From more than a century of rugby league, only Canterbury (1943), Wests Magpies (1953), the Broncos (1999) and Storm (2010) have been sitting last on the ladder after 12 rounds as defending premiers. Melbourne’s salary cap scandal stripped their 2009 premiership and left the club playing for no points from April that season. Brisbane fell to outright last midway through 1999 as a slew of representative stars struggled and Allan Langer made a shock move to the UK, before starting one of the game’s most remarkable recoveries with a 50-0 thrashing of the Magpies. Wayne Bennett’s side won 13 of their last 15 games to sneak into that year’s finals (bowing out in week one) before powering to a dominant title in 2000. The Magpies of 1953 were a different story as the only team in history to fall from premiers to wooden spooners in 12 months, winning just one of 12 games from late-May in a 10-team NSWRL competition.