Broncos.

Even if they qualify they’ll put to a serious test the adage that you need luck to go your way in a premiership year. Sides just don’t win these days if they have to go too deep with their list, which is why it’s been more than a decade since a side has used more than 31 players and won the title.

When the Roosters achieved it in 2002, they did it after qualifying for finals in fourth place. The Broncos did it from third in 2006.

The Cowboys will have the added burden of trying to climb the mountain from fifth even if everything goes their way in round 26.

SEA EAGLES

- No team has conceded 50 points in a game and won the premiership in the same season.

- No team has won the premiership from outside the top four.

Manly have had a very ordinary last month, so history would be the least of their worries at the moment as they attempt to get back on course in time to compete in the playoffs.

However, of all the things for Trent Barrett to be concerned with, defence is at the top of the list.

The Sea Eagles have conceded 500 points, by far the worst of all the sides in the eight and also inferior to the Dragons (9th), Raiders (10th), and Bulldogs (12th).

Their shocking round 20 collapse against the Dragons when they copped 52 points is the icing on a pretty bitter cake.

DRAGONS

- Only one team in history has won as few as five of their last 12 matches in a season and gone on to win the premiership (Brisbane in 2006).

- No team has won the premiership from outside the top four.

The Dragons have started to put together some better performances in the last few weeks after a shocking mid-season slump that threatened to torpedo their finals chances, despite sitting atop the ladder after eight rounds.

Even now, Paul McGregor’s men are up against it to make the playoffs, needing to beat the Bulldogs and have at least one other result go their way.

If they scrape into the eight they’ll face the unlikely scenario of having to win four straight elimination matches on the road as the seventh or eighth placed qualifier.

If they manage that and win the premiership it will also be the most stunning bounce back from poor form in the second half of the season ever seen.

A win for the Dragons this weekend will be their fifth win from their final 12 regular season games. Only the Broncos in 2006 have won so few games in the back half of the season and gone on to claim the title.