2010 NRL season
| 2010 National Rugby League | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Teams | 16 |
The 2010 National Rugby League season will be the 103rd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the thirteenth run by the NRL. The season will commence with the first match played on March 12, 2010 between the Parramatta Eels and the St. George Illawarra Dragons at Parramatta Stadium, and will end with the Grand Final, played on October 3 at ANZ Stadium.
For the fourth consecutive year, sixteen teams will compete for the Telstra Premiership. The third season of the Toyota Cup will also take place alongside the premiership.
Season summary
The 2010 season will kick-off on the second weekend of March with traditional rivals South Sydney and the Sydney Roosters again scheduled to meet, while the Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys also meet in the opening round. Significant dates throughout the season include the International Test and City v Country weekend, resulting in a shortened round in early May. Byes take place throughout the State of Origin period between Rounds 11 and 18 (during June and July). The annual heritage round takes place again in Round 10 (mid-May), a round celebrating Women in League has been earmarked for Round 16, and later in the season a round has been set aside to celebrate Indigenous Australians.
The finals series will again be based on the McIntyre system, commencing on the second weekend of September and concluding with the 2010 Grand Final at ANZ Stadium on Sunday October 3.
Teams
The number of teams in the NRL remains unchanged since the previous season, 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 are from Sydney's metropolitan area, with St. George Illawarra being a Sydney and Wollongong joint venture. Just two foundation clubs from New South Wales Rugby League season 1908 played in this competition: the Sydney Roosters (formerly known as Eastern Suburbs) and the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Ladder
| Pos. | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  St. George Illawarra Dragons (P)
|
24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 518 | 299 | +219 | 38 |
| 2 |  Penrith Panthers
|
24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 645 | 489 | +156 | 34 |
| 3 |  Wests Tigers
|
24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 537 | 503 | +34 | 34 |
| 4 |  Gold Coast Titans
|
24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 520 | 498 | +22 | 34 |
| 5 |  New Zealand Warriors
|
24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 539 | 486 | +53 | 32 |
| 6 |  Sydney Roosters
|
24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 559 | 510 | +49 | 32 |
| 7 |  Canberra Raiders
|
24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 499 | 493 | +6 | 30 |
| 8 |  Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
|
24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 545 | 510 | +35 | 28 |
| 9 |  South Sydney Rabbitohs
|
24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 584 | 567 | +17 | 26 |
| 10 |  Brisbane Broncos
|
24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 508 | 535 | −27 | 26 |
| 11 |  Newcastle Knights
|
24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 499 | 569 | −70 | 24 |
| 12 |  Parramatta Eels
|
24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 413 | 491 | −78 | 24 |
| 13 |  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
|
24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 494 | 539 | −45 | 22 |
| 14 |  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
|
24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 354 | 609 | −255 | 18 |
| 15 |  North Queensland Cowboys
|
24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 425 | 667 | −242 | 14 |
| 16 |  Melbourne Storm
|
24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 489 | 363 | +126 | 01 |
1 Melbourne were deducted eight premiership points and barred from receiving premiership points for the rest of the season due to gross long-term salary cap breaches.[1]
2010 season player transfers
Coach transfers
| Coach | 2009 Club | 2010 Club |
|---|---|---|
| Brian Smith | Newcastle Knights | Sydney Roosters |
| Jason Taylor | South Sydney Rabbitohs1 | No club |
| John Lang | South Sydney Rabbitohs (Club Consultant) | South Sydney Rabbitohs (Head Coach) |
1 - Sacked post 2009 season
Finals series
The NRL finals series adopts the McIntyre Final Eight System. The top eight teams from the minor premiership rounds qualify for the finals, with one week of qualifying finals played. The two lowest ranked losing teams are eliminated, the two highest ranked teams proceed to the third week of preliminary finals. The remaining four teams swap opponents and play for the right to meet the preliminary finalists. All matches from the second week onwards are sudden death.
Grand Final
The 2010 Grand Final is scheduled to take place at ANZ Stadium on Sunday October 3.
See also
References
- ^ Stuart Honeysett and Brent Read (23 April 2010) Shocking end to the Melbourne Storm era The Australian
External links
- NRL.com - Official site of the NRL, National Rugby League