1998 NRL season: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 05:47, 30 September 2009
| 1998 National Rugby League | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 20 |
| Premiers |  Brisbane (4th title) |
| Minor premiers | Brisbane (3rd title) |
| Matches played | 253 |
| Points scored | 10131 |
| Attendance | 2921264 |
| Top try-scorer(s) | Darren Smith (23) |
The National Rugby League's 1998 Premiership was the inaugural season of the newly-formed NRL, and the 91st season of professional rugby league football in Australia. After the Australian Rugby League and Super League organisations ran separate competitions parallel to each other in 1997, they joined to create a reunited competition in the NRL. The first professional rugby league club to be based in Melbourne, the Melbourne Storm was introduced into the League, and with the closure of the Hunter Mariners, Western Reds and South Queensland Crushers, twenty teams competed for the Telstra premiership.
Pre-season
- see also: History of the National Rugby League
The National Rugby League was formed after an agreement was reached between the two rivaling competitions from 1997, the Australian Rugby League and the Super League. In December 1997, the two parties formed a joint board to run the new Australian rugby league club competition. The vast majority of the 22 clubs that contested in 1997 across the split competitions also contested the first season of the National Rugby League, with the exception of the Hunter Mariners, the Western Reds and South Queensland.
The National Rugby League imposed a $3M salary cap on each of the clubs[1].
Teams
In all, 20 clubs contested in 1998 after the addition of a new club, Melbourne. Eleven of these clubs were from Sydney, the traditional home of the competition, but an agreement between the Australian Rugby League and Super League meant that many of these clubs were in danger of being cut from the competition by the 2000 season when, it was decided, only 14 clubs would be invited to contest the premiership.
Advertising
Super League's ad agency VCD in Sydney successfully kept the account post-reunification. The 1998 ad featured the song "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba with its theme of rising against adversity:
- I get knocked down! But I get up again; you're never gonna keep me down.
There was no visual performance of the song in the ad which returned to the standard rugby league imagery of big hits and crunching tackles to accompany the track.
Regular season
Rounds 5 and 7: Brisbane Broncos set a new record for their biggest win, firstly 58-4 against North Queensland Cowboys, then 60-6 against North Sydney Bears, both games being played at Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre.
Round 12: The record for the biggest comeback in premiership history was re-set by the North Queensland Cowboys who trailed 26–0 at half-time and came back to beat the Penrith Panthers 36–28.
Round 24: Ivan Cleary's tally of 284 points set a new individual record for most points scored in a season in Australian club rugby league history; it has since been beaten.
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brisbane
|
24 | 18 | 1 | 5 | 688 | 310 | +378 | 37 |
| 2 |  Newcastle
|
24 | 18 | 1 | 5 | 562 | 381 | +181 | 37 |
| 3 |  Melbourne
|
24 | 17 | 1 | 6 | 546 | 372 | +174 | 35 |
| 4 |  Parramatta
|
24 | 17 | 1 | 6 | 468 | 349 | +119 | 35 |
| 5 |  North Sydney
|
24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 663 | 367 | +296 | 34 |
| 6 |  Sydney City
|
24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 680 | 383 | +297 | 32 |
| 7 |  Canberra
|
24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 564 | 429 | +135 | 30 |
| 8 |  St. George
|
24 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 486 | 490 | -4 | 27 |
| 9 |  Canterbury
|
24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 489 | 411 | +78 | 26 |
| 10 |  Manly-Warringah
|
24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 503 | 473 | +30 | 26 |
| 11 |  Cronulla-Sutherland
|
24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 438 | 387 | +51 | 25 |
| 12 |  Illawarra
|
24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 476 | 539 | -63 | 23 |
| 13 |  Balmain
|
24 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 381 | 463 | -82 | 19 |
| 14 |  Penrith
|
24 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 525 | 580 | -55 | 18 |
| 15 |  Auckland
|
24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 417 | 518 | -101 | 18 |
| 16 |  North Queensland
|
24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 361 | 556 | -195 | 18 |
| 17 |  Adelaide
|
24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 393 | 615 | -222 | 14 |
| 18 |  South Sydney
|
24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 339 | 560 | -221 | 10 |
| 19 |  Gold Coast
|
24 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 289 | 654 | -365 | 8 |
| 20 |  Western Suburbs
|
24 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 371 | 802 | -431 | 8 |
Finals series
The biggest surprise of the season was when the Melbourne Storm finished 3rd after the regular season in their first ever year, only to be knocked out by the Brisbane Broncos in the Semi Final. The Canterbury Bulldogs became the lowest placed team ever to make the Grand Final, after finishing 9th after the regular season. The Bulldogs did it tough though, coming from 16 points down twice in as many weeks. They came from 16-0 down to win 28-16 against the Newcastle Knights in the Semi Final, then 18-2 down with 11 minutes to go to make it 18-18 after regulation time, then going on to win 32-20 in extra time against the Parramatta Eels in the Preliminary Final.
Grand Final
| Brisbane Broncos | Position | Canterbury Bulldogs |
|---|---|---|
| Darren Lockyer | FB | Rod Silva |
| Michael De Vere | WG | Gavin Lester |
| Steve Renouf | CE | Shane Marteene |
| Darren Smith | CE | Willie Talau |
| Wendell Sailor | WG | Daryl Halligan |
| Kevin Walters | FE | Craig Polla-Mounter |
| Allan Langer (c) | HB | Corey Hughes |
| Shane Webcke | PR | Darren Britt (c) |
| Phillip Lee | HK | Jason Hetherington |
| Andrew Gee | PR | Steve Price |
| Gorden Tallis | SR | Tony Grimaldi |
| Brad Thorn | SR | Robert Relf |
| Tonie Carroll | LK | Travis Norton |
| Michael Hancock | Reserve | Steve Reardon |
| Kevin Campion | Reserve | Glen Hughes |
| Petero Civoniceva | Reserve | Troy Stone |
| John Plath | Reserve | David Thompson |
| Wayne Bennett | Coach | Steve Folkes |
The first NRL Grand Final was the last to be played at the Sydney Football Stadium. Despite good weather, the attendance of 40,857 was the lowest seen for a Grand Final since 1989.
- First half
Only two minutes into the game, Canterbury made the first mistake of the game only 20-meters out from their own line which led to a Brisbane try through Michael De Vere with Darren Lockyer converting to give Brisbane a 6-0 lead. By the 10th minute, Canterbury got a penalty in front of the Brisbane sticks and opted to go for goal which was converted by Daryl Halligan to bring the score back to 6-2. Not long after, Canterbury hit the front with a try to Tony Grimaldi and Daryl Halligan converting to give Canterbury an 8-6 lead. By halfway through the first half, Brisbane were in front again with a try to Kevin Campion to give Brisbane a 10-8 lead. 10 minutes before halftime, Canterbury regained the lead with a try to Willie Talau to give Canterbury a 12-10 lead which stayed that way until halftime.
- Second half
Two minutes into the second half, Brisbane's Tonie Carroll crossed over for Brisbane's third with Darren Lockyer converting to give Brisbane a 16-12 lead. Brisbaned extended their lead with a try to Wendell Sailor to give Brisbane a 20-12 lead. In the 57th minute, Allan Langer put a kick down field and Daryl Halligan picked the ball up in his own in-goal and he made it 5 meters in the field of play only to be force back into the ingoal by good Brisbane defence. Two minutes later, Brisbane seemed to have the game wrapped up when Gorden Tallis crossed over the line with Darren Lockyer converting to give Brisbane a 26-12 lead. Brisbane's Grand Final debutant Phillip Lee with 9 minutes of play remaining crossed over for Brisbane's sixth try and Darren Lockyer converting to give Brisbane a 32-12 lead. Canterbury bound Darren Smith crossed over for Brisbane's 7th and final try in the 75th minute off a Tonie Carroll break, with Darren Lockyer converting to give Brisbane a 38-12 win.
- When they scored
3rd Minute: Brisbane 6-0 (De Vere Try; Lockyer goal)
10th Minute: Brisbane 6-2 (Halligan goal)
16th Minute: Canterbury 8-6 (Grimaldi try; Halligan goal)
23rd Minute: Brisbane 10-8 (Champion try)
30th Minute: Canterbury 12-10 (Talau try)
42nd Minute: Brisbane 16-12 (Carroll try; Lockyer goal)
50th Minute: Brisbane 20-12 (Sailor try)
60th Minute: Brisbane 26-12 (Tallis try; Lockyer goal)
71st Minute: Brisbane 32-12 (Lee try; Lockyer goal)
75th Minute: Brisbane 38-12 (Smith try; Lockyer goal)
Brisbane Broncos 38 (Tries: De Vere, Campion, Carroll, Sailor, Tallis, Lee, Smith. Goals: Lockyer 5/7)
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 12 (Tries: Grimaldi, Talau. Goals: Halligan 2/3)
Clive Churchill Medal: Gorden Tallis
Post season
Brisbane's consistent dominance over other teams at this period of time contributed to the National Rugby League's plans to cut the number of teams down to 14 in order to ensure competitiveness and the long-term financial success of the game. [citation needed]
Despite the inclusion of "national" in the new competition's name, both the Gold Coast and Adelaide clubs folded at the end of the 1998 season.
The long-serving St. George team, existent since 1921, and the Illawarra team merged to form the first joint-venture side at the conclusion of the season, St. George Illawarra for inclusion in the next season.
References
- ^ Toby Miller, Geoffrey A. Lawrence, Jim McKay (2001). Globalization and sport: playing the world. SAGE. p. 82. ISBN 0761959696, 9780761959694.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Harms, John (2005). The Pearl: Steve Renouf's Story. Australia: University of Queensland Press. p. 196. ISBN 0702235369, 9780702235368.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help)
- Rugby League Tables - Notes The World of Rugby League
- Rugby League Tables - Season 1998 The World of Rugby League
- Premiership History and Statistics RL1908
- 1998 - Broncos Take Inaugural NRL Competition RL1908