The 2005 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the National Rugby League's 2005 Telstra Premiership season. It was played on the night of Sunday, 2 October at Sydney's Telstra Stadium between 4th-placed Wests Tigers and 5th-placed North Queensland Cowboys, the only two clubs in the competition that hadn't yet been to the NRL grand final. The game set a new record for the highest television audience in Australia for a rugby league match since the introduction of the OzTam ratings system in 2001.
In a match-up suggested by bookmakers as a 500/1 chance for the 2005 grand final's opponents at the start of the season, the fourth-placed Wests Tigers and fifth-placed North Queensland Cowboys had both reached their first decider. The two teams had met three times during the regular season, with the Tigers having won twice. The most recent of these meetings was the Tigers' 50 – 6 victory in the first week of the finals series.
Read more about 2005 NRL Grand Final: Match Day, 2006 World Club Challenge
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