2009 NRL season

2009 NRL season
Teams	16
Premiers	Melbourne Storm
Minor premiers	St. George Illawarra (1st title)
Matches played	201
Points scored	8315 (total) 41.368 (per match)
Attendance	3,412,872 (total) 16,979 (per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Hazem El Masri (248)
Top try scorer(s)	Brett Morris (25)

The 2009 NRL season was the 102nd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the twelfth run by the National Rugby League. For the third consecutive year, sixteen teams competed for the 2009 Telstra Premiership title. The season commenced with the first match played on 13 March and ended with the Grand Final, played on 4 October. The premiership was won by the Melbourne Storm in their fourth consecutive grand final appearance, however they were stripped of their Premiership on 22 April 2010 after they were found to be guilty of breaching the league's salary cap.

The second season of the National Youth Competition also commenced in line with the Telstra Premiership.

Season summary

See also: 2009 NRL season results

This season the NRL introduced a second on-field referee. Previously when the ball changed possession the lone on-field referee would have to change his position to stay with the defending team. He also could only observe the ruck from one direction. The two-referee system saves the referees some running back and forth to get into position as possession changes and also improves watchfulness over the ruck.

The St. George Illawarra Dragons, under new coach Wayne Bennett finished the regular season with their first minor premiership title as a joint venture club. However, the Dragons then became the first minor premiers since the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 1993 to be eliminated from the final series in consecutive losses.

For the first time since the McIntyre Final Eight System was introduced, a game was played twice in a row in the same stadium. This happened when the Dragons and Parramatta Eels played each other in round 26 (the final regular season round) and again in the first week of finals, both at WIN Jubilee Oval at Kogarah.

The Eels went on to become the first side since the McIntyre Final Eight System was introduced (in 1999) to make the grand final from eighth position. Along the way, they defeated the top three teams – the St George Illawarra Dragons, Gold Coast Titans and Bulldogs – in their three finals series matches, to make it to their first Grand Final since 2001.

Records set in 2009

• Bulldogs winger Hazem El Masri broke the all-time highest points record of 2,176 previously set by former Newcastle Knights halfback Andrew Johns when he scored 14 points against Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in Round 1.
• St George Illawarra Dragons winger Brett Morris and his twin, Bulldogs centre Josh Morris, set the record for the most tries scored by brothers in a regular season (42). The pair record a further five tries between them in the finals series, with Brett scoring 25 to Josh's 22.
• The Brisbane Broncos suffered their worst defeat in their 22-year history losing 56–0 to the Canberra Raiders in round 21 at Canberra Stadium.
• A record finals attendance (excluding grand finals) was set when the Parramatta Eels and Bulldogs preliminary final drew a crowd of 74,549 at ANZ Stadium
• Cameron Smith became the Melbourne Storm's leading point scorer, overtaking now-Sea Eagles half Matt Orford in the preliminary final against the Brisbane Broncos.
• The Melbourne Storm became the first club since the Parramatta sides of the 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984 seasons to make four consecutive grand finals.
• The Parramatta Eels were the first team ever under the McIntyre system to finish 8th in the regular season and make it to the grand final.

Teams

The clubs in the League for 2009 remained unchanged for the third consecutive year, with sixteen participating in the regular season: ten 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 were from Sydney's metropolitan area (with St. George Illawarra being a Sydney and Wollongong joint venture). Just two foundation clubs from the 1908 New South Wales Rugby Football League season played in this competition: the Roosters and the Rabbitohs.

Ladder

2009 NRL season
	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	St. George Illawarra	24	17	0	7	2	548	329	+219	38
2	Bulldogs	24	18	0	6	2	575	428	+147	38*
3	Gold Coast	24	16	0	8	2	514	467	+47	36
4	Melbourne	24	14	1	9	2	505	348	+157	33
5	Manly-Warringah	24	14	0	10	2	549	439	+90	32
6	Brisbane	24	14	0	10	2	511	566	−55	32
7	Newcastle	24	13	0	11	2	508	491	+17	30
8	Parramatta	24	12	1	11	2	476	473	+3	29
9	Wests Tigers	24	12	0	12	2	558	483	+75	28
10	South Sydney	24	11	1	12	2	566	549	+17	27
11	Penrith	24	11	1	12	2	515	589	−74	27
12	North Queensland	24	11	0	13	2	558	474	+84	26
13	Canberra	24	9	0	15	2	489	510	−31	22
14	New Zealand	24	7	2	15	2	377	545	−188	20
15	Cronulla-Sutherland	24	5	0	19	2	359	568	−209	14
16	Sydney Roosters	24	5	0	19	2	382	681	−299	14

* Bulldogs stripped of 2 competition points after an interchange breach in round 2

Ladder progression

• Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.
• Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
• Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round
• Underlined numbers indicate that the team had a bye during that round.

	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	St. George Illawarra	0	2	4	6	8	8	10	12	12	14	16	18	18	20	22	24	26	28	30	32	34	36	36	36	36	38
2	Bulldogs	2	2	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	14	16	16	18	20	22	24	24	26	28	28	30	32	34	36	38	38
3	Gold Coast	2	2	4	6	8	10	10	12	12	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	24	26	26	28	28	30	32	34	36	36
4	Melbourne	2	2	4	4	6	6	7	9	11	13	13	15	17	19	21	21	23	25	25	27	27	29	29	29	31	33
5	Manly-Warringah	0	0	0	0	2	4	4	4	6	8	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	24	24	24	26	28	30	32
6	Brisbane	2	4	6	6	8	10	12	12	12	14	16	18	18	18	18	18	20	22	22	22	22	24	26	28	30	32
7	Newcastle	0	2	2	4	6	8	8	10	12	14	14	16	16	16	18	20	20	22	24	24	24	24	26	28	28	30
8	Parramatta	0	2	4	4	4	4	4	6	8	8	9	9	11	11	13	15	15	15	17	19	21	23	25	27	29	29
9	Wests Tigers	2	2	4	4	4	6	8	8	10	10	10	10	10	12	12	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	26	26	28
10	South Sydney	2	2	4	6	6	6	8	8	10	12	13	13	13	13	15	15	15	17	19	21	21	23	23	23	25	27
11	Penrith	0	0	2	4	4	4	6	8	10	12	14	14	16	16	16	18	20	20	22	24	25	25	25	27	27	27
12	North Queensland	0	2	2	2	2	4	6	6	8	10	12	14	16	16	18	18	20	22	22	22	24	24	24	24	24	26
13	Canberra	0	0	0	2	4	4	4	4	6	6	8	10	12	12	12	14	16	16	16	16	18	18	20	20	22	22
14	New Zealand	2	4	4	4	4	6	7	7	9	9	9	11	11	13	15	15	15	15	17	17	18	18	18	20	20	20
15	Cronulla-Sutherland	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	6	8	10	12	12	12	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14
16	Sydney Roosters	0	2	2	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	6	8	8	8	8	10	10	12	12	12	14	14	14	14	14	14

Finals series

See also: 2009 NRL season results

The NRL finals series adopts the McIntyre Final Eight System.

Four teams made a return to the 2009 finals from 2008, grand finalists Melbourne Storm, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles along with the Brisbane Broncos and St George Illawarra Dragons. Both the Bulldogs and Parramatta Eels made a return after being absent in 2008. The Newcastle Knights made the finals for the first time since 2006 and their first since the departure of club legend Andrew Johns. The Gold Coast Titans entered their maiden finals series. It was also the first finals series since 2002 that no team was held scoreless.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referees	Crowd
QUALIFYING FINALS
Melbourne Storm	40 – 12	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	11 September, 7:45pm	Etihad Stadium	Gavin Badger Shayne Hayne	21,155
Gold Coast Titans	32 – 40	Brisbane Broncos	12 September, 6:30pm	Skilled Park	Ben Cummins Ashley Klein	27,227
Bulldogs	26 – 12	Newcastle Knights	12 September, 8:30pm	ANZ Stadium	Tony Archer Jason Robinson	21,369
St George Illawarra Dragons	12 – 25	Parramatta Eels	13 September, 4:00pm	WIN Jubilee Oval	Jarred Maxwell Matt Cecchin	18,174
SEMI FINALS
Parramatta Eels	27 – 2	Gold Coast Titans	18 September, 7:45pm	Sydney Football Stadium	Shayne Hayne Jared Maxwell	28,524
Brisbane Broncos	24 – 10	St. George Illawarra Dragons	19 September, 7:45pm	Suncorp Stadium	Tony Archer Ben Cummins	50,225
PRELIMINARY FINALS
Bulldogs	12 – 22	Parramatta Eels	25 September, 7:45pm	ANZ Stadium	Tony Archer Ben Cummins	74,549
Melbourne Storm	40 – 10	Brisbane Broncos	26 September, 7:45pm	Etihad Stadium	Shayne Hayne Jared Maxwell	27,687
GRAND FINAL
Melbourne Storm	23 – 16	Parramatta Eels	4 October, 5:00pm	ANZ Stadium	Tony Archer Shayne Hayne	82,538

Grand final

Main article: 2009 NRL Grand Final

Melbourne Storm	Position	Parramatta Eels
Billy Slater	FB	Jarryd Hayne
Steve Turner	WG	Luke Burt
Will Chambers	CE	Krisnan Inu
Greg Inglis	CE	Joel Reddy
Dane Nielsen	WG	Eric Grothe
Brett Finch	FE	Daniel Mortimer
Cooper Cronk	HB	Jeff Robson
Aiden Tolman	PR	Nathan Cayless (c)
Cameron Smith (c)	HK	Matt Keating
Brett White	PR	Fuifui Moimoi
Adam Blair	SR	Ben Smith
Ryan Hoffman	SR	Nathan Hindmarsh
Dallas Johnson	LK	Todd Lowrie
Ryan Hinchcliffe	Bench	Kevin Kingston
Jeff Lima	Bench	Feleti Mateo
Ryan Tandy	Bench	Joe Galuvao
Scott Anderson	Bench	Tim Mannah
Craig Bellamy	Coach	Daniel Anderson

The Melbourne Storm were playing in their fourth consecutive Grand Final, with a team later deemed illegal due to massive over spending on the salary cap and were up against the Parramatta Eels who were playing in their first Grand Final since 2001. Parramatta were first team since the McIntyre Finals System was introduced in 1999 to make the Grand Final from 8th spot.

First Half: Melbourne's Ryan Hoffman broke the Eels' line to scored the first try of the game in the fifth minute to make the score 6–0. Parramatta was looking shaky in the first half, and Melbourne capitalised with a try to Adam Blair in the 24th minute, set up by a Cooper Cronk line-break, to make the score 10–0.

Second Half: Parramatta scored early in the second half, with Eric Grothe, Jr., scoring in the 45th minute to bring the scoreline to 10–6. Melbourne responded quickly, with tries to Greg Inglis off a bomb kick in the 49th minute and Billy Slater from a line break in the 56th minute, to open a handy 22–6 lead heading into the final quarter of the game. Parramatta attacked through the final quarter of the game, then broke through for two tries: one to Joel Reddy off a bomb kick in the 70th minute, then a barnstorming run from Fuifui Moimoi off an off-load in the 72nd minute; only the former of these tries was converted, bringing the score to 22–16. In the 76th minute, with Melbourne attacking from their own half, Billy Slater dropped the ball as he tried to play it, but referee Tony Archer ruled that Parramatta's Fuifui Moimoi had held Slater down in the tackle, and awarded a penalty to the Storm; Greg Inglis scored a field goal in the ensuing set-of-six, extending the margin to 23–16 in the 78th minute. Melbourne would hold on to win by that score.

Match Summary

4 October 2009, 5:15pm

23	Melbourne Storm
Tries	1 Hoffman (5') 1 Blair (24') 1 Inglis (49') 1 Slater (55')
Goals	3/4 C Smith (7', 50', 57')
Field Goals	1 Inglis (77')
16	Parramatta Eels
Tries	1 Grothe (45') 1 Reddy (70') 1 Moimoi (72')
Goals	2/3 Burt (46', 70')
Field Goals

Half Time: Storm 10 – 0

Clive Churchill Medallist: Billy Slater

Referees: Tony Archer, Shayne Hayne

Venue: ANZ Stadium, Sydney

Attendance: 82,538

Timeline

5th: Storm 6 – 0 (Try: Hoffman, Goal: C Smith)
24th: Stom 10 – 0 (Try: Blair)
45th: Storm 10 – 6 (Try: Grothe, Goal: Burt)
49th: Storm 16 – 6 (Try: Inglis, Goal: C Smith)
55th: Storm 22 – 6 (Try: Slater, Goal: C Smith)
70th: Storm 22 – 12 (Try: Reddy, Goal: Burt)
72nd: Storm 22 – 16 (Try: Moimoi)
77th: Storm 23 – 16 (Field Goal: Inglis)

2009 Club and Player records

The following figures were collected from the completion of round 26 of the regular season and therefore do not represent any figures associated with the finals series or any representative matches for this year.

Top 5 point scorers

Pts	Player	Try	Gls	FG
234	Hazem El Masri	14	89	0
228	Jamie Soward	12	87	6
202	Johnathan Thurston	11	79	0
180	Luke Burt	13	63	2
172	Scott Prince	7	72	0

Top 5 try scorers

Try	Player
22	Brett Morris
21	Taniela Tuiaki
20	Josh Morris
19	Nathan Merritt
19	Bryson Goodwin

Most points in a match by an individual

Pts	Player	Try	Gls	FG	Opponent	Score	Venue	Round
24	Luke Burt	2	8/8	0	Newcastle Knights	40–8	Parramatta Stadium	Round 22
24	Luke Burt	2	8/8	0	Penrith Panthers	48–6	Parramatta Stadium	Round 25
24	Benji Marshall	2	8/10	0	Cronulla Sharks	56–10	Toyota Stadium	Round 23
24	Joseph Tomane	3	6/9	0	Brisbane Broncos	48–4	Olympic Park Stadium	Round 13

Most tries in a match by an individual

Tries	Player	Opponent	Score	Venue	Round
4	Israel Folau	Gold Coast Titans	32–18	Suncorp Stadium	Round 10
4	Phil Graham	Brisbane Broncos	56–0	Canberra Stadium	Round 21
4	Joel Moon	Penrith Panthers	32–32	CUA Stadium	Round 21
4	Brett Morris	North Queensland	20–24	Dairy Farmers Stadium	Round 9
4	Billy Slater	Manly Sea Eagles	40–12	Etihad Stadium	Qualifying Final

Largest winning margin

Score	Victor	Opponent	Venue	Round
56 – 0 (56 pts)	Canberra Raiders	Brisbane Broncos	Canberra Stadium	Round 21
56 – 10 (46 pts)	Wests Tigers	Cronulla Sharks	Toyota Stadium	Round 23
48 – 4 (44 pts)	Melbourne Storm	Brisbane Broncos	Olympic Park	Round 13

Most points in a match

Points	Victor	Opponent	Score	Venue	Round
82	Brisbane Broncos	Penrith Panthers	58–24	Suncorp Stadium	Round 23
74	Wests Tigers	South Sydney Rabbitohs	54–20	ANZ Stadium	Round 17
72	Penrith Panthers	Parramatta Eels	38–34	CUA Stadium	Round 17

Fewest points in a match

Points	Victor	Opponent	Score	Venue	Round
13	New Zealand Warriors	Newcastle Knights	13–0	Mt Smart Stadium	Round 14
14	New Zealand Warriors	West Tigers	14–0	Mt Smart Stadium	Round 12
14	Brisbane Broncos	St. George Illawarra Dragons	12–2	WIN Stadium	Round 24
16	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Cronulla Sharks	10–6	WIN Jubilee Oval	Round 3

Most points scored in a match by an individual team

Pts	Team	Opponent	Score	Venue	Round
58	Brisbane Broncos	Penrith Panthers	58–24	Suncorp Stadium	Round 23
56	Wests Tigers	Cronulla Sharks	56–10	Toyota Stadium	Round 23
56	Canberra Raiders	Brisbane Broncos	56–0	Canberra Stadium	Round 21
54	Wests Tigers	South Sydney Rabbitohs	54–20	ANZ Stadium	Round 17
52	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Sydney Roosters	52–12	Sydney Football Stadium	Round 1

• More NRL statistics

Attendance

2009's regular season attendance figures were the highest recorded in Australian rugby league history, with a total of 3,081,849. This figure bettered the previous record set by the 1995 Winfield Cup's regular season (3,061,338 in a 20 team competition) and also beat the Telstra Premiership's previous best of 3,024,149 set in 2007.

The 2009 season also saw the second highest average crowd figure of a regular season, with a crowd average of 16,051, behind the best of 16,466 set in the 2005 NRL season.

The 20 highest regular season match attendances:

Crowd	Venue	Home Team	Opponent	Round
50,109	Suncorp Stadium (Double Header)	Brisbane Broncos Bulldogs RLFC	South Sydney Rabbitohs Gold Coast Titans	Round 19
45,022	Suncorp Stadium	Brisbane Broncos	North Queensland Cowboys	Round 1
43,079	Suncorp Stadium	Brisbane Broncos	Gold Coast Titans	Round 10
42,435	Suncorp Stadium	Brisbane Broncos	St George Illawarra Dragons	Round 4
41,835	ANZ Stadium	Bulldogs RLFC	New Zealand Warriors	Round 25
36,647	Suncorp Stadium	Brisbane Broncos	Melbourne Storm	Round 2
35,112	Suncorp Stadium	Brisbane Broncos	Canberra Raiders	Round 26
34,272	Sydney Football Stadium	Wests Tigers	Parramatta Eels	Round 24
32,456	Suncorp Stadium	Brisbane Broncos	New Zealand Warriors	Round 17
31,664	ANZ Stadium	Bulldogs RLFC	Parramatta Eels	Round 20
30,887	Suncorp Stadium	Brisbane Broncos	Parramatta Eels	Round 7
29,970	Sydney Cricket Ground	Wests Tigers	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Round 10
28,926	Sydney Football Stadium	Sydney Roosters	St George Illawarra Dragons	Round 7
27,527	Suncorp Stadium	Brisbane Broncos	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Round 9
26,353	Suncorp Stadium	Brisbane Broncos	Bulldogs RLFC	Round 14
26,336	Skilled Park	Gold Coast Titans	Brisbane Broncos	Round 20
25,622	ANZ Stadium	Bulldogs RLFC	Wests Tigers	Round 8
25,305	Suncorp Stadium	Brisbane Broncos	Penrith Panthers	Round 23
24,538	Mt Smart Stadium	New Zealand Warriors	Brisbane Broncos	Round 3
24,486	Sydney Football Stadium	Sydney Roosters	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Round 1
24,332	Dairy Farmers Stadium	North Queensland Cowboys	Brisbane Broncos	Round 25

See also

• 2009 NRL season results
• 2009 NYC season
• 2009 Dally M Awards
• 2009 in rugby league

External links

• NRL.com – Official site of the NRL, National Rugby League