2006 NRL season

2006 National Rugby League
2006 National Rugby League
Teams	15
Premiers	Brisbane (6th title)
Minor premiers	Melbourne
Matches played	189
Points scored	8201
Attendance	3115700
Top points scorer(s)	Hazem El Masri (296)
Player of the year	Cameron Smith (Dally M Medal)
Top try-scorer(s)	Nathan Merritt (22)

The 2006 NRL season was the 99th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the ninth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen clubs competing for the 2006 Telstra Premiership. Throughout the 26 rounds of the regular season ten teams from New South Wales (9 of them from the Sydney basin), two from Queensland and one each from Victoria, the ACT and New Zealand competed for the minor premiership. Eight of these teams qualified for the four-week finals series, with the Brisbane Broncos eventual victors over the Melbourne Storm in the grand final.^[2] Melbourne finished the regular season first so were awarded the minor premiership, but this was later revoked due to the Melbourne Storm salary cap breach.

Pre season

Newcastle Knights coach Michael Hagan signed a three-year deal to coach the Parramatta Eels, beginning in 2007. Hagan replaced Brian Smith, who had coached the Eels since 1997 whilst Smith replaced Hagan at Newcastle in an unprecedented coach-swap. In other coaching moves, Matthew Elliott was confirmed as the coach of the Penrith Panthers, beginning in 2007.
Penrith Panthers halfback Craig Gower was fired as captain, suspended for four games and fined $100,000 ($90,000 to be paid to an NRL programme encouraging the responsible use of alcohol by league players and $10,000 to replace a destroyed golf cart) after a string of alcohol-fueled incidents at a charity golf function.
The Charity Shield heralded the unofficial start of the season, with the South Sydney Rabbitohs defeating St George Illawarra 14-12 in their first home game at Telstra Stadium on February 18. All NRL clubs engaged in a series of trials during the month of February.
Wests Tigers premiership-winning captain Scott Prince announced on March 3 he had signed a four-year deal with expansion team Gold Coast Titans, beginning in 2007. Prince relinquished the captaincy of the Tigers for the 2006 season.

New Zealand Warriors salary cap breach

The salary cap for the 2006 season was A$3.366 million per club for their 25 highest-paid players.^[3] The New Zealand Warriors were investigated by the National Rugby League over alleged salary cap breaches committed by the team's previous administrators. The club admitted to inflating its salary cap to the tune of nearly $1 million during the 2005 season. The National Rugby League fined the Warriors $430,000 and ordered the team to start the season with a four premiership point deficit. It was the first time in 99 years of rugby league in Australia that a team has started a season on less than zero premiership points.

The Warriors appealed the decision by the NRL to deduct the four competition points but accepted the financial penalty. Prior to the beginning of the season, the National Rugby League confirmed that the points penalty would stand. The penalty would prove the decisive factor in the Warriors missing the finals for the third year in succession.

Teams


Brisbane Broncos 19th season Ground: Suncorp Stadium Coach: Wayne Bennett Captain: Darren Lockyer	Bulldogs RLFC 72nd season Ground: Telstra Stadium Coach: Steve Folkes Captain: Andrew Ryan		Canberra Raiders 25th season Ground: Canberra Stadium Coach: Matthew Elliott Captain: Clinton Schifcofske		Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 40th season Ground: Toyota Stadium Coach: Stuart Raper Captain: Brett Kimmorley
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 57th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Des Hasler Captain: Ben Kennedy	Melbourne Storm 9th season Ground Olympic Park Stadium Coach: Craig Bellamy Captain: various		Newcastle Knights 19th season Ground: EnergyAustralia Stadium Coach: Michael Hagan Captain: Andrew Johns		New Zealand Warriors 12th season Ground: Mt Smart Stadium Coach: Ivan Cleary Captain: Steve Price
North Queensland Cowboys 12th season Ground: Dairy Farmers Stadium Coach: Graham Murray Captain: Travis Norton	Parramatta Eels 60th season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Brian Smith→Jason Taylor Captain: Nathan Cayless		Penrith Panthers 40th season Ground: CUA Stadium Coach: John Lang Captain: Tony Puletua		South Sydney Rabbitohs 97th season Ground: Telstra Stadium Coach: Shaun McRae Captain: Peter Cusack
Sydney Roosters 99th season Ground: Aussie Stadium Coach: Ricky Stuart → Chris Anderson Captain: Craig Fitzgibbon		St. George Illawarra Dragons 8th season Ground: OKI Jubilee Stadium & WIN Stadium Coach: Nathan Brown Captain: Trent Barrett		Wests Tigers 7th season Ground: Campbelltown Stadium & Leichhardt Oval Coach: Tim Sheens Captain: Brett Hodgson

Season summary

The season began on March 10 with a match between defending premiers Wests Tigers and the St George Illawarra Dragons, played at Telstra Stadium. The Melbourne Storm won 20 out of 24 regular season matches to win the minor premiership eight points clear of the Bulldogs.^[4] However, in April 2010, the Storm were retroactively stripped of their minor premiership as a result of salaray cap breaches occurring over the course of the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons.^[5]^[6]

Venues

Sixteen stadiums regularly hosted National Rugby league matches, with a further six hosting at least one match in season 2006.

Stadium name ^[7]	City	Host club(s)	Capacity ^[8]
Suncorp Stadium	Milton, Brisbane, Qld	Brisbane Broncos	52,500
Canberra Stadium	Bruce, Canberra, ACT	Canberra Raiders	25,000
Olympic Park Stadium	Melbourne, Vic	Melbourne Storm	18,500
EnergyAustralia Stadium	Newcastle, NSW	Newcastle Knights	26,200
Aussie Stadium	Moore Park, Sydney, NSW	Sydney Roosters	41,159
Brookvale Oval	Brookvale, Sydney, NSW	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	22,000
Campbelltown Stadium	Campbelltown, Sydney, NSW	Wests Tigers	20,000
Leichhardt Oval	Leichhardt, Sydney, NSW	Wests Tigers	20,000
Oki Jubilee Stadium	Kogarah, Sydney, NSW	St George Illawarra Dragons	20,541
Parramatta Stadium	Parramatta, Sydney, NSW	Parramatta Eels	20,500
CUA Stadium	Penrith, Sydney, NSW	Penrith Panthers	21,000
Telstra Stadium	Homebush, Sydney, NSW	Bulldogs South Sydney Rabbitohs Wests Tigers	83,500
Toyota Park	Cronulla, Sydney, NSW	Cronulla Sharks	21,500
Dairy Farmers Stadium	Kirwan, Townsville, Qld	North Queensland Cowboys	25,000
Mt Smart Stadium	Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand	New Zealand Warriors	25,000
WIN Stadium	Wollongong, NSW	St George Illawarra Dragons	20,000

Hindmarsh Stadium	Hindmarsh, Adelaide, SA		15,500
Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium	Gosford, Central Coast, NSW		20,059
Jade Stadium	Christchurch, New Zealand		36,500
Carrara Stadium	Carrara, Gold Coast, Qld		22,000
Waikato Stadium	Hamilton, New Zealand		26,350
Sydney Cricket Ground	Moore Park, Sydney, NSW		43,562

Advertising

In 2006 the NRL and their advertising agency MJW Hakuhodo stayed with the Hoodoo Gurus' "That's My Team" soundtrack for a fourth year, producing a treatment aimed to appeal to the fundamental hope of all players and fans: that it would be ‘their team’ who would win the Grand Final.

Capitalising on the enthusiasm generated by the Wests Tigers triumph of 2005 in only their sixth season, the campaign line and song chorus was changed to ‘That’s My Dream’.

All fifteen NRL club captains featured heavily in the television and outdoor ads holding aloft the Telstra trophy. Eight young real life fans also featured in the TV commercial reflecting the origins of the game from backyard football scenes to Sydney beaches. Each was a fan of one of eight clubs who had not till then won the Telstra Premiership trophy and four different broadcast versions of the ad told the stories of their love of the game and each's dream of their own team's victory.

Dally M Awards

The Dally M Awards were introduced in 1980 by News Limited. The most prestigious of these awards is the Dally M Medal which is awarded to the Player Of The Year. The other prestigious award is the Provans Summons Medal which is the season's best player as voted by the public. As well as honouring the player of the year the awards night also recognises the premier player in each position, the best coach, the best captain, representative player of the year and the most outstanding rookie of the season. The awards night and Player of the Year medal are named in honour of former Australian rugby league great Herbert Henry "Dally" Messenger.

Award	Player	Club
Player of the Year	Cameron Smith	Melbourne Storm
Provans Summons Medal	Nathan Hindmarsh	Parramatta Eels
Rookie of the Year	Jarryd Hayne	Parramatta Eels
Captain of the Year	Ben Kennedy	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
Rep Player of the Year	Darren Lockyer	Brisbane Broncos
Coach of the Year	Craig Bellamy	Melbourne Storm

Team of the Year

Award	Player	Club
Best Fullback	Clinton Schifcofske	Canberra Raiders
Best Winger	Brian Carney	Newcastle Knights
Best Centre	Mark Gasnier	St George Illawarra Dragons
Best Five-Eighth	Darren Lockyer	Brisbane Broncos
Best Halfback	Cooper Cronk	Melbourne Storm
Best Lock	Ben Kennedy	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
Best Second-Rower	Nathan Hindmarsh	Parramatta Eels
Best Prop	Roy Asotasi	Bulldogs
Best Hooker	Cameron Smith	Melbourne Storm

Statistics and Records

Clinton Schifcofske ran 3,741 metres with the ball in 2006, more than any other player in the competition.^[9]
The Brisbane Broncos set a club record for their biggest comeback win when they came from 18-0 down at half time to win 30-28 against Canberra Raiders in round 8.
The Melbourne Storm set a club record for their longest winning streak with 11 games from Round 12 to Round 23.
New Zealand Warriors defeated South Sydney Rabbitohs 66–0 in Round 16. This set new records for New Zealand's greatest winning margin and South Sydney's greatest losing margin.
The Newcastle Knights and Canberra Raiders set the league record for the highest aggregate score in a match, with a total of 102 points scored in Newcastle's 70–32 win in Round 2. The previous record (97 points, between St George and Canterbury-Bankstown) had stood since 1935.
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks set a then-club record for longest losing streak with 10 matches from Round 17 to Round 26.
Nathan Merritt became the first player to top the try scoring chart from the wooden spoon winning side.^[10]

Ladder

2006 NRL season v t e
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Melbourne Storm	24	20	0	4	2	605	404	+201	44¹
2	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	16	0	8	2	608	468	+140	36
3	Brisbane Broncos (P)	24	14	0	10	2	497	392	+105	32
4	Newcastle Knights	24	14	0	10	2	608	538	+70	32
5	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	24	14	0	10	2	534	493	+41	32
6	St George Illawarra Dragons	24	14	0	10	2	519	481	+38	32
7	Canberra Raiders	24	13	0	11	2	525	573	-48	30
8	Parramatta Eels	24	12	0	12	2	506	483	+23	28
9	North Queensland Cowboys	24	11	0	13	2	450	463	-13	26
10	New Zealand Warriors	24	12	0	12	2	552	463	+89	24²
11	Wests Tigers	24	10	0	14	2	490	565	-75	24
12	Penrith Panthers	24	10	0	14	2	510	587	-77	24
13	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	9	0	15	2	515	544	-29	22
14	Sydney Roosters	24	8	0	16	2	528	650	-122	20
15	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	3	0	21	2	429	772	-343	10

¹ The Melbourne Storm were later stripped of this minor premiership due to gross salary cap breaches.
² The New Zealand Warriors were deducted 4 competition points due to gross salary cap breaches.

Ladder progression

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

	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
1	Melbourne	2	4	4	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	16	18	20	22	24	26	28	30	32	34	36	38	40	40	42	44
2	Bulldogs	0	2	2	4	6	8	8	10	12	14	16	16	18	18	20	20	24	24	26	28	30	32	34	34	34	36
3	Brisbane	0	2	4	4	6	8	10	12	12	14	16	18	20	20	20	22	22	24	26	26	26	26	26	28	30	32
4	Newcastle	2	4	6	6	8	8	8	10	12	14	16	16	16	18	18	18	20	20	20	22	24	26	26	28	30	32
5	Manly-Warringah	0	0	2	4	6	6	8	10	10	10	12	14	16	18	18	18	18	20	22	24	24	26	28	30	32	32
6	St George Illawarra	0	0	2	4	4	6	8	8	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	26	26	26	26	26	28	30	32
7	Canberra	2	2	2	4	4	6	8	8	10	10	10	12	14	16	16	18	18	18	20	22	22	24	26	28	28	30
8	Parramatta	0	2	2	2	2	4	6	6	6	6	6	8	8	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	28	28	28
9	North Queensland	2	4	6	8	10	12	12	12	14	14	16	16	16	16	16	16	18	20	20	22	22	22	22	22	24	26
10	New Zealand	-4	-4	-2	0	0	0	2	2	4	4	6	6	6	8	10	12	14	14	14	16	16	18	20	22	24	24
11	Wests	2	2	2	4	4	6	6	8	10	10	10	12	14	14	16	16	16	18	18	18	20	20	20	20	22	24
12	Penrith	2	4	6	6	8	8	8	8	8	10	12	12	12	12	14	16	16	18	20	20	22	22	22	24	24	24
13	Cronulla-Sutherland	2	2	2	4	4	4	6	8	10	12	12	14	16	18	20	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22
14	Sydney	2	2	4	4	6	6	6	8	8	10	12	12	12	12	12	12	14	14	16	16	18	18	20	20	20	20
15	South Sydney	0	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	8	10	10	10	10

Finals series

The Melbourne Storm went into the finals for the first time as Minor Premiers. They had a week off after their first finals win against the Parramatta Eels 12-6 to prepare for a Preliminary Final encounter, again the St. George Illawarra Dragons which was won by the Storm 24-10, earning them a spot in the Grand Final against the Brisbane Broncos. The Broncos had surprised everyone in the previous two months. After a slight hiccup in the Qualifying Final, going down against St. George Illawarra Dragons 20-4, they came back in the next two weeks, beating the Newcastle Knights 50-6 in the Semi Final and coming from 20-6 down at halftime to win 37-20 against the Bulldogs in the Preliminary Final.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
Home	Score	Away	Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Qualifying Finals
Newcastle Knights	25–18	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	8 September 2006 8:00pm	Energy Australia Stadium	Sean Hampstead	23,752
Brisbane Broncos	4–20	St George Illawarra Dragons	9 September 2006 6:30pm	Suncorp Stadium	Paul Simpkins	50,387
Bulldogs	30–12	Canberra Raiders	9 September 2006 8:30pm	Telstra Stadium	Shayne Hayne	14,628
Melbourne Storm	12–6	Parramatta Eels	10 September 2006 4:00pm	Olympic Park	Steve Clark	15,690
Semi Finals
St George Illawarra Dragons	28–0	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	15 September 2006 7:45pm	Sydney Football Stadium	Paul Simpkins	30,907
Newcastle Knights	6–50	Brisbane Broncos	16 September 2006 7:45pm	Sydney Football Stadium	Steve Clark	22,081
Preliminary Finals
Bulldogs	20–37	Brisbane Broncos	22 September 2006 7:45pm	Sydney Football Stadium	Paul Simpkins	29,511
Melbourne Storm	24–10	St George Illawarra Dragons	23 September 2006 7:45pm	Telstra Stadium	Steve Clark	40,901

Finals Chart


Qualifying finals			Semifinals			Preliminary finals			Final



1	Melbourne	12

8	Canterbury	30				1W	Melbourne	24

			4W	St. George Illawarra	28		St. George Illawarra	10

2	Brisbane	4	2L	Manly	0
									Melbourne	8
7	Newcastle	25
									Brisbane	15


3	Manly	18				2W	Canterbury	20

6	St. George Illawarra	20	3W	Newcastle	6		Brisbane	37

			1L	Brisbane	50

4	Canberra	12

5	Parramatta	6

Grand Final

Sunday, 1 October
19:00

Brisbane Broncos	15 – 8	Melbourne Storm
Tries: Justin Hodges Brent Tate Goals: Darren Lockyer (2/2) Corey Parker (1/2) Field goals: Darren Lockyer (1/1)	Report	Tries: Matt King Steve Turner Goals: Cameron Smith (0/1) Matt Geyer (0/1)

Telstra Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 79,609^[11]
Referee: Paul Simpkins
Player of the Match: Shaun Berrigan

Footnotes

^ Stuart Honeysett and Brent Read (23 April 2010) Shocking end to the Melbourne Storm era The Australian
^ Bernard, Grantley (2006-10-02). "Storm laments lost opportunity". Fox Sports. Premier Media Group Pty Ltd. Retrieved 2009-12-17. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ Budge, Dale (2006-02-22). "NRL salary cap guide". tvnz.co.nz. Television New Zealand Limited. Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2009-12-17. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ "Broncos claim premiership". Television New Zealand Limited. Australian Associated Press. 2 October 2001. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
^ "Melbourne Storm breach NRL Salary Cap". National Rugby League. 22 April 2010. Archived from the original on 25 April 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ McDonald, Margie (22 April 2010). "Melbourne Storm stripped of two rugby league titles over salary cap fraud". The Australian. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
^ During the 2006 season, many of the stadiums were known by different names to their traditional ones, as some were sponsored by various organisations. For example, Aussie Stadium was also formerly known as the "Sydney Football Stadium", likewise, Mt Smart Stadium was known as 'Ericsson Stadium' for the majority of the season, until the naming rights expired.
^ This includes both seated and standing spots.
^ Proszenko, Adrian (6 May 2012). "Gallen set to smash record". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
^ Champions in poor teams, Sydney Morning Herald, September 2006
^ D'Souza, Miguel. "Grand Final History". wwos.ninemsn.com.au. AAP. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

External links

[1] Stuart Honeysett and Brent Read (23 April 2010) Shocking end to the Melbourne Storm era The Australian

[2] Bernard, Grantley (2006-10-02). "Storm laments lost opportunity". Fox Sports. Premier Media Group Pty Ltd. Retrieved 2009-12-17. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

[3] Budge, Dale (2006-02-22). "NRL salary cap guide". tvnz.co.nz. Television New Zealand Limited. Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2009-12-17. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[4] "Broncos claim premiership". Television New Zealand Limited. Australian Associated Press. 2 October 2001. Retrieved 17 December 2009.

[storm_2010_cap_breach_nrl-5] "Melbourne Storm breach NRL Salary Cap". National Rugby League. 22 April 2010. Archived from the original on 25 April 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[storm_2010_cap_breach_australian-6] McDonald, Margie (22 April 2010). "Melbourne Storm stripped of two rugby league titles over salary cap fraud". The Australian. Retrieved 22 April 2010.

[7] During the 2006 season, many of the stadiums were known by different names to their traditional ones, as some were sponsored by various organisations. For example, Aussie Stadium was also formerly known as the "Sydney Football Stadium", likewise, Mt Smart Stadium was known as 'Ericsson Stadium' for the majority of the season, until the naming rights expired.

[8] This includes both seated and standing spots.

[9] Proszenko, Adrian (6 May 2012). "Gallen set to smash record". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 May 2012.

[10] Champions in poor teams, Sydney Morning Herald, September 2006

[11] D'Souza, Miguel. "Grand Final History". wwos.ninemsn.com.au. AAP. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

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v t e Brisbane Broncos
Est. 1988 in Brisbane, Queensland
Club	History Records Honours Players Coaches Representatives
Home grounds	Suncorp Stadium QEII (ANZ) Stadium The Gabba (three games only in 2023)
Culture	Red Hill Battle for Brisbane Queensland derby South East Queensland Derby
League	NSWRL ARL SL NRL NRLW
Titles	Premierships (6) 1992 1993 1997 1998 2000 2006 World Club Challenges (2) 1992 1997 NRL Women's Premierships (3) 2018 2019 2020
Seasons (37)	1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Other competitions	Current NRL Nines NRL Women's Premiership Past Amco Cup New South Wales Cup NRL Under-20s
Affiliations	NRL Women's Brisbane Broncos Women Queensland Cup (Current) Souths Logan Magpies Wynnum Manly Seagulls (Past) Aspley Broncos Central Queensland Capras Ipswich Jets Norths Devils Redcliffe Dolphins Toowoomba Clydesdales Corporate News Corporation London Broncos (1994-1997)

v t e National Rugby League seasons
NSWRL era	1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
ARL / SL war	1995 1996 1997 (ARL / SL)
NRL era	1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025