National Rugby League
Current season or competition: 2013 NRL season | |
| National Rugby League logo | |
| Sport | Rugby league |
|---|---|
| Formerly known as | Australian Rugby League |
| Instituted | 1997 |
| Inaugural season | 1998 |
| CEO | David Smith |
| Number of teams | 16 |
| Countries | Australia (15 teams) New Zealand (1 team) |
| Premiers | Melbourne Storm (2012) |
| Most titles | South Sydney Rabbitohs[1] (20 titles) |
| Website | NRL.com |
| Broadcast partner |
|
The National Rugby League (NRL) is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia, run by the Australian Rugby League Commission. The competition is known as the Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra Corporation and is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand. It is regarded as the world's elite rugby league championship and, per season, is the single most viewed and attended rugby football competition in the world.
The National Rugby League is the present-day embodiment of Australia's top-level domestic club 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 already-existing national governing body, the Australian Rugby League (ARL) and media giant News Corporation-controlled Super League,[2] after both organisations ran premierships parallel to each other in 1997.[3] This partnership was dissolved in February 2012, with control of the NRL going to the independently-formed Australian Rugby League Commission.
NRL matches are played in Australia and New Zealand from autumn until spring. The season culminates in the premiership-deciding game, the NRL Grand Final, traditionally one of Australia's most popular sporting events and one of the largest attended rugby league club championship events .[4] In addition, the NRL premiers also play in the World Club Challenge, a pre-season match against the champions of the European Super League competition.[5]
Clubs
The NRL consists of sixteen teams: eight clubs based within Greater Sydney, two in regional New South Wales, three in Queensland, one in Victoria, one each in the Australian Capital Territory and 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. The inset is of greater Sydney. St. George Illawarra Dragons and Wests Tigers have two locations indicated due to more than one ground being occupied by both teams.
All but four NRL clubs (the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, North Queensland Cowboys, New Zealand Warriors, and the Gold Coast Titans) have won a premiership.
A total of twenty-three clubs have played in the National Rugby League since its first season in 1998. For a list of all clubs past and present see List of teams in the NSWRL/ARL/SL/NRL. 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, Canberra, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cronulla, Melbourne, New Zealand, Newcastle, North Queensland, Parramatta, Penrith and Roosters.
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 (founded as 'Eastern Suburbs').
Famous NRL rivalries
History
Premiership winners
Note – Melbourne Storm were stripped of their 2007, 2009 premiership titles and their 2006, 2007, 2008 minor premiership titles due to their 2010 salary cap breaches. Although they have been stripped, the NRL does not wish to make the second placed team the premiers/minor premiers.
Origins
The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) ran the major rugby league competition of New South Wales from its inception in 1908 until 1994, by which time its powers had expanded to run the code nationally. 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.[6][7] 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.[8]
Further expansion of the league followed in 1988, with another three teams based outside Sydney introduced to the competition; the Newcastle Knights and the first two Queensland teams, the Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast-Tweed Giants.[9] The Brisbane and Newcastle sides proved to be successful and popular and paved the way towards a push for a truly national competition. This was undertaken in 1995 with control of the premiership passing from the NSWRFL to the Australian Rugby League (ARL), who invited four more teams from outside NSW to participate in 1995.
Establishment
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. Initially a conflict over broadcasting rights, it became a dispute as to who controlled the sport, as News Limited formed their own Super League and admitted some former ARL clubs, poaching players from the original ARL league with high salaries. With twenty-two teams of highly varying quality playing in two competitions that year, crowd attendances and corporate sponsorships were spread very thinly,[10] 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 News' Rupert Murdoch announced that he was confident that there would be a single competition in 1998. On 19 December, representatives of clubs affiliated with the Australian Rugby League gathered at the Sydney Football Stadium to decide whether to accept News Limited's offer of a settlement – eventually voting in favour by 36 votes to 4.[11] As a result, 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 Perth Reds, who were $10 million in debt at the end of 1997[citation needed], while the ARL decided to close down the South Queensland Crushers, who were also in severe financial trouble[citation needed]. 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[citation needed].
1998–2002: Rationalisation
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. The St. George Dragons and the Illawarra Steelers were the first clubs to take up the offer, forming the joint-venture St. George Illawarra Dragons at the end of the 1998 season.
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 defeat the newly-created 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 created 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
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.[12] 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. The average attendance record remained until 2010.[13] From 2004 to 2005, there was a 39% increase in sponsorship, a 41% increase in merchandise royalties, and a 12% increase in playing participation.[14] 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 2004, Canterbury-Bankstown put a year of turmoil and disgrace at the aftermath of the alleged Rape Scandal to hold aloft the NRL trophy and give the Bulldogs their first premiership since 1995. In 2005, a record national audience of 4.1 million tuned in to watch the grand final between the Wests Tigers and the North Queensland Cowboys.[15]
2006: A unique year
The 2006 National Rugby League season kicked off on Friday, 10 March, 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 and thus far, only time ever.
The game itself once again enjoyed immense support, with more record TV ratings, particularly capturing Melbourne on Grand Final night[citation needed]. Crowds were down on 2005, however were better than any other year prior to that.
2007: Further expansion
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.[16]
2008: The Centenary
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.[17]
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 (although the club formerly known as St George Dragons were beaten 38–0 in 1975 and using the modern point scale of 4-point tries, this would amount to 44–0.) Furthermore, it was the first time a team had been kept scoreless in a Grand Final since 1978.
2009–2010: The second century begins
After the centenary celebrations of 2008, the 2009 season marks the second century of rugby league competition in Australia. The Grand Final that year was played between the Parramatta Eels and the Melbourne Storm at the ANZ Stadium; Melbourne defeated Parramatta 23 – 16 to make it two premierships out of the last four grand finals for the Storm. The Storm were stripped of these premierships on 22 April 2010 due to gross long-term salary cap breaches between 2006 and 2010 (read more below, Major breaches of the salary cap).
In 2010 the Inaugural All Stars Match was held on 13 February, in conjunction with the Sorry Day reconciliation anniversary in order to promote Rugby League's long association and involvement with the Aboriginal community. The first match saw the Indigenous All Stars beat the NRL All Stars 16–12. The success of this event has seen it become a permanent fixture on the Rugby League calendar with Queensland awarded the hosting rights for the next three years.[18]
The 29th State of Origin series was also played featuring the world's first live free-to-air 3D TV broadcast.[19] Queensland later made further history by winning an unprecedented fifth series in a row, and winning the 2010 series by a scoreline of 3–0, their first Origin whitewash in a decade.[20]
In October 2010 it was announced that the NRL set a record total season average attendance of 17,367 per game and a record total season aggregate attendance of 3,490,778.[21][22]
During the 2010 finals series, the second qualifying match between the Wests Tigers and Sydney Roosters became the first McIntyre System final to go into extra time, with the One Hundred Minute Epic described in media circles as one of the greatest of the modern era.[23]
The 2010 Grand Final was played between the St George Illawarra Dragons and the Sydney Roosters. The Dragons won 32–8. This is the first premiership won by the club in its eleven-year existence.
2010–2012: Establishment of the ARLC
After several years of preparation and build up, on 14 December 2010 the Australian Rugby League and News Corporation finally agreed upon a constitutional framework paving the way for the establishment of a new and independent commission to govern the sport in Australia. However, the negotiations of such a framework became drawn out over establishing details, primarily of sponsorship, media rights, funding of state bodies, funding of the Melbourne Storm, debate over News Ltd private ownership of clubs, and also of individual appointments to the new body.
On 10 February 2012, the Rugby League independent commission, known as the Australian Rugby League Commission assumed control of all levels of the game, replacing former state based boards and assuming full control of the NRL from the NRL partnership (comprising the previous ARL board and News Limited).[24]
Competition format and sponsorship
Regular season
As rugby league is a winter sport in Australasia, the NRL premiership season usually begins in early March following a brief series of trial matches. During each pre-season trial match series, the Charity Shield is played for between the Rabbitohs and Dragons. A round of regular season premiership games is then played every weekend for twenty-six weeks, usually 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. Special themed weeks include Heritage Round, Women in League Round and Rivalry Round. Separate trophies between rival teams are also presented throughout the season, such as the Ron Coote Cup between the Roosters and Rabbitohs, Jack Gibson Cup between Parramatta and the Roosters, the 1989 League Legends Cup between the Tigers and Raiders and the Bandage Bear Cup between the Bulldogs and Eels.
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 on the ladder 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 eight highest placed teams at the end of the regular season compete in the finals series. The system consists of a number of 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. The same system is used in the AFL and was used by the Australian Rugby League in 1995 and 1996.
Previously, the McIntyre Final Eight System was used between 1998 and 2011.[25]
Grand final
The NRL Grand Final, which determines the season's premiers, is one of Sydney'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 Prime Minister of Australia 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.[26] 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.[27] However, in mid 2010 it was announced that the New South Wales Government secured the grand final for Stadium Australia until 2022 for $45 million.[28]
Each year the grand final breakfast, a function that is attended by both teams, hundreds of guests and screened live on Australian television is held during the week before the game.
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 Nine Network's preferred starting time of 8 pm and the traditional starting time of 3 pm, with the Grand Final beginning at 5 pm AEST.[29]
It has become traditional for the NRL trophy, which is based on the former premiership trophy, the Winfield Cup, to be delivered to the stadium by helicopter shortly before kick off. The player judged to be the man-of-the-match by the Australian national team selectors is awarded the prestigious Clive Churchill Medal. The Australian Prime Minister usually presents the winning team of the grand final with the trophy after the match. In addition, members of the winning team are presented with premiership rings.[30]
World Club Challenge
The World Club Challenge is an annual match played between the champion clubs of the National Rugby League and the European Super League competitions. The first match of its kind was played in 1976 but it did not become a regular part of the World rugby league calendar until the late 1980s. The World Club Challenge's history was also punctuated by the 1990s' Super League war but has been held every pre-season since 2000. To date only English and Australian sides have competed in the World Club Challenge, which is played during the pre-season.
Sponsorship
The NRL and its 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 'NRL Telstra Premiership'; in earlier seasons, it was simply known as the 'National Rugby League'.[31]
The Telstra Premiership has had four 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 at the peak. The main colours were dark blue and orange, the corporate colours of Telstra. The company worked with the NRL to create the third 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. From the 2011 Finals Series, a newer logo was commissioned in concert with a corporate re-brand undertaken by Telstra. The 2007 logo remained on club jerseys during 2012 due to the lateness of the change and the older logo will be phased out in time for the 2013 NRL Season.
Other notable sponsorships include Toyota (official car of the NRL), Coca-Cola Amatil (match ball), AAMI (referees), Harvey Norman (video referees), Victoria Bitter (official beer of the NRL), Bundaberg Rum (Friday Night Football), Keno (Saturday Football) and Home Timber and Hardware (Sunday Football).[32]
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.
- The Wests Tigers and Sydney Roosters have played premiership season games in Christchurch in New Zealand.
- The Penrith Panthers, Cronulla Sharks and Canterbury Bulldogs have played premiership season games in Adelaide.
- The Bulldogs have also taken games interstate to Brisbane, the Gold Coast as well as Wellington.
- In 2003 the Canberra Raiders hosted one game at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.
- From 2005–2006 The Parramatta Eels played two premiership season games in Waikato in New Zealand.
- 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 Sydney based teams have chosen to move one or two home fixtures to the Central Coast location.
- From 2008, the Wests Tigers plays host against South Sydney Rabbitohs at the Sydney Cricket Ground to celebrate the season's annual heritage round.
- In 2009:
- The Cronulla Sharks played a home game at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide. They were contracted to play a home game at the venue up until and including the 2011 season. This only lasted for one game and their contract to play in Adelaide was ended.
- The South Sydney Rabbitohs played a home game against the Melbourne Storm at Perth Oval in Perth.
- 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 Cairns, Darwin, Perth, Gosford, Cessnock, Mackay, the Queensland Sunshine Coast and Coffs Harbour.
- In 2011:
- The Cronulla Sharks played a home game at Owen Delany Park in Taupo. They were contracted to play three home games against the New Zealand Warriors. However after one game the contract was cancelled.[33]
Competition rules and representative season
Salary cap
In 1990, the NSWRL introduced a salary cap system to even the playing field of teams in the Winfield Cup.[34] The National Rugby League has adopted the salary cap system from its predecessor. A special team deals with salary cap issues and monitors teams on a yearly basis.[35] Each club is allowed A$4.6875 million per season to contract 25 players, with a minimum salary of $55,000, setting an effective upper limit of about $500,000 for the game's best players.[36]
Payment Structure for the Top 25 Players 2010
+$200,000 Sponsor Servicing Allowance (automatically given to all clubs to compensate players for club sponsorship activities including appearances and endorsements).
+$100,000 Long Serving Player Allowance (players who have played eight continuous years of grade football with that club including Toyota Cup and NSW Cup).
+$100,000 Paid to the RLPA retirement fund and towards RLPA contributions
- Payments under the actual salary cap total $4.6875 million paid directly by clubs across the top 25 players. A further $100,000 is paid into the RLPA retirement fund contribution but is not defined as a salary cap payment.
What Players can earn outside of the Salary Cap
+$150,000 Marquee Player Allowance (any or all of the top 10 players at each club can share in payments made by club sponsors seeking to use a player’s intellectual property. A cap of $50,000 per player applies).
Unlimited Players can earn unlimited amounts from corporate sponsors who are not associated with the club and who do not use the game’s intellectual property (no club logos, jerseys or emblems) provided these are pre-approved.
Unlimited Tertiary education, approved traineeships, medical insurance costs, relocation/temporary accommodation costs are not included in the cap but must be approved.
Payments for players outside the Top25
+$350,000 Cap for all players outside of the top 25 who compete in the Telstra Premiership.
The cap is actively policed[37] and penalties for clubs found to have breached the NRL salary cap regulations include fines of lesser of half the amount involved or $500,000 and/or deduction of premiership points. 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 implemented ways of creating a fair and more beneficial cap for players and clubs.
In 2010, following the Melbourne Storm salary cap scandal, the NRL introduced requirements for players and their agents to sign statutory declarations pledging their contracts comply with salary cap regulations, where previously only club chairmen and chief executives did so for biannual salary cap audits.[38]
Major breaches of the cap
In 2002, the Bulldogs were fined the maximum of $500,000 and deducted all 37 premiership points received during the season after it was found that they had committed serious and systematic breaches of the salary cap totaling $2.13 million over the past three years, including $750,000 in 2001 and $920,000 in 2002; these were described by NRL Chief Executive David Gallop as "exceptional in both its size and its deliberate and ongoing nature". The points penalty meant that the club won the 2002 wooden spoon (Souths would have finished last if not for the breaches), and as the club had been leading the competition table prior to the imposition of the penalties, this was a shattering outcome for the club and its fans. Two senior club officials were jailed for fraud as a result of these breaches.
In 2005, the New Zealand Warriors were fined $430,000 and were ordered to start the 2006 season with a four premiership point deficit and cut their payroll by $450,000 after club officials revealed that their former management had exceeded the salary cap by $1.1 million over the last two years. The points penalty meant that the Warriors missed a finals berth in 2006.
On 22 April 2010, the Melbourne Storm were stripped of the 2007 and 2009 premierships, 2006–2008 minor premierships and the 2010 World Club Challenge trophy, fined a record $1.689 million ($1.1 million in NRL prize money which will be equally distributed between the remaining 15 clubs, $89,000 in prize money from the World Club Challenge which will be distributed to the Leeds Rhinos, and the maximum of $500,000 for breaching the salary cap regulations), ordered to cut their payroll by $1.0125 million, deducted all eight premiership points received during the season and barred from receiving premiership points for the remainder of the season after Storm officials revealed that the club had committed serious and systematic breaches of the salary cap regulations between 2006 and 2010 by running a well-organized dual contract and bookkeeping system that concealed a total of $3.78 million in payments made to players outside of the salary cap from the NRL, including $303,000 in 2006, $459,000 in 2007, $957,000 in 2008, $1.021 million in 2009 and $1.04 million in 2010. The points penalty meant that the club won the 2010 wooden spoon (North Queensland would have finished last if not for the breaches). Legal action by the former directors of the club against the penalties collapsed, and the matter has been referred to ASIC, the Australian Tax Office, the Victorian State Revenue Office, and the Victoria Police.[39] The club's former CEO Brian Waldron and financial officers Matt Hanson, Paul Gregory and Cameron Vale are all facing lifetime suspensions. Players were still eligible for Test and/or State of Origin selection and other individual awards including the Clive Churchill Medallists from 2007 and 2009 will still continue to be recognised.
Judiciary
The NRL judiciary is made up of former players who convene in three-man panels to rule on on-field incidents. The judiciary is currently chaired by Wollongong district court judge Paul Conlon and made up of former players Mal Cochrane, Michael Buettner, Bradley Clyde, Sean Garlick, Don McKinnon and Bob Lindner.[40][41]
Representative season
As well as playing for their club in the premiership, NRL players are regularly selected to play in a number of representative competitions that are conducted throughout each season. These include:
- The pre-season NRL All Stars Game
- The New South Wales City vs Country Origin match
- The State of Origin three match series – one of the fiercest sporting rivalries in the world
- The mid-year ANZAC Test
- The Four Nations tournament – Australia, New Zealand and England plus another qualifier
- The quadrennial World Cup tournament
Audience
The NRL provides six of the top seven and 78 of the top 100 programs on Australian subscription television.[42] It is the second most watched sports league on Australian television, with an aggregate audience of 113,025,367 million viewers in 2009.[43]
Television (2013-2017)
Within Australia all matches are broadcast on the Nine Network and on FOX Sports. In New Zealand all matches are shown on Sky Sport.[44]
Internationally the NRL is broadcast in over 50 countries; in particular it is broadcast on Fox Soccer in the United States, Premier Sports in the United Kingdom & Eire and on Aljazeera in France. For a full list of official international broadcasters, visit the NRL's official site.
Professional club rugby league 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 broadcast partners. This also extended to the Grand Final, which since the 2001 season has been kicked off in the late afternoon or early evening in order to be broadcast into primetime television.
Detailed Australian coverage
- Friday Night Football starts at 7:30 pm and consists of two matches shown on the Nine Network 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 9:30 pm. In many cases, the order in which the games are shown differs in different television markets. For instance, a match featuring a Queensland team, would usually be shown first in Queensland markets, but might be broadcast second in New South Wales if a popular Sydney team were playing in the other match. Both matches are broadcast on GEM as per the NSW schedule in Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.
- Super Saturday includes one Toyota Cup afternoon game at 3:15 pm, followed by that game's corresponding Telstra Premiership match at 5:30 pm. This is then followed by two NRL matches beginning at 7:30 pm, both of which are shown live, one on Fox Sports 2 and the other on Speed (during the Super Rugby season) or Fox Sports 3 (after the completion of the Super Rugby season).
- NRL Sunday is a 2:00 pm match broadcast live on Fox Sports.
- Sunday Football is broadcast on the Nine Network. The match normally kicks off at 3:00 pm, but the broadcast is delayed until 4:00 pm, running until 6:00 pm in order to provide a strong lead-in to Nine News and for nine to take a broadcast break every 10 minutes or so to show commercials. In Western Australia, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania these broadcasts are aired at 4:00 pm in HD on GEM and replayed on 9 after midnight on Monday mornings.
- Monday Night Football is televised live from 7:00 pm by Fox Sports.
Note: Friday, Saturday and Sunday broadcast schedules and the number of games broadcast can also vary. This is dependent on the scheduling of matches for the New Zealand Warriors played in Auckland, New Zealand, byes during the middle of the season(where 2 or more teams don't play that weekend) and daylight saving time early in the season.
- The State of Origin series is shown live in most states on the Nine Network. Viewers in Adelaide and Perth usually receive alternative programming such as episodes of the popular sitcom Two and a Half Men before a delayed telecast of the game is broadcast later in the evening.
- The NRL Grand Final is shown live in every state on the Nine Network, with New South Wales and Queensland receiving up to 10 hours of continuous pre-game and post-game coverage. The game is also shown live in New Zealand, with ratings improving since the introduction of a 7 pm (NZST) kick-off – plus in various other countries around the world via local broadcasters.
NRL-related television programs
In Australia, there are several television shows dedicated to talking about NRL. These programs, as of March 2011, are:
- The Footy Show (airs Thursdays, 9.30 pm, on Channel Nine in NSW, Qld, NT and the ACT: screens after 11.15 pm in all other areas of Australia): a variety show with discussions about current-round games and issues, competitions, live bands, and sketches
- The Sunday Footy Show (Sundays, 11.00 am, on Channel Nine in NSW, QLD, NT and the ACT, from 2.00 pm on GEM in all other areas of Australia): a recap of Friday and Saturday's games, and preview of Sunday's and Monday's games
- The Sunday Roast (Sundays, Midday, on Channel Nine in NSW, QLD, NT and the ACT, from 3.00 pm on GEM in all other areas of Australia), a show dedicated to discussing the heavy issues, controversies, and playing tactics currently developing
- The Game Plan (Thursdays, 8.30 pm, on Channel Ten)
- There also exists numerous off-beat rugby league shows on Fox Sports, typically on the Monday/Tuesday after the round.
Former shows:
- The Matty Johns Show (Thursdays, 7.30 pm, Channel Seven in NSW, QLD, NT and the ACT except Darwin: after midnight in all other regions of Australia), a more sketch-and-regular-segment-oriented version of The Footy Show and The Game Plan.
- One Week at a Time (Mondays, at 9.30 pm, on One), recapping the weekend games
- NRL Full-time, a weekly half-hour highlights show for the UK audience.
Internet and New Media
Replays of NRL matches, as well as highlights and NRL-related informational programming are available in Australia from BigPond.[45] Telstra's ISP. Outside of Australia, these programs are sold by Aussie Sport TV.
Radio coverage
The NRL has several games broadcast live on the radio.
2GB 873AM Radio has the commercial rights to one Friday game, the 5:30 pm Saturday game, and a Sunday game of their choice, covering the game through the Continuous Call Team program. They also air many representative games, as well as all matches throughout the finals series, and all three matches on Grand Final day. The coverage is networked to stations across the country, typically those owned by Southern Cross Media Group, Grant Broadcasters and other station groups on the Macquarie Radio Network.
ABC Local Radio has the rights to all NRL matches in the ACT, Queensland and New South Wales except Monday night games. Exceptions to this include Monday night games of regional teams including the Newcastle Knights and Canberra Raiders, those games still air on their respective local ABC stations.
Triple M (Sydney) covers the Monday Night game[46] and is broadcast on commercial stations across the country.
In print media, there are two major magazines: Rugby League Week is produced by ACP Magazines and is generally released on Wednesdays between rounds; Big League is the competition's official publication, released Thursday and produced by News Magazines. Another News Magazines publication, ALPHA Magazine, regularly publishes league-related stories and interviews.
Theme songs
1985–1988: The Boys Are Back In Town – Thin Lizzy
1989: What You Get Is What You See – Tina Turner
1990–1995: Simply The Best – Tina Turner
1997 (SL): Two Tribes – Frankie Goes To Hollywood
1997 (ARL): It's My Game – NSWRL
1998: Tubthumping – Chumbawamba
1999: Blow That Whistle – Thomas Keneally
2000: What A Game – Tom Jones
2001: Racing Car Noises over Action Highlights
2003–2007: That's My Team – Hoodoo Gurus
2008: Centenary of Rugby League Campaign
2009: Feels Like Woah – Wes Carr
2010: Social Currency – Children Collide
2011–2012: This Is Our House – Bon Jovi[47]
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 corresponding Toyota Cup side or feeder club (such as the relevant New South Wales Cup or Queensland Cup squad).[48][49][50][51]
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.
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 Johnathan Thurston and Greg Inglis. A Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission report found that 11% of NRL players in 2006 were of Aboriginal descent,[52][53] (By way of comparison, only 2.3% of the Australian population identified themselves as Indigenous in the 2006 Australian census.).[54] A 2009 survey of NRL players showed that 47 players, or 10.9 per cent, in its clubs' full-time squads are indigenous with a slightly higher figure for under-20s competition.[55]
On 13 February 2010 at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast, the NRL will hold an "indigenous all stars" game. It is to be an indigenous Australian verse non-indigenous Australian and New Zealander game of the top players from their respective backgrounds. The Indigenous All-Stars will be a 20 man squad voted by the public. The non-indigenous squad will consist of the Australian and New Zealand national teams captains and vice captains and one player from each of the sixteen NRL clubs.
Records and statistics
Official NRL statistics encompass all first grade competitions, namely the New South Wales Rugby League, Australian Rugby League, Super League, and the present day NRL.
Souths have won the most titles, 20. St. George have 15, with the Sydney Roosters on 12.
Greatest winning margin in a game is 85 points, when St. George defeated Canterbury 91–6 in 1935. St. George's score of 91 is also the highest team score.
Sydney Roosters won 19 successive games in 1975, and went undefeated for 35 games from 1935–1938. University lost 42 games in a row during 1934–36.
Darren Lockyer holds the record for most games played at 355, with Terry Lamb having played 350 and Steve Menzies at 349.
Leading pointscorer is Hazem El Masri, who scored 2,418 points (159 tries, 891 goals) for Canterbury 1996–2009. Leading tryscorer is Ken Irvine with 212 tries for Norths and Manly.
El Masri also has scored the most points in a season, 342 (16 tries, 139 goals in 2004. Most tries in a season is 38, by Dave Brown for Easts in 1935.
Most points scored in a single game is 45, by Dave Brown for Easts versus Canterbury in 1935. Most tries in a game is by Frank Burge, who scored eight for Glebe vs University in 1920.
Trophies, Honours and Awards
The Premiership Trophy
The premiership trophy is awarded to the winner of the annual grand final. It was formally known as the Winfield Cup. It is a three-dimensional cast of a famous photo called The Gladiators,[56] which depicted a mud-soaked Norm Provan of St. George and Arthur Summons of Western Suburbs embracing after the 1963 Grand Final.
J. J. Giltinan Shield
Created in 1951, the J. J. Giltinan Shield is awarded to the club ranked highest on the NRL ladder after the premiership season concludes. Typically this team is known as the minor premiers.
The Immortals
The Immortals are eight players named by the sport's major Australian magazine Rugby League Week as the nation's greatest ever.
Established in 1981, the group consists of eight former Test captains: Arthur Beetson, Clive Churchill, Bob Fulton, Reg Gasnier, Graeme Langlands, Wally Lewis, Johnny Raper and Andrew Johns.
Clive Churchill medal
The Clive Churchill medal is awarded to the most outstanding player in a grand final. It is named after former South Sydney Rabbitohs fullback Clive Churchill.
Dally M awards
The Dally M Medal is the highlight of the Dally M Awards and was named after Henry Herbert 'Dally' Messenger, who was instrumental in the establishment of rugby league football in Australia. The Dally M has been the official player-of-the-year award, and the highest individual honour in Australian rugby league, since the unification of the game in 1998. Before 1998 the highest award was the Rothmans Medal.
The medal is awarded, usually by the Australian Prime Minister, at the annual Dally M Awards night. As well as honoring the best and fairest player of the year, the Dally M awards recognise the premier player in each position, the best coach and the most outstanding rookie of the season.
Match officials
Referees
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See also
History:
- History of rugby league
- New South Wales Rugby League premiership
- Super League war
- List of Australian rugby league stadiums by capacity
- List of teams in the NSWRL/ARL/SL/NRL
- List of sports attendance figures – the NRL's attendance in a worldwide context
- Dally M Medal for best and fairest
- Clive Churchill Medal
Other governing bodies/teams/competitions:
- Australian Rugby League
- Australia national rugby league team
- New Zealand Rugby League
- New Zealand Kiwis
- Rugby league in Papua New Guinea
- Pacific Islands Rugby League Federation
- New South Wales Rugby League
- New South Wales Cup
- Bundaberg Red Cup
- Country Rugby League
- Queensland Rugby League
- Queensland Cup
- Western Australia Rugby League
- Victorian Rugby League
- South Australian Rugby League
- Northern Territory Rugby League
- Tasmanian Rugby League
- Rugby League World Cup
References
- ^ Official National Rugby League statistics encompass all Sydney first grade competitions, namely the New South Wales Rugby League premiership, Australian Rugby League, Super League, and the present day NRL.
- ^ Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League. "Rugby league" (PDF). Australian Human Rights Commission Report. hreoc.gov.au. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
- ^ Toby Miller, Geoffrey A. Lawrence, Jim McKay (2001). Globalization and sport: playing the world. SAGE. p. 82. ISBN 0-7619-5969-6, 9780761959694. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Schwarz, David (2 September 2009). "Spike TV To Telecast National Rugby League Playoffs and Championship Game". Thomson Reuters. Reuters. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "RFL cool on bigger Challenge". Sky Sports. 2 March 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
- ^ Canberra Raiders[dead link] RL1908.com Retrieved on 14 January 2006.
- ^ Illawarra Steelers[dead link] RL1908.com Retrieved on 14 January 2006.
- ^ Club History[dead link] Newtown Jets – Established 1908 Retrieved on 14 January 2006. Archived by the Wayback Machine beta.
- ^ A Century of Premiership Competition[dead link] RL1908.com Retrieved on 14 January 2006.
- ^ Rugby League Tables / Attendances 1957–2006 The World of Rugby League Retrieved on 14 January 2006.
- ^ "Sydney Football Stadium Magic Moments". sydneycricketground.com.au. Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Rugby League Tables / Attendances 1957–2006 / All Teams
- ^ Rugby League Tables / Attendances 1957–2010 / All Teams
- ^ Courier Mail[dead link]
- ^ Magnay, Jacquelin; Walter, Brad; Shtargot, Sasha (25 September 2006). "Storm the sentimental favourite in Sydney". The Age. Melbourne.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "Team of the Century Announced". National Rugby League. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
- ^ "All Stars Match". National Rugby League. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
- ^ "3d broadcast". National Rugby League.
- ^ "Team of the Century Announced". National Rugby League. 16 June 2010.
- ^ "Attendance Record". National Rugby League.
- ^ "RL Stats". Rugby League Crowds. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
- ^ url=http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-match-report/neversaydie-roosters-pull-off-great-escape-20100911-1561j.html
- ^ http://www.nrl.com/chalk-predicts-bright-rugby-league-future/tabid/10874/newsid/65819/default.aspx
- ^ "Rugby League Tables – Notes". Rugby League Tables & Statistics. Retrieved 22 January 2007.
- ^ "Aussie Stadium". Australian Stadiums. Retrieved 22 January 2007.
- ^ Australian Associated Press (2 June 2006). "Sydney locks in grand final for six years". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 January 2007.
- ^ Australian Associated Press (8 June 2010). "NSW to retain NRL grand final". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
- ^ "NRL to host a twilight Grand Final". ABC News. 18 December 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2008.
- ^ "Fellowship of the rings". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 March 2005.
- ^ "NRL Telstra Premiership". The World of Rugby League. Retrieved 22 January 2007.
- ^ "NRL Sponsors". National Rugby League. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
- ^ Cronulla Sharks deal falls through The Daily Post, 17 February 2012
- ^ Middleton, David (2008). League of Legends: 100 Years of Rugby League in Australia (PDF). National Museum of Australia. p. 27. ISBN ISBN 978-1-876944-64-3.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ Budge, Dale (22 February 2006). "NRL salary cap guide". tvnz.co.nz. Television New Zealand Limited. Retrieved 17 December 2009. [dead link]
- ^ The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 September 2009 http://www.smh.com.au/news/lhqnews/top-marks-to-dragons-for-cap-socialism/2009/09/10/1252519592242.html.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Solomon, David (2007). Pillars of power: Australia's institutions. Federation Press. p. 204. ISBN 1-86287-645-2, 9781862876453.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ NZPA (17 August 2010). "Players accountable for salary cap". tvnz.co.nz. New Zealand: Television New Zealand Limited. Retrieved 17 August 2010. [dead link]
- ^ Storm salary cap rort report handed to police
- ^ Dean Ritchie and Christian Nicolussi (4 June 2010). "Johnathan Thurston let-off backfires on NRL". The Daily Telegraph. Australia: Herald and Weekly Times. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
- ^ Brent Read and Stuart Honeysett (10 June 2010). "The rule shift that saved Jarryd Hayne". The Australian. Australia: News Limited. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ^ – Similar
- ^ Masters, Roy (21 December 2009). "Rugby league claims viewing win over AFL". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ http://www.skysport.co.nz/Default.aspx?tabid=70
- ^ TV[dead link]
- ^ Monday Night Football | Triple M NRL
- ^ Bon Jovi song named NRL theme | The Daily Telegraph
- ^ "NRL star Greg Inglis extends contract with Melbourne Storm". 10 September 2008.
- ^ The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 July 2009 http://www.smh.com.au/news/lhqnews/wings-yen-for-japanese-rugby-opens-the-door-for-hunt/2009/07/21/1247941917592.html.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Karmichael Hunt rejected All Blacks, Wallabies". 30 July 2009.[dead link] [dead link]
- ^ Willie Mason all set for Japan rugby move | The Daily Telegraph
- ^ What's the Score?
- ^ . Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help);|format=requires|url=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Australia". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
- ^ NRL All Stars to play dream team on Gold Coast
- ^ "The Gladiators". St George Leagues Club. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
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
- [2] ESPN UK website link.
- NRL on Austadiums
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