 McCracken played in Canterbury's 1994 Grand Final loss to the Canberra Raiders and unfortunately threw the pass intercepted by Canberra captain Mal Meninga for the last try of the game and the last of Meninga's club career.McCracken's luck with Grand Finals was against him again in 1995.As a result of the Super League war and his mid-season announcement that he would be leaving the Bulldogs at the end of the year to join the ARL loyal club Parramatta, Jarrod McCracken missed out on the Dogs historic 1995 Grand Final win over Manly-Warringah when they became the first team to win the premiership from outside the top four (they finished the regular season in 6th with a 14–8 record compared to Manly finishing 1st with a 20–2 record which included a 26–0 mauling of the renamed Sydney Bulldogs in Round 9 at Parramatta Stadium).