National Rugby League

"NRL" redirects here. For other uses, see NRL (disambiguation).

For the French rugby union system see National Rugby League (France). For the American rugby league competition, see National Rugby League USA.

National Rugby League

Current season, competition or edition: National Rugby League season 2009
File:NRL logo.svg
Sport	Rugby League
Founded	1998
CEO	David Gallop (2002-)
No. of teams	16
Country	Australia New Zealand
Most recent champion(s)	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Official website	nrl.com

The National Rugby League (NRL) is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL competition (sometimes referred to as the Telstra Premiership for sponsorship purposes) is contested by 16 teams, 15 based in Australia and one based in New Zealand, and is the Southern Hemisphere's elite rugby league championship. The premiership also has the world's highest total attendance figures for a rugby club competition of either code.

The National Rugby League is the present-day embodiment of Australia's top-level domestic rugby league competition, which in turn grew from Sydney's club competition, and which has been running continuously since 1908. The NRL formed in the aftermath of the 1990s' Super League war as a joint partnership between the sport's national governing body, the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and the News Corporation-controlled Super League after both organisations ran premierships parallel to each other in 1997. It is still a distant second in populatiry to AFL.

NRL matches are played throughout Australia as well as New Zealand from Autumn until Spring, culminating in a Grand Final match to determine the season's premiers. Each year the NRL champions play an additional game against the premiers of the European Super League competition in the World Club Challenge.

Teams

Since 2007 the NRL has consisted of ten clubs based in New South Wales, three in Queensland, one in Victoria, one in the Australian Capital Territory and one in New Zealand. The league operates on a single group system, with no divisions or conferences and no relegation and promotion from other leagues.

The map below indicates the locations of teams currently competing in the National Rugby League competition. The inset is of greater Sydney. Template:NRL map

The following sixteen clubs are competing in the National Rugby League during the 2009 season.

Club	Location	Home Ground(s)	First season
Brisbane Broncos	Brisbane, QLD	Suncorp Stadium (12 games)(52,500)	1988
Bulldogs	Sydney, NSW	ANZ Stadium (10 games)(83,500) Bluetongue Stadium (1 game)(20,119) Suncorp Stadium (1 game)(52,500)	1935
Canberra Raiders	Canberra, ACT	Canberra Stadium (12 games)(25,011)	1982
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Sydney, NSW	Toyota Stadium (11 games)(22,500) Hindmarsh Stadium (1 game)(16,500)	1967
Gold Coast Titans	Gold Coast, QLD	Skilled Park (12 games)(27,500)	2007
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Sydney, NSW	Brookvale Oval (12 games)(23,000)	1947
Melbourne Storm	Melbourne, VIC	Olympic Park Stadium (12 games)(18,500)	1998
New Zealand Warriors	Auckland, NZ	Mt Smart Stadium (12 games)(28,745)	1995
Newcastle Knights	Newcastle, NSW	Energy Australia Stadium (12 games)(26,000)	1988
North Queensland Cowboys	Townsville, QLD	Dairy Farmers Stadium (12 games)(25,000)	1995
Parramatta Eels	Sydney, NSW	Parramatta Stadium (10 games) (20,000) ANZ Stadium (2 games) (83,500)	1947
Penrith Panthers	Penrith, NSW	CUA Stadium (12 games) (21,000)	1967
St. George Illawarra Dragons	Sydney, NSW Wollongong, NSW	WIN Jubilee Oval (6 games ) (20,541) WIN Stadium (6 games) (20,000)	1999
South Sydney Rabbitohs	Sydney, NSW	ANZ Stadium (10 games) (83,500) Bluetongue Stadium (1 game)(20,119) Members Equity Stadium (1 game) (18,156)	1908
Sydney Roosters	Sydney, NSW	Sydney Football Stadium (10 games)(45,500) Bluetongue Stadium (2 games)(20,119)	1908
Wests Tigers	Sydney, NSW	Campbelltown Stadium (3 games)(21,000) Leichhardt Oval (3 games)(23,000) Sydney Football Stadium (5 games)(45,500) Sydney Cricket Ground (1 game)(44,002)	2000

A total of twenty-three clubs have played in the National Rugby League between 1998 and 2007. For a list of all clubs past and present see National Rugby League Teams. For a complete list of all teams no longer competing in the NRL see here

Eleven clubs have been members of the National Rugby League for every season since its inception in 1998. This group includes Brisbane, Bulldogs, Canberra, Cronulla, Melbourne, New Zealand, Newcastle, North Queensland, Parramatta, Penrith and Sydney.

History

NRL Premiers

Season	Grand Final Information			Minor Premiers
	Premiers	Score	Runners-Up
1998	Brisbane Broncos	38-12	Canterbury Bulldogs	Brisbane Broncos (=37 pts)
1999	Melbourne Storm	20-18	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (40 pts)
2000	Brisbane Broncos	14-6	Sydney Roosters	Brisbane Broncos (38 pts)
2001	Newcastle Knights	30-24	Parramatta Eels	Parramatta Eels (42 pts)
2002	Sydney Roosters	30-8	New Zealand Warriors	New Zealand Warriors (=38 pts)
2003	Penrith Panthers	18-6	Sydney Roosters	Penrith Panthers (40 pts)
2004	Bulldogs	16-13	Sydney Roosters	Sydney Roosters (=42 pts)
2005	Wests Tigers	30-16	North Queensland Cowboys	Parramatta Eels (=36 pts)
2006	Brisbane Broncos	15-8	Melbourne Storm	Melbourne Storm (44 pts)
2007	Melbourne Storm	34-8	File:Manly colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Melbourne Storm (44 pts)
2008	File:Manly colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	40-0	Melbourne Storm	Melbourne Storm (=38 pts)

Origins

Main article: History of the National Rugby League

See also: Rugby league in Australia

The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) ran the major rugby league competition of New South Wales, and later the whole country from its inception in 1908 until 1994. Following the introduction of a new format for interstate rugby league, State of Origin in 1980, the decade of the 1980s brought about expansion of the NSWRL premiership, with the introduction of commercial sponsorship, the Winfield Cup, and the addition of non-Sydney-based teams, Canberra and Illawarra in 1982. Although this move brought more interest in the competition statewide in New South Wales, it would spell the beginning of the demise of some of the traditional Sydney-based clubs as well as the Brisbane Rugby League premiership. Following the 1983 season, foundation club Newtown Jets were ultimately forced to withdraw from the competition because of financial difficulties.

Further expansion of the league followed in 1988, with another three teams to be based outside Sydney introduced to the competition: the Newcastle Knights and the first two Queensland teams, the Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast-Tweed Giants. These new teams proved to be successful, both financially and in popularity, and paved the way towards a push for a truly national competition. This was undertaken in 1995 with control of the premiership passing to the Australian Rugby League (ARL), who invited four more teams from outside NSW to participate.

Establishment

See also: Super League war

The prospect of a truly national rugby league competition in addition to the introduction of pay television in Australia attracted the attention of global media organisation, News Corporation, and it followed that professional rugby league was shaken to its very foundations in the mid-1990s with the advent of the Super League war over broadcasting rights. Both the ARL and their newly-created rival, the News-controlled Super League, conducted separate competitions in 1997. With twenty-two teams playing in two competitions that year, crowd attendances and corporate sponsorships were spread very thinly, and many teams found themselves in financial difficulty. The ARL undertook moves to invite the traditional clubs that had moved to the Super League competition back into a re-unified competition. Following a period of negotiation with News Corporation, on 23 September 1997 the ARL announced that it was forming a new company to conduct the competition in 1998. On 7 October Rupert Murdoch announced that he was confident that there would be a single competition in 1998 and in the following months the National Rugby League, jointly owned by the ARL and News Limited, was formed.

It was announced that the inaugural National Rugby League (NRL) season of 1998 would have 20 teams competing, 19 remaining Super League and ARL teams plus the Melbourne Storm, who were created by Super League for their 1998 season. Clubs on both sides of the war were shut down. Super League decided to close the Hunter Mariners and the financially ruined Western Reds, who were $10 million in debt at the end of 1997, while the ARL decided to close down the South Queensland Crushers, who were also in severe financial trouble. Additionally, at the end of 1998 the NRL decided to close down former Super League club, the Adelaide Rams and former ARL club, the Gold Coast Chargers, despite the Gold Coast franchise being one of the few clubs to make a profit during the Super League war.

1998-2002: Rationalisation

Main articles: National Rugby League season 1998, National Rugby League season 1999, National Rugby League season 2000, National Rugby League season 2001, and National Rugby League season 2002

One condition of the peace agreement between the ARL and News Limited was that there would be a 14 team competition in 2000. The 20 clubs that played in 1998 would be assessed on various items such as sponsorship, crowds, on-field success and the like. It was also announced that clubs that merged would receive a large sum of money, as well as a guaranteed position in the 2000 NRL Competition. St. George were the first club to take up the offer, and they merged with the Illawarra Steelers at the end of 1998. The Bulldogs continued in their present form without merging in 1999, however dropped the Canterbury from their club name to simply become known as the Bulldogs.

The 1999 NRL Grand Final brought about a new official world record attendance for a game of rugby league. 107,999 spectators saw the Melbourne Storm play the newly-merged St. George Illawarra Dragons in the decider at Stadium Australia.

Balmain and Western Suburbs formed the joint venture club, the Wests Tigers at the end of 1999, while North Sydney and Manly-Warringah merged to form the ill-fated Northern Eagles. As part of another image makeover, a number of teams also released new club logos. The most notable of these was the Sydney Roosters, dropping the City section of their name for the 2000 season and beyond. Souths were controversially axed from the competition at the end of 1999 for failing to meet the criteria.

This move was highly controversial and on 12 November 2000 approximately 80,000 marched in protest at their continued exclusion. South Sydney challenged the decision in the Federal Court claiming that the NRL agreement was exclusionary, intended to unfairly exclude South Sydney, and breached the Trade Practices Act. Justice Paul Finn ruled that the agreement did not specifically exclude any club and dismissed the Rabbitohs' claims for re-instatement into the national competition. Souths appealed this decision and were re-admitted into the competition in 2002.

The Auckland Warriors experienced much financial hardship in the early part of the decade, ultimately collapsing before being resurrected as the New Zealand Warriors for the 2001 season. They made the Grand Final in 2002.

In 2001, Australia's largest telecommunications provider Telstra became naming rights sponsor of the NRL, with the competition's name becoming the NRL Telstra Premiership, while in 2002 David Gallop took over the CEO role from David Moffett, and the competition has become more and more popular each season.

In 2001 the NRL Grand Final started to be played on Sunday nights, a shift from the traditional Sunday afternoon slot used for over a decade prior.

2003-2005: Record Popularity

Main articles: National Rugby League season 2003, National Rugby League season 2004, and National Rugby League season 2005

The 2003 season was widely regarded as the most successful since the beginning of the National Rugby League in 1998. The Penrith Panthers rose from the bottom of the table to win the Premiership, while the Broncos returned to Suncorp Stadium mid-year. Season 2004 proved even more successful than 2003, with the North Queensland Cowboys going from 11th position in 2003 to 3rd in 2004, narrowly missing out on a maiden Grand Final berth.

Crowd average records were broken in 2003, 2004 and 2005. In 2005, the NRL reached record levels of popularity for its competition. Total crowds for the competition season almost reached the figures for the last year of the competition conducted by the ARL competition of 1995, prior to the Super League war. From 2004 to 2005, there was a 39% increase in sponsorship, a 41% increase in merchandise royalties, and a 12% increase in playing participation. In 2005, Business Review Weekly ranked the NRL 497 in revenue of Australian private companies, with revenue of A$66.1m (+7%) with 35 employees. In 2005, a record national audience of 4.1 million tuned into watch the grand final between the Wests Tigers and the North Queensland Cowboys.

2006: A Unique Year

Main article: National Rugby League season 2006

The 2006 National Rugby League season kicked off on Friday, March 10, between defending premiers Wests Tigers and early favourites St. George Illawarra Dragons at Telstra Stadium.

Melbourne, after leading the competition for most of the season, comfortably claimed the minor premiership, with the Bulldogs, Brisbane, and Newcastle making up the top four. Manly, St George Illawarra, Canberra and Parramatta took places five to eight.

The 2006 NRL Grand Final won by the Brisbane Broncos over the Melbourne Storm, 15-8. The matchup was a significant milestone in the history of the NRL, as two interstate teams (teams not from New South Wales, the "heartland" of the NRL) contested the grand final for the first time ever.

The game itself once again enjoyed immense support, with more record TV ratings, particularly capturing Melbourne on Grand Final night. Crowds were down on 2005, however were better than any other year prior to that.

2007: Further expansion

Main article: National Rugby League season 2007

In its tenth season the NRL returned to having a club based on the Gold Coast, Queensland with the inclusion of the Gold Coast Titans. The Titans were the first professional sporting team to occupy the Gold Coast since 1998, when the Gold Coast Chargers were one of the teams removed during the NRL's rationalisation process between the end of the Super League war and the 2000 season.

The 2007 NRL season kicked off on Friday 16 March 2007 with eight games each round. 2007 also saw the return of Monday Night Football and the inclusion of two Friday night games. Both of which turned out to be ratings successes. Another change from the previous seasons was a reduction in the number of byes per team in the season. With an odd number of teams contesting between 2002 and 2006, the draw meant that at least one team would have to have a bye each weekend. With the inclusion of the 16th team for the 2007 season, the National Rugby League had the option of reverting to back to the system used between 2000 and 2001 where every team played each round. That system was not used however, with teams were given just a single bye during the year, grouped in periods that will assist clubs around representative fixtures.

The opening round saw two matches at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium, the first featuring reigning champions Brisbane against fellow Queensland side North Queensland, while the second match featured the new club, the Gold Coast playing St George Illawarra. The weather during the middle of the season was less than ideal, with cyclonic conditions severely affecting many NRL games played in Sydney and Newcastle.

The finals series was contested over a period of four weeks and saw the newly privatised South Sydney Rabbitohs return to finals football for the first time in decades. The season culminated with the NRL Grand Final on Sunday 30 September 2007 contested between a resurgent Manly and a Melbourne team looking for redemption from last year's Grand Final loss. Melbourne ran out convincing winners with a 34–8 scoreline and the Grand Final achieved the honour of being the most watched television show in Australia in 2007.

2008: The Centenary

Main article: National Rugby League season 2008

Throughout 2008, the NRL celebrated 100 years since Rugby League was introduced into Australia, with several initiatives to recognise the important milestone, including an extensive marketing campaign called the 'Centenary of Rugby League'. The competition began in March, with a special Heritage Round held in mid-April, coinciding with the first round of competition played in 1908.

At a Gala event on 17 April 2008 the Team of the Century was announced, being: Full-back: Clive Churchill; Wingers: Ken Irvine, Brian Bevan; Centres: Reg Gasnier, Mal Meninga; Five-eighth: Wally Lewis; Half-back: Andrew Johns; Lock: John Raper; Second Row: Norm Provan, Ron Coote; Props: Arthur Beetson, Duncan Hall; Hooker: Noel Kelly; Reserves: Graeme Langlands, Dally Messenger, Bob Fulton, Frank Burge; Coach: Jack Gibson.

For the second year in a row, the Grand Final was played between the Melbourne Storm and the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, in the NRL's first ever twilight decider. The Sea Eagles took out the premiership game 40-0, setting the record for the highest winning margin in a Grand Final match. Furthermore, it was the first time a team had been kept scoreless in a Grand Final since 1978.

2009: The Second Century Begins

Main article: National Rugby League season 2009

After the centenary celebrations of 2008, the 2009 season marks the second century of rugby league competition in Australia. The competition begins in mid-March.

Foundation Clubs

Two current NRL teams have existed since the 1908 foundation of the NSWRL, the predecessor of the NRL. These teams are the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Sydney Roosters (originally known as 'Eastern Suburbs' or simply 'Easts'). However, as the Rabbitohs were removed from the NRL in the 2000 and 2001 seasons due to an NRL policy which aimed to cut the number of teams, the Roosters are the only team to have played in every Australian first-grade rugby league season.

Wests Tigers is also sometimes considered a foundation club, although it has only existed since 2000. The Wests Tigers team resulted from a merger between two separate clubs, the Western Suburbs Magpies and the Balmain Tigers, both of which were foundation clubs which played in the first grade competition between 1908 and 1999. Despite sharing a common NRL team, Western Suburbs and Balmain remain independent clubs and field their own teams in lower-level competitions.

The Future

When the Gold Coast Titans were admitted into the 2007 season of the NRL they beat out proposals from Gosford, New South Wales (as the Central Coast Bears) and Wellington, New Zealand (as the Southern Orcas). Both teams are still looking forward to joining the NRL in the next expansion period, speculated to be a year before the current TV deal comes up for renewal in 2013.

In 2006 the Western Australia Rugby League announced that the Perth-based WA Reds will be joining the Jim Beam Cup in 2008. The club plans to progress through the competitions below the NRL with a planned promotion to the Queensland Cup in 2010 and final promotion to the NRL currently planned for 2011 - 2012.

In April 2009, a consortium from the Central Queensland region declared their intent to launch a bid for an NRL franchise to be based in Rockhampton in the next expansion period. The bid is expected to be launched in mid-2009, but the group have stated they would accept the relocation of struggling Sydney team to Central Queensland

NRL CEO David Gallop has spoken specifically about adding teams in West Brisbane, Perth , Adelaide, the Central Coast, the Sunshine Coast and Wellington, New Zealand. Interest in gaining an NRL franchise has also come from Papau New Guinea and Fiji .

The NRL also has a fund of $8 million for any club that decides to relocate to a 'strategically identified area'.

Non-traditional venues

Since 1998 NRL clubs have played both trial matches and premiership season games in areas that do not have representation in the NRL.

• Wests Tigers have played premiership season games in Christchurch, New Zealand
• The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and Penrith Panthers have played premiership season games in Adelaide.
• The Bulldogs have taken games interstate to Brisbane and the Gold Coast as well Wellington, New Zealand.
• South Sydney have moved a match in their 2009 season to Perth, Western Australia.
• The Parramatta Eels played two premiership season games in Waikato, New Zealand in 2005-2006.
• The South Sydney Rabbitohs and Manly Sea Eagles generally play one of their two premiership fixtures at Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford. Since then, a number of other teams have chosen to move one or two home fixtures to the Central Coast location.
• Many teams play in rural and other areas not home to a current NRL club during their pre-season campaign. Matches are played in locations such as Darwin, Perth, Gosford, Cessnock, Mackay, the Queensland Sunshine Coast and Coffs Harbour.
• City-Country Origin fixtures are often played in rural outposts around New South Wales, such as Dubbo, Lismore or Orange.
• In the current season (2009) the Cronulla Sharks will play a home game at Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, while South Sydney Rabbitohs are playing a game against the Melbourne Storm at the Members Equity Stadium, Perth.
• Cronulla Sharks have a contract with the South Australian Government to play 1 home game a season at Hindmarsh Stadium up until and including the 2011 season.

Structure

A Partnership Executive Committee administers the agreement between the Australian Rugby League and News Limited as well as making major financial decisions. Three representatives from each party make up this committee. A National Rugby League Board, which is commissioned by the Partnership Committee and is composed of six delegates - three from each party - is responsible for administering the competition. Both bodies nominate a Chairman to lead each board for a term of 12 months on an alternating basis.

The National Rugby League markets the premiership on behalf of the clubs as well as organising the draw and finals matches. When the draw is finalised, teams are responsible for controlling and organising their assigned home games. Clubs each have their own organisational structure but are also bound to the National Rugby League by a common set of rules in club agreements.

Competition format and sponsorship

Regular season

As rugby league is a winter sport in Australia, the NRL premiership season usually begins in early March following a brief series of trial matches. Games are then played every weekend until the end of September. In most rounds, two matches are played on Friday night, three on Saturday night, two on Sunday afternoon and one on Monday night.

There are currently sixteen clubs in the National Rugby League. Teams are divided into two equal pools of eight at the completion of each season, with each pool of equal strength based on that season's results. During the course of the regular season (which lasts until August) each club plays a total of two games against each team in the opposite pool, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponent's for a total of sixteen games for each club. Teams play six of those seven others in their own group just once during the season, and play the remaining club twice. This results in each team playing 24 games, with two byes in the 26-week regular season, for a total of 192 games.

Teams receive two competition points for a win, and one point for a draw. The bye also receives two points; a loss, no points. Teams are ranked by competition points, then match points differential (for and against) and points percentage are used to separate teams with equal competition points. At the end of the regular season, the club which is ranked highest on the ladder is declared minor premiers.

Finals

The NRL trophy is awarded to the winner of the Grand Final

The eight highest placed teams at the end of the regular season compete in the finals series, which is contested using the McIntyre Final Eight System. This system has been used for every NRL season with the exception of the first, in 1998. The system consists of a number of knockout and sudden-death games between the top eight teams over four weeks in August and September, until only two teams remain. These two teams then contest the Grand Final, which is usually played on the first Sunday of October. In the first week of the finals, the top four seeds play at their respective home grounds. In week two, matches are played within the home city of the two lower seeded winning teams from week one. In week three, teams play within the home regions of the two seeded winning teams from week one.

The NRL Grand Final is one of Australia's major sporting events, typically attracting large attendances and high television ratings. The game itself is usually preceded by an opening ceremony featuring entertainment from well-known Australasian and international musical acts. The Australian Prime Minister is also usually on hand for the trophy-presenting ceremony. In 1998 the Grand Final was held at the Sydney Football Stadium. Since then, it has been contested at Stadium Australia, which was the primary athletics venue for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. The first year it was held at Stadium Australia, the NRL Grand Final broke the world record for attendance at a rugby league game. In June 2006, the NRL announced that the Grand Final will continue to be held at the Stadium until at least 2012, after which the possibility of the game being moved interstate will be considered if certain circumstances arise.

The Grand Final has traditionally been played on Sunday afternoons, but between 2001 and 2007 the Grand Final was played at night, in order to coincide with the primetime period on television. Because this meant that the game finished late at night, the NRL feared losing younger audiences. From 2008, a compromise was reached between official broadcaster Channel 9's preferred starting time of 8pm and the traditional starting time of 3pm, with the Grand Final beginning at 5pm AEST.

Sponsorship

The Telstra Premiership logo.

The NRL and NRL clubs receive significant revenue from sponsorships, with sponsors' logos appearing on most parts of players' and referees' uniforms, the playing surface and even the ball itself. Since 2001, the National Rugby League premiership has been sponsored by Telstra and known as the 'Telstra Premiership' or 'NRL Telstra Premiership'; in earlier seasons, it was simply known as the 'National Rugby League'.

The Telstra Premiership has had three competition logos since 2001. The first, lasting only through the 2001 regular season, was the Telstra logo with an elongated circle enclosing the word Premiership. From the Finals series of 2001 through to the end of 2006 the logo was based around the shape of a football, with the words Telstra Premiership on respective lines along the bottom, culminating with a small football similar to the one in the official NRL logo. The main colours were blue and orange, the corporate colours of Telstra. The company worked with the NRL to create the current logo (pictured) for the 2007 season onward as part of a new sponsorship deal. This new logo is quite similar to the original National Rugby League emblem.

Other notable sponsorships include Coke Zero (ball), Victoria Bitter (Friday Night Football), Bundaberg Rum (Monday Night Football), AAMI (referee uniform and touch judge flags) and TAB Sportsbet (official betting agency of the NRL).

Competition rules and representative season

Salary cap

Main article: Salary cap

The National Rugby League adopted a salary cap in the early 1990s. In the NRL, clubs found to have breached the salary cap rules usually incur a fine. For example, six clubs were fined for minor infractions in 2003. These infractions are usually technical in nature and can sometimes be affected by third-party factors such as loss of sponsorship revenue affecting an allowance. During the 2007 season the NRL has investigated other ways of creating a fair and more beneficial cap for players and clubs.

However in mid-2002, the Bulldogs were found guilty of serious and systematic breaches. In addition to a more substantial fine, they were stripped of their competition points accumulated to that date, and hence denied a place in the finals. As the club had been leading the competition table prior to the penalty's imposition, this was a shattering outcome for the club and its fans.

In the 2006 pre-season the New Zealand Warriors revealed that their former management had rorted the salary cap in the 2004 and 2005 seasons. As a punishment the club was stripped of four competition points for 2006 and fined $430,000. They also had to play the 2007 season under a reduced salary cap.

After the completion of round 7, 2008, several clubs were fined for breaches in 2007. The hardest hit were the South Sydney Rabbitohs with a $70,000 fine, unfortunately coinciding with an alcohol-related incident involving five of the club's players, including the captain.

Representative season

As well as playing for their club in the National Rugby League premiership season, players are sometimes entitled to play in a number of representative competitions that are conducted by the Australian Rugby League at the same time. These competitions include the one-off ANZAC Tests, World Cup competitions, Tri-Nations series, State of Origin series and the New South Wales City vs Country Origin series. In order for a player to qualify for a representative team in these competitions, they must firstly be eligible to be chosen for the side, based on a process of qualification (which involves the standard of play at club level).

Media coverage

A 2004 match between Brisbane Broncos and the Bulldogs

The NRL provides six of the top seven and 78 of the top 100 programs on subscription television.

Coverage history

Professional club football in Australia has been revolutionised by television, with a shift away from daytime games to night-time games over recent years to better suit the official television broadcasters, Channel 9 and Fox Sports. This even extended to the Grand Final, which from 2001 to 2007 was shifted from 3pm on Sunday to 7pm Sunday night to better suit broadcasters. It has been moved back to 5pm Sunday from 2008 onwards.

Free-to-air coverage for Channel 9 viewers in states other than New South Wales or Queensland is delayed until later at night to make way for regular programming by Channel 9. These games are not shown at normal coverage times which has caused some outrage from fans and a call for change had remained unheard by the NRL or Channel 9.

The News Limited-owned Foxtel network, which broadcast its first rugby league matches during the 1997 Super League season, has broadcast the remaining National Rugby League matches since the competition's inception in 1998. In 2007, the hugely popular Monday Night Football was added to Foxtel's rugby league coverage.

Current television coverage

Domestic

• Friday Night Football starts at 7.30pm and consists of two matches shown on Channel 9 free-to-air television in New South Wales and Queensland. Both games are played concurrently, with one broadcast live and the other shown on delay immediately after the first, usually at 9.30pm. In many cases, the order in which the games are shown differs in different television markets. For instance, a match featuring a Queensland team, such as the Brisbane Broncos, would usually be shown first in Queensland markets, but might be broadcast second in New South Wales if a popular Sydney team such as the Wests Tigers was playing in the other match.
• Super Saturday includes one Toyota Cup afternoon game at 3.15pm, followed by that game's corresponding Telstra Permiership match at 5.30pm. This is then followed by two consecutive NRL matches beginning at 7.30pm, one of which is shown live and one on delay. All four are shown on Fox Sports.
• NRL Sunday is a 2.00pm match broadcast live on Fox Sports.
• Sunday Football is broadcast on Channel 9. The match normally kicks off at 3.00pm, but the broadcast is delayed until 4.00pm, running until 6.00pm in order to provide a strong lead-in to Channel 9's evening news.
• Monday Night Football is televised live from 7.00pm by Fox Sports.

• The NRL Grand Final is shown live in every state on Channel 9, with New South Wales and Queensland receiving up to 10 hours of continuous pre-game and post-game coverage.

On Super Saturday the viewer providing that they have Foxtel Digital or Austar Digital can use a tool called Viewer's choice. Viewer's choice gives the viewer a choice of either game played at 7:30pm. Saturday and Sunday broadcast schedules can also vary, with less Saturday and more Sunday matches. This is dependent on the scheduling of matches for the New Zealand Warriors played in Auckland, New Zealand.

International

The NRL is televised internationally with the following channels being the main telecast partners overseas.

• Setanta Sports - Covers at least least 2 live games from each of the weekly rounds. Plus all the playoffs, the Grand Final and all three State of Origin matches live. Shown in the UK Ireland and in the United States. Also covers Australia test matches.
• Australia Network - Provides free-to-air coverage to overseas locales in the Asia-Pacific region and India. Covers the Grand Final live.

Internet

Replays of NRL matches, as well as highlights and NRL-related informational programming are available in Australia from BigPond, Telstra's ISP. Outside of Australia, these programs are sold by Aussie Sport TV.

Players

National Rugby League footballers are some of Australasia's most famous athletes, commanding multi-million dollar playing contracts as well as sponsorship deals. Each club in the NRL has a "top squad" of twenty-five players, who are signed under the salary cap, as described above. For the most part, the players who play in NRL matches are sourced from these top squads. Occasionally during a season, however, the need may arise for a club to use players outside these 25, and in this case players are usually sourced from the club's junior ranks (such as the relevant New South Wales Cup or Queensland Cup squad).

The players voted to be the best in each position at the end of the season are honoured at the annual Dally M Awards, with the player of the year awarded the Dally M Medal. The man of the match in the Grand Final is awarded the Clive Churchill Medal.

Europeans in the NRL

There are few European-born players in the National Rugby League, despite the significant number of Australians in Europe's Super League. However, those who do play in the NRL (such as, in recent times, Adrian Morley and Brian Carney) are often stars of the game. From 2009, Leeds Rhinos forward Gareth Ellis will join the Wests Tigers on a three year deal, playing with them until the end of 2011.

Scotland international Ian Henderson and fellow Scot James McManus were the only European players in the NRL's 2008 season.

Indigenous Australians in the NRL

The first Indigenous Australian to play in the precursor to the NRL was New South Wales Rugby League premiership player George Green, who debuted in 1909. Since that time, many high profile indigenous athletes have played in the competition, including standout rugby league test players Arthur Beetson (the first aborigine to captain an Australian national team in any sport) and current Test match representatives Jonathan Thurston and Greg Inglis. A Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission report found that 11% of NRL players in 2006 were of Aboriginal descent, compared to only 7% in the AFL in 2005, which has since increased to 11% by 2008. (By way of comparison, only 2.3% of the Australian population identified themselves as Indigenous in the 2006 Australian census.).

Pacific Islanders in the NRL

Most of the players in the National Rugby League are of white Australian origin, although there are increasing numbers of both New Zealand and Pacific Island born players being selected by clubs. In recent years, Polynesian players have made up 75 per cent of junior representative teams in New South Wales. It has been estimated that by 2011-2012 50% of NRL players will be of Polynesian or Melanesian descent.

Statistics

Further information: [[:List of National Rugby League records]]

Top scorers in the National Rugby League (from 1998 onwards)

Rank	Player	Points
1	Hazem El Masri	2,256
2	Andrew Johns	1,578
3	Clinton Schifcofske	1,496
4	Craig Fitzgibbon	1,238
5	Matt Orford	1,092
6	Brett Hodgson	1,073
7	Michael De Vere	1,030
8	Ryan Girdler	901
9	Josh Hannay	882
10	Darren Lockyer	834
As of 1 January 2007.

The Brisbane Broncos have won the most premierships since the creation of the National Rugby League (1998, 2000 and 2006)

The Bulldogs hold the record for the most consecutive wins, having won 17 matches in a row between 31 March 2002 and 3 August 2002. However this was the year that they went over the salary cap by over $1.5 million. The Parramatta Eels set the records for the highest score and margin of victory in a 74–4 victory over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks on 23 August 2003. The most victories achieved within a season is 21, held by the Melbourne Storm in 2007. Since the first National Rugby League season in 1998, a total of six players have topped the scorers list in a season. However, the only player to have won the title more than once is Hazem El Masri, the overall top scorer in the National Rugby League's history, having claimed the title in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006. Hazem El Masri was leading the top scoring table in 2005 until sidelined through injury. His tally of 342 points in 2004 remains the most points scored by an individual in a season.

Ken Irvine is Rugby League's most prolific try scorer with 212 tries, the only player to score 200 or more tries.

Nigel Vagana's 154 tries scored across all nine seasons of the National Rugby League makes him the most prolific try scorer in the competition's history ( as Ken Irvine and Steve Menzies, the games actual highest try scorers, played before the creation of the NRL). Nathan Blacklock holds the record for the most tries in a season, with 27 scored in 2001 for his team, the St. George Illawarra Dragons.

Terry Campese holds the record for the most points scored in a game with 36 points in a match featuring Canberra vs Panthers Round 22 2008 -Can 74 defeated Pen 12-. Only three players have scored five tries in a game; Francis Meli, Jamie Lyon, and Nigel Vagana.

It should be noted, however, that the official records of the NRL do not differentiate between the various top level competitions. For more information on official records, see this page List of NSWRL/ARL/SL/NRL records

See also

• New South Wales Rugby League premiership
• Australian Rugby League
• Super League war
• World Club Challenge
• List of NRL records
• National Rugby League Teams
• List of sports attendance figures — the NRL's attendance in a worldwide context
• Dally M Medal for best and fairest
• Clive Churchill Medal
• NRL Rugby League 2 NRL video game

External links

• National Rugby League
• Australian Rugby League
• NRL Latest News Headlines
• Complete NSWRL/ARL/SL/NRL Stats
• FOX Sports Australia Rugby League Section
• NRL on 7 Sports News
• Fairfax coverage of National Rugby League
• Regular NRL News & Information
• SportsAustralia.com League
• Massey Ratings for NRL