At this point in the rugby league season, most of the attention is focused on the top half of the table.

The focus is on who is the favorite to win the championship, who is fighting for a spot in the top four, who will not make it into the top eight, etc.

However, the question of who will end the season with the unfortunate wooden spoon is also generating a lot of interest.

Every so often, the two worst teams meet in the final round, jokingly referred to in many places on the internet as the “Spoonbowl.”

When the Wests Tigers host the Parramatta Eels at Campbelltown Sports Stadium tonight, a new chapter in history will be written.

However, this is not the first time two teams have met in the final round to determine which team will finish at the bottom of the table.

The last Spoonbowl took place in 2015 when Penrith Panthers, who had reached the preliminary final the previous year, hosted Newcastle Knights, who had won their first four games of the season.

The 30-12 victory allowed the Panthers to finally hand the unwanted Cup to the Knights, who had won the competition for three years in a row.

In 2011, the Gold Coast Titans took on the Parramatta Eels in the final round, who finished one point ahead of them in the table.

After a brilliant start, the Eels took a 22-0 lead into the break and eventually won 32-12, removing Preston Campbell from the game with the wooden spoon, a first in Titans history.

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The last time this happened was during the only Super League season in 1997. With one round remaining, the Adelaide Rams were bottom of the table, one point behind the North Queensland Cowboys and Auckland Warriors.

The Rams started the round with a surprising win over Penrith, leaving the underdogs of the Auckland v North Queensland match to finish with the wooden spoon.

Though it was a one-way street, the Warriors prevailed 50-22, giving the Cowboys their second wooden spoon in their third season.

Interestingly, this was the first ‘Spoonbowl’ since 1962, when South Sydney and North Sydney went into the final round on a combined nine points.

While most of the attention was focused on St George and Western Suburbs (who coincidentally found themselves at the top of the table when they met at the SCG in the final round), the Rabbitohs and Bears battled it out at Redfern Oval.

Despite trailing 13-5 at half-time, three tries from winger Eric Sladden enabled Norths to come from behind and draw 20-20, avoiding defeat.

Aidan Sezer with his Wests Tigers teammates. (Photo: Matt King/Getty Images)

North Sydney got into the habit of playing for the wooden spoon in the mid-20th century. In 1951, Norths were tied at the bottom of the table with Newtown and Balmain going into the final round, with the Bluebags ahead of the rest in the pros and cons.

The loser of the Balmain v Norths match may have avoided the wooden spoon had Newtown lost by a large enough margin, but it’s worth mentioning because the Bluebags ultimately won their last match and avoided the need for the spoon altogether.

Despite having moved out of bottom spot the previous week with a win over Easts, Norths were unable to repeat the feat and lost a one-sided match to Balmain 32-7.

Just three years earlier, Norths had written an early chapter in their rivalry with Manly when they met in the final round of the season, finishing just one point ahead of them in the table.

Despite leading 7-4 at half-time, the Shoremen fell behind and Manly won 13-12, avoiding the first (and only) wooden spoon in the club’s history.

In 1932 North Sydney went into the final round two points behind University in the table and 33 points behind.

(Photo: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

The equation for Norths to avoid the spoon was simple: win by 17 points or more. Varsity had won just two of their 13 matches to that point, the last coming seven rounds earlier against the Shoremen. North Sydney’s only win had come two weeks earlier.

Although Norths managed to claim victory, the 15-13 scoreline prevented them from leaving bottom of the table and lifting the wooden spoon for the first time in 13 years.

Twenty years earlier the first real ‘Spoonbowl’ had taken place when Western Suburbs and Annandale faced off at Pratten Park.

Both teams came into the match having only one win in 13 matches, with Wests having won their meeting earlier in the year.

Against all odds the Dales came away with a 15-6 victory, taking Wests to the bottom of the table for the fourth time in the competition’s five-season history.

Although not a true ‘Spoonbowl’ in the sense it is usually given, 1909 also deserves a mention. Newtown and Wests played in the final round, both by one point ahead of Norths.

The loser would have to count on the Shoremen to also go down to avoid the wooden spoon.

As fate would have it, Norths beat Easts, while Wests lost to Newtown 15-2 to finish the season bottom of the table.

Here’s a funny “Spoonbowl” story.

North Sydney are not only the only team to have lost multiple times, but they are also the only one to have been involved in multiple games – but Parramatta will join them tonight.

Tigers of the West

In

Parramatta Eels

NRL: Head to Head

Fri, 6 Sep 2024, 18:00

South Sydney Rabbits

In

Sydney Roosters

NRL: Head to Head

Fri, 6 Sep 2024, 20:00

St. George Illawarra Dragons

In

Canberra Raiders

NRL: Head to Head

Sat Sep 7 2024 15:00

Canterbury Bulldogs

In

North Queensland Cowboys

NRL: Head to Head

Sat Sep 7 2024 5:30 PM

Penrith Panthers

In

Gold Coast Titans

NRL: Head to Head

Sat Sep 7 2024 7:35 PM

Male Sea Eagles

In

Cronulla Sharks

NRL: Head to Head

Sun, 8 Sep 2024, 14:00

Newcastle Knights

In

Dolphins

NRL: Head to Head

Sun, 8 Sep 2024, 16:05

*Odds are correct at time of publication. Check PlayUp for the latest odds

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