National Rugby League season 2008

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National Rugby League season 2008
Teams	16
Matches played	152
Points scored	6437 (average 42.349 per match)
Attendance	2,417,545 (average 15,905 per match)
Top points scorer(s)	Luke Covell (160 points)
Top try scorer(s)	Denan Kemp (16 tries)

The 2008 National Rugby League premiership (known as the Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is the one hundred and first season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the eleventh run by the National Rugby League. The first matches of the season were played on 14 March 2008 with the season ending in the Grand Final to be played on 5 October 2008.

The lineup of clubs remained unchanged from the previous year, with sixteen teams contesting the premiership. 2008 also marks the launch of the National Youth Competition, an under 20 competition that is running parallel to the senior competition under the sponsorship name, the Toyota Cup.

Contents 1 History 2 Season summary 2.1 Schedule 2.2 Participants 2.3 Season Results 2.4 Records set in 2008 3 Sponsorship 4 Premiership ladder 4.1 Ladder Progression 5 Finals 6 Statistics 6.1 Points 6.2 Tries 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History

Rugby league was first introduced into Australia in 1907, with a meeting in Sydney on 8 August 1908 effectively forming a new breakaway league from the New South Wales Rugby Union. The new body was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League, and became the first professional sporting code in Australia. In the following months, eight Sydney-based teams were formed and signed up to play in the New South Wales Rugby Football League's premiership, with another club joining a week into competition.

The New South Wales Rugby League continued to run the competition up until and including 1994 when it passed on responsibility to the Australian Rugby League, the national authority for rugby league in Australia. In 1997 a rival Super League competition run by News Limited was started and signed up several existing teams from the Australian Rugby League. After both bodies lost a lot of money that year, a truce was signed and a new competition was formed for the 1998 season, under the brand name "National Rugby League."

The National Rugby League, on behalf of the numerous rugby league bodies in Australia, has decided to hold a number of celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the sport in the country. This will include the opening match of the 2008 season being held between the remaining two "foundation clubs" from 1908, the Sydney Roosters and the South Sydney Rabbitohs. As well as this, a special rivalries round will take place which will coincide with the 100th anniversary of the first round of competition in the New South Wales Rugby League, whereby teams will face opponents that entered the competition in similar time frames, such as The Brisbane Broncos and The Gold Coast Titans, The Parramatta Eels and The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, The North Queensland Cowboys and The New Zealand Warriors, The Bulldogs and The St George Illawarra Dragons, The Penrith Panthers and The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, The Sydney Roosters and The Newcastle Knights, The Wests Tigers and The South Sydney Rabbitohs and The Melbourne Storm and The Canberra Raiders.

Several events will also take place to celebrate the 100th anniversary of landmark moments in rugby league in Australia. These events began in August 2007 with a re-enactment of the meeting which led to the formation of the New South Wales Rugby League, essentially the beginning of rugby league in Australia. In January and February 2008, several of the foundation clubs, the Newtown Jets, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Balmain Tigers Sydney Roosters, North Sydney Bears and Western Suburbs Magpies, will host special functions at the places they were officially formed.

[edit] Season summary

[edit] Schedule

The 2008 season is set to be one week longer than the 2007 competition, allowing an extra bye on top of the existing one allocated to each club. In addition, the scheduling of the earlier representative fixtures has been changed, including the removal of Monday Night Football on weekends prior to the City vs Country match and the ANZAC Test. The City vs Country fixture is also being pushed back to Friday night where it had been prior to the 2007 season. Many of these initiatives were announced mid-way through the 2007 season by the Chief Executive Officer of the National Rugby League, David Gallop, in an attempt to help reduce player fatigue after several complaints of player injuries caused by the short turnaround between some matches.

2008 also saw a change in how the draw is devised, with teams nominating their preferred home opponents in order of preference. The NRL consulted these requests when structuring the season's fixtures. This change is intended to maximise attendances by allowing local derbies and other high-interest matches to be played twice a year. It is a departure from previous methods, which focused on trying to produce an equally difficult playing schedule for each club.^[1] The draw was released on October 19, 2007.

On the back of increasing public pressure, the National Rugby League decided to move the Grand Final back from the later timeslot of 7:00pm to the new time of 5:00pm. The Grand Final had traditionally been held on a Sunday afternoon up until 2000, after which it was relocated to the evening in order to accommodate the Channel 9's wish of making the event more suitable for primetime television. Whilst the late night scheduling was not considered as much an issue for New South Wales audiences because of the Labour Day public holiday the following day, it was argued by many Queenslanders that such a time was unsuitable for families on the eve of a weekday. Many individuals in the general public and the media pushed for a full return back to a 3:00pm kickoff time where it had been for many decades, whilst Channel 9 continued to insist on 7:00pm. As a comprimise, the National Rugby League decided for a comprimise "twilight" match starting at 5:00pm. This will be the first time since the 2000 season that the Grand Final will be played in daylight hours, largely due to a change in the starting day of Daylight Savings Time in New South Wales, ACT and Victoria in 2008.^[2]

[edit] Participants

Of the sixteen teams participating in the regular season, ten are from New South Wales, three from Queensland and one from each of Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. Of the ten from New South Wales, eight and a half (St. George Illawarra are both from Sydney and Wollongong) are from Sydney's metropolitan area. Just two foundation clubs from New South Wales Rugby League season 1908 are playing in this competition: the Sydney Roosters (formerly known as Eastern Suburbs) and the South Sydney Rabbitohs. The Melbourne Storm are the defending premiers.

For the first time since the 1988 introduction of teams outside of New South Wales, an under-20 competition running incorporates sides fielded by each of the sixteen premiership clubs. The National Youth Competition, known as the Toyota Cup for sponsorship purposes is solely for under-20 players.

The home jerseys of the 16 teams for the 2008 season are shown below.

Brisbane Broncos	Bulldogs	Canberra Raiders	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
Gold Coast Titans	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Melbourne Storm	Newcastle Knights
New Zealand Warriors	North Queensland Cowboys	Parramatta Eels	Penrith Panthers
South Sydney Rabbitohs	Sydney Roosters	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Wests Tigers

[edit] Season Results

Main article: 2008 NRL season results

[edit] Records set in 2008

• Gold Coast Titans winger Jordan Atkins matched the standing record for most tries in a first grade debut set by Canterbury Bankstown's Tony Nash in season 1942 when he scored four tries in round 1 of 2008.
• Brisbane Broncos' standing club record for most goals in a match was set by Corey Parker in Round 1 when he kicked 10 goals.
• Brisbane also set a new club home attendance record when 50,612 spectators attended their Round 3 match against the North Queensland Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium
• The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles achieved their biggest ever win, over the New Zealand Warriors in Round 3 with a 52-6 victory at Brookvale Oval.
• The Bulldogs set a club home crowd record when 36,526 spectators attended their Round 4 clash against the Sydney Roosters. The match marked Roosters forward Willie Mason's first match against his old club, and also set a record for the highest attended club match in Sydney during a premiership season (excluding finals)
• Brisbane's Denan Kemp equalled the club record for most tries in a match, scoring four against the Parramatta Eels at Suncorp Stadium in Round 12.
• The Canberra Raiders recorded their biggest ever win against the Bulldogs, winning 58-18 with winger Colin Best crossing for 4 tries.
• Ruben Wiki became only the 10th player in history to play 300 first grade games, and is the first New Zealander to pass this milestone.
• The South Sydney Rabbitohs equalled the 2nd biggest comeback in NRL history in Round 16 against the North Queensland Cowboys. After trailing 28-4 after fifty minutes, the Rabbitohs won the match 29-28.
• Craig Fitzgibbon became just the 4th player (behind Luke Ricketson, Kevin Hastings and Brad Fittler) to play 200 games for the Sydney Roosters when he played against the North Queensland Cowboys in Round 21 at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
• The North Queensland Cowboys experienced their longest losing streak in club history, losing 13 consecutive matches. They broke their streak against the Bulldogs with a 36 - 12 win in Round 22.
• The Wests Tigers equalled the biggest win in their clubs history (52 points) with a 56-4 win over the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium in Round 20. The previous record was also set against the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium (a 54-2 victory) in 2005.
• The Canberra Raiders scored their biggest ever win against the with a 74-12 victory over the Penrith Panthers. Terry Campese equalled David Furner's club goal kicking record, with ten goals in the match.

[edit] Sponsorship

For the eighth straight season the National Rugby League's naming rights sponsor Telstra maintains its position, with the competition again known as the Telstra Premiership. In addition to the Telstra Premiership logo appearing over the right upper chest on each team's playing jersey, the "Centenary of Rugby League in Australia" logo is displayed just above to commemorate the competition's centenary.

Following their successful sponsorship of "Friday Night Football" in 2007, the Foster's Group has decided to change the specific brand sponsorship from their Carlton Draught product to now represent Victoria Bitter. Harvey Norman continued its sponsorship of the State of Origin series while AAMI also continued its association with the annual City vs Country Origin clash. Additionally, Bundaberg Rum maintained naming rights to both the ANZAC Test and Monday Night Football.

Throughout the season, various charities and other non-profit organisations received exposure on Sunday Football through Rugby League's One Community Program.

[edit] Premiership ladder

National Rugby League season 2008 v • d • e
	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Melbourne	21	15	0	6	2	486	255	+231	34
2	Manly	21	14	0	7	2	535	313	+228	32
3	Cronulla	21	14	0	6	2	371	356	+15	32
4	Sydney	21	13	0	8	2	479	406	+73	30
5	Brisbane	21	11	1	9	2	475	407	+68	27
6	Canberra	21	11	0	10	2	538	446	+92	26
7	St. George Illawarra	21	11	0	10	2	415	348	+67	26
8	New Zealand	21	11	0	10	2	426	507	-81	26
9	Penrith	21	10	1	10	2	462	495	-33	25
10	Newcastle	21	10	0	11	2	459	422	+37	24
11	Wests Tigers	21	10	0	11	2	478	468	+10	24
12	Parramatta	21	10	0	11	2	455	467	-12	24
13	Gold Coast	21	10	0	11	2	433	505	-72	24
14	South Sydney	21	8	0	13	2	404	562	-158	20
15	Bulldogs	21	5	0	16	2	365	668	-303	14
16	North Queensland	21	4	0	17	2	406	562	-156	12

[edit] Ladder Progression

Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.

	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
1	Melbourne	2	2	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	14	16	18	18	20	22	22	24	26	28	28	30	32	34	-	-	-
2	Manly	0	0	2	4	4	6	8	10	12	14	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	28	30	30	32	32	32	-	-	-
3	Cronulla	2	4	4	6	8	8	8	10	12	14	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	26	28	28	30	32	32	-	-	-
4	Sydney	2	2	4	6	8	8	8	10	12	14	16	18	18	20	22	24	26	26	26	28	30	30	30	-	-	-
5	Brisbane	2	4	6	6	8	8	10	12	12	12	14	16	16	16	18	19	21	21	23	25	27	27	27	-	-	-
6	Canberra	0	2	4	4	6	6	8	8	8	10	12	12	12	14	16	16	16	18	20	22	22	24	26	-	-	-
7	St. George Illawarra	0	2	2	2	2	2	4	6	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	22	22	24	24	24	26	-	-	-
8	New Zealand	0	2	2	4	6	6	6	8	10	10	10	12	12	12	12	14	16	18	20	22	22	24	26	-	-	-
9	Penrith	0	0	2	4	4	6	8	8	10	12	14	16	16	16	16	17	19	19	21	23	23	23	25	-	-	-
10	Newcastle	2	4	4	4	4	6	8	10	10	10	12	12	14	16	16	16	16	18	18	20	22	24	24	-	-	-
11	Wests Tigers	2	4	4	4	4	6	8	8	10	12	14	14	16	16	16	16	18	18	20	20	22	24	24	-	-	-
12	Parramatta	2	2	4	4	4	4	6	8	10	10	12	12	14	16	16	18	18	18	18	20	20	22	24	-	-	-
13	Gold Coast	2	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	14	16	16	16	18	20	20	20	20	22	22	22	22	22	24	-	-	-
14	South Sydney	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	4	4	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	16	16	18	18	20	-	-	-
15	Bulldogs	0	2	4	4	4	6	6	8	8	8	10	10	10	12	12	12	12	14	14	14	14	14	14	-	-	-
16	North Queensland	0	0	0	2	4	6	6	6	6	6	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	10	10	10	12	12	-	-	-

[edit] Finals

The National Rugby League will again employ the McIntyre Final Eight System and for the second year running, preliminary finals will be allowed to be played outside of Sydney.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Qualifying Finals
4th		5th	12 September 2008, 7:45pm	4th place Home Ground
3rd		6th	13 September 2008, 6:30pm	3rd place Home Ground
2nd		7th	13 September 2008, 8:30pm	2nd place Home Ground
1st		8th	14 September 2008, 3:00pm	1st place Home Ground
Semi Finals
3rd Highest Ranked Winner		Highest Ranked Loser	19 September 2008, 7:30pm	3rd Highest Ranked Winner's Home Region
4th Highest Ranked Winner		2nd Highest Ranked Loser	20 September 2008, 7:30pm	4th Highest Ranked Winner's Home Region
Preliminary Finals
Highest Ranked Winner		Winner First Semi Final	26 September 2008, 7:30pm	Highest Ranked Winner's Home City
2nd Highest Ranked Winner		Winner Second Semi Final	27 September 2008, 7:30pm	Highest Ranked Winner's Home City
Grand Final
Winner First Preliminary Final		Winner Second Preliminary Final	5 October 2008, 5.00pm	ANZ Stadium

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Points

	Player	Team	P	T	G	FG	Pts
1	Luke Covell	Cronulla	18	10	52	0	160
2	Luke Burt	Parramatta	17	8	55	1	143
3	Cameron Smith	Melbourne	17	7	51	0	132
4	Brett Hodgson	Wests Tigers	18	2	57	1	130
5	Jamie Soward	St. George Illawarra	18	5	51	1	129
6	Matt Orford	Brisbane	16	6	47	0	123
7	Craig Fitzgibbon	Sydney	16	1	55	0	120
8	Todd Carney	Canberra	17	4	46	2	110
9	Kurt Gidley	Newcastle	14	8	38	0	108
10	Hazem El Masri	Bulldogs	15	6	40	0	104

[edit] Tries

	Player	Team	P	T
1	Denan Kemp	Brisbane	20	16
2	Shaun Kenny-Dowall	Sydney	19	14
3	Jason Nightingale	St. George Illawarra	18	12
4	Brett Stewart	Manly-Warringah	16	12
4	Greg Inglis	Melbourne	13	12
6	Adrian Purtell	Canberra	16	11
6	Michael Robertson	Manly-Warringah	19	11
8	Billy Slater	Melbourne	15	10
8	Joel Reddy	Parramatta	18	10
6	9 players			9

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• 2008 trial games, RubaiSport
• Rugby League Centenary Exhibit at nma.gov.au

Clubs in the National Rugby League, 2008
Brisbane Broncos · Bulldogs · Canberra Raiders · Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Gold Coast Titans · Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles · Melbourne Storm · Newcastle Knights New Zealand Warriors · North Queensland Cowboys · Parramatta Eels · Penrith Panthers St. George Illawarra Dragons · South Sydney Rabbitohs · Sydney Roosters · Wests Tigers
Former NSWRL / ARL / SL / NRL clubs
Adelaide Rams · Annandale · Balmain Tigers · Cumberland · Glebe Gold Coast Chargers · Hunter Mariners · Illawarra Steelers · Newcastle · Newtown Jets North Sydney Bears · Northern Eagles · Perth Reds · South Queensland Crushers St. George Dragons · University · Western Suburbs Magpies
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