THE Roosters will be hoping to win their way through to the grand final to prevent Latrell Mitchell from remembering this season for all the wrong reasons.

Throughout the last 20 years only 15 players have been suspended in finals football.

Of the teams that those 15 players represented, only three went on to win the grand final.

The Broncos in 1998, the Roosters in 2002 and the Rabbitohs in 2014 are the only teams to win a grand final in the last 20 years, when one of their players has been suspended in the finals.

Mitchell was suspended for the preliminary final, after he unsuccessfully challenged a charge for a crusher tackle on Josh Dugan.

The Roosters need to beat the winner of the semi-final between the Rabbitohs and Dragons next week, to save Micthell the anguish of costing his side a premiership.

We looked at five of the most infamous finals suspensions and found out just how catastrophic a finals suspension can be for a side.

However despite sometimes denying a player the opportunity to play in a grand final, history shows teams can overcome suspensions to some of their best players to win it all.

Top five most infamous finals suspensions since 1998.

Ryan was charged in the third week of the finals for a grade two careless high tackle. The Broncos forward attempted to fight the charge at the judiciary, but was ultimately found guilty at the Panel and suspended for three weeks. Ryan would miss the grand final, but the Broncos would steam roll the Bulldogs 38-12 in the decider.

Luke Ricketson 2004
The Roosters’ lock and heart and soul of the club was hit with a grade three striking charge for a tackle on Nathan Fien in the preliminary final. Ricketson pleaded guilty to a grade one striking charge, but was found guilty at the judiciary and was suspended for three weeks. The suspension cruelly robbed him of a grand final appearance and to add to his woes, the Roosters lost 16-13 to the Bulldogs in the decider in the last game of Brad Fittler’s career.

Cameron Smith 2008
The Storm skipper was charged with dangerous contact for a grapple tackle in the second week of the finals. Smith tried to fight the charge, but was found guilty at the judiciary and was cruelly denied a grand final berth. To make matters worse the Sea Eagles smashed the Storm 40-0 in the decider as a helpless Smith watched on.

Tariq Sims 2014
The Cowboys’ enforcer was called to answer for a grade three shoulder charge on Justin Hodges in the first week of the finals against the Broncos. Sims attempted to downgrade the severity of the charge, but was found guilty at the judiciary and sentenced to five weeks, which bought his season to a premature end. The Cowboys went out the following week after losing a 31-30 thriller against the Roosters, after they were down 30-0.

Issac Luke 2014
The Rabbitohs’ hooker was hit with a dangerous throw charge for a lifting tackle on Sonny-Bill Williams in the preliminary final. Luke tried to fight the charge in a bid to play in the grand final, but the judiciary found him guilty and he was suspended for two weeks. The Rabbitohs went on to beat the Bulldogs 30-6 in the decider, but it was a bitter sweet night for Luke, despite coach Michael Maguire giving him his premiership ring.