| 2006 NRL season |
|
| Teams | 15 |
| Premiers |  Brisbane (6th title) |
| Minor premiers |  Melbourne (1st title) |
| Matches played | 189 |
| Points scored | 8201 (total)
43.392 (per match) |
| Attendance | 3,115,701 (total)
16,485 (per match) |
| Top points scorer(s) |  Hazem El Masri (296) |
| Top try scorer(s) |  Nathan Merritt (22) |
The 2006 National Rugby League season was the 99th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the ninth run by the NRL. 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 in the grand final .
[edit] Pre season
[edit] New Zealand Warriors salary cap breach
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. As punishment, the National Rugby League fined the Warriors club $430,000 and stripped the team of four competition points prior to the beginning of the season. 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 strip 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.
The salary cap for the 2006 season was AU$3.366 million per club for their 25 highest-paid players.[1]
[edit] 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.
[edit] Venues
Sixteen stadiums regularly hosted National Rugby league matches, with a further six hosting at least one match in season 2006.
| Stadium name [2] | City | Host club(s) | Capacity [3] |
| 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 |
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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 seasons 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.
Prestigious Awards
Team of the Year
[edit] Records set in 2006
- Brisbane Broncos's club record for their biggest comeback win is 18 points when they came from 18-0 down at halftime to win 30-28 against Canberra Raiders in round 8
- Melbourne Storm's club record for their longest winning streak with 11 games from round 12 to round 23.
- South Sydney Rabbitohs won only 3 games, equalling the second least amount of games won in a season by Souths, 2003 was the other season Souths only won 3 games. The least games won by Souths in a season is 2 games which was made in 1990.
- New Zealand Warriors set the record for their biggest ever win with a 66-0 win over South Sydney Rabbitohs in round 16. This game was also Souths biggest ever loss.
- Newcastle Knights and Canberra Raiders set the record for the highest ever scoring game scoring 102 points with Newcastle winning the match 70-32 in round 2, this game beating the St George Dragons vs. Canterbury Bulldogs game way back in 1935 of 97 points with St. George winning the match 91-6.
- Cronulla Sharks set a club record for their longest losing streak with 10 matches from round 17 to round 26.
[edit] Ladder
- New Zealand Warriors were stripped of 4 competition points due to breaches of the salary cap.
[edit] Finals
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 Canterbury Bulldogs in the Preliminary Final.
[edit] Grand Final
The season culminated in the premiership final on 1 October, 2006, to be played by the 1st-placed Melbourne Storm and the 3rd-placed Brisbane Broncos clubs. Melbourne went into the game as favourites, with both teams looking to keep their perfect grand final records intact: the Broncos with 5/5 and the Storm with 1/1 heading into the game. It was the first grand final ever to feature teams which were both from outside the borders of New South Wales, yet was played at Sydney's Telstra Stadium. A crowd of 79,609 people turned out, with INXS performing before the match which was to be refereed by Paul Simpkins, who was overseeing his first grand final.
First Half
The first points came from a penalty in the ninth minute. Brisbane's Shaun Berrigan, playing at hooker, tried to burrow over the Storm line from dummy half but was ruled to have had the ball taken from his arms by Billy Slater in a two-man tackle. The resulting penalty kick by captain Darren Lockyer in front of the posts was a gift two points for the Broncos to take an early 2-0 lead. Three minutes later, Melbourne halfback Cooper Cronk kicked a 40/20 coming out of his side's territory. Following the subsequent scrum in an attacking position, the Storm raided Brisbane's line and got the first try of the match. Scott Hill did well to evade a few attempted tackles and shoot a remarkable pass around the back of a Broncos defender and into the arms of winger Steve Turner who dived over out wide. Cameron Smith missed the conversion, leaving the score at 4-2. Brisbane then got a scrum of their own close to Melbourne's line after Turner knocked on trying to take a Lockyer bomb. Lockyer, moving across-field fed the ball back inside to Justin Hodges who went over untouched to put the ball down near the posts, affording the Broncos captain another easy kick. No more points were scored in the first half and Brisbane went into the break with an 8-4 lead. Darren Lockyer was limping around in the dressing room but went on to play through the rest of the game.
Second Half
Eight minutes into the second half, a high tackle by Justin Hodges on Cameron Smith close to the Broncos' line resulted in a minor scuffle and a penalty to the Storm. Melbourne captain Smith decided to take the tap and attack Brisbane's line and a close-range try to Matt King resulted. The scores were then level at 8-all, with the kick to come. Smith, also the Storm's first-choice goal-kicker, was having a problem with his kicking leg so the task fell onto Matt Geyer whose conversion attempt went wide. Ten minutes later a penalty was awarded to the Broncos after a high shot from Billy Slater on Shaun Berrigan and Corey Parker's kick was successful, giving his side a two-point lead at 10-8. Following the re-start kick from Melbourne, Brisbane were working the ball out of their own half and on the fifth tackle scored a brilliant Grand Final try. From dummy-half Berrigan ran then passed back inside to Lockyer who gave a short ball on to Parker who did likewise for Casey McGuire. Before being tackled McGuire tossed the ball blindly back over his head and it was picked up by Lockyer who spun out of a tackle then passed it to Tonie Carroll. Without losing momentum, Carroll passed the ball on to a flying Brent Tate who raced to the corner for the try. The conversion attempt from near the sideline was missed by Parker so the Broncos led by six with 17 minutes of play remaining. A couple of minutes later the Storm appeared to have scored their third try when a bomb by Cronk was leapt for but unsuccessfully taken by both a Brisbane and a Melbourne player. On its way down the ball was snatched from the air by King who looked to have put it down for his second try but the video referee ruled that the ball had gone forward off the Storm so it was disallowed. In the 73rd minute, after a strong run by prop Shane Webcke put him in good field position, Lockyer snapped away a successful field goal. This gave the Broncos a 7-point buffer. A frustrated Melbourne side were unable to score in the remaining minutes as Brisbane ground their way towards full-time, the score 15-8 at the final siren.
Post-Match
The Brisbane Broncos' victory was the club's sixth premiership in their nineteen seasons and it broke what was at the time their longest premiership drought (five years). They suffered 11 losses during the season, the most ever by a premiership-winning team. The win also enabled Brisbane to maintain their 100% victory record in Grand Finals, making it six from six. This also made Wayne Bennett the most successful Australian rugby league club coach of all time. In addition the Grand Final victory provided the perfect farewell for retiring Broncos prop-forward Shane Webcke, who left the playing field with a premiership in his final season, a fine reward for his commitment to the game during his career. Also departing the NRL were Casey McGuire and Scott Hill, both bound for Europe's Super League.
15 |  Brisbane Broncos |
| Tries | Hodges, Tate |
| Goals | Lockyer 2/2, Parker 1/2 |
| Field Goals | Lockyer |
8 |  Melbourne Storm |
| Tries | Turner, King |
| Goals | Smith 0/1, Geyer 0/1 |
| Field Goals | |
Clive Churchill Medal: Shaun Berrigan (Brisbane)
[edit] When They Scored
10th Minute: 0 – 2 (Penalty Goal: Lockyer)
14th Minute: 4 – 2 (Try: Turner)
19th Minute: 4 – 8 (Try: Hodges, Goal: Lockyer)
45th Minute: 8 – 8 (Try: King)
60th Minute: 8 – 10 (Penalty Goal: Parker)
62nd Minute: 8 – 14 (Try: Tate)
73rd Minute: 8 – 15 (Lockyer field goal)
[edit] See also
- ^ http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/663927
- ^ 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.
[edit] External links
