The 2006 National Rugby League season consisted of 25 weekly regular season rounds starting on 11 March, followed by four weeks of play-offs that culminated in a grand final on 1 October. [edit] Regular Season [edit] Round 1 [edit] Round 2 - Many records were broken in this round. The Cowboy's Matt Sing scores his 150th try in first-grade, the sixth player to do so. Canterbury's Hazem El Masri scored 34 points, a club record.
- The extremely hot conditions on the Sunday afternoon of this round affected two games in particular. In Wollongong, a slow-moving, somewhat sloppy game saw St George Illawarra in their first ever period of golden point extra time, going down to Penrith 13-12. On the other hand, at Canberra, an all-time premiership record 102 points were scored between Newcastle and Canberra. This surpasses the previous record of 97 points scored in St. George's 91-6 defeat of Canterbury in 1935.
[edit] Round 3 [edit] Round 4 [edit] Round 5 [edit] Round 6 A very rare event occurred in Round 6 - a referee was injured during a match. In the 28th minute of the Newcastle vs Nth Qld match, referee Paul Simpkins blew time off and made his way off the field with an injured calf muscle. A replacement referee was organised - Tony Des Las Heras, who had refereed the Jersey Flegg (third-tier competition) match earlier, was brought onto the field to take control of the rest of the match. Also, for the first time in 8 years, first grade competitive rugby league returned to Adelaide after the Adelaide Rams were not closen to be included in the competition after the 1998 season. The Penrith Panthers hosted the Melbourne Storm at Hindmarsh Stadium, which was won by Melbourne 40-18. However, Rugby league officials were hoping for an attendance of at least 10,000, and were disappointed with the attendance of only 7,017. [edit] Round 7 [edit] Round 8 Brisbane Broncos recorded their biggest comeback in the clubs history when they came from 18-0 down at halftime to win 30-28 against the Canberra Raiders at Suncorp Stadium. [edit] Round 9 [edit] Round 10 [edit] Round 11 - Parramatta played their first game under stand-in coach Jason Taylor, following Brian Smith's resignation earlier in the week.[1] Following this announcement, star Parramatta players Mark Riddell and Tim Smith were fined $5000 each and relegated to Premier League by Parramatta after turning up to Monday morning training intoxicated.[2]
- All six home teams won their respective matches over the weekend.
[edit] Round 12 - Cronulla Sharks hooker Tevita Latu is stood down from the club on Monday 22 May after claims from 19-year-old Brooke Peninton that the player punched her in the face.[3] After being arrested on late on Monday, he was granted police bail to face Sutherland Local Court on June 15.[4] He was later sacked by the Cronulla club and deregistered by the National Rugby League the following Wednesday.
[edit] Round 13 It took 70 minutes to score a point in the St. George Illawarra Dragons and Parramatta Eels game with Parramatta's five-eighth John Morris poped over a field goal to make it 1-0 to Parramatta. But eventually St. George Illwarra found their rhythm to go out 8-1 winners. [edit] Round 14 - The South Sydney Rabbitohs were able to record their first victory for the 2006 season, taking advantage of Brisbane's depleted line-up due to State of Origin commitments to prevail 34-14 at Telstra Stadium. A crowd of just 6,537, the smallest crowd to date in 2006, braved the cold, wet weather to witness this intriguing game.[5]
[edit] Round 15 - St George Illawarra hooker Shaun Timmins is charged by Brisbane police on Saturday 17th June for "being a public nuisance". Having not even played in the Dragon's match against the Brisbane Broncos the night earlier, it was alleged Timmins sat on a street sweeper whilst making his way back to his hotel room at around 3:30 am. Early reports quote the club's chief executive Peter Doust as saying that Timmins was not intoxicated at the time as far as he was aware.[6] Media figures later summed this up as an over-reaction and, while not encouraging Timmins' actions, noted that it was an act of larrikinism rather than malice.
[edit] Round 16 [edit] Round 17 [edit] Round 18 - Newcastle Knights captain Andrew Johns became the all time highest pointscorer in the 98-year history of top grade Rugby League in Australia, but caused controversy after his sides horrific 46-12 loss to the Parramatta Eels, by walking off field and ignoring a special presentation organised by the Eels officials, including Parramatta Eels coach Jason Taylor, who previously held the record.
- The Bulldogs gave themselves one of their biggest comebacks in the Club's history and the Warriors one of their worst collapses in their Club's history when the Bulldogs came from 16-0 down mid-way through the first half to win 22-18 in extra time at ANZ Stadium.
- Also, the Tigers appeared to be back on track with a 22-10 victory over the Cronulla Sharks at Toyota Park.
[edit] Round 19 [edit] Round 20 [edit] Round 21 [edit] Round 22 [edit] Round 23 - Controversy stormed two games in the 23rd round of the Telstra Premiership. Newcastle Knights captain Andrew Johns was fined and suspended for two matches after an alleged incident where he called a touch judge a "F*****g c**t" after believing the official in question had missed a blatant error. He later apologised.
- Refereeing woes continues in a thrilling Golden Point clash at Campbelltown, marred by referee Steve Clark's incorrect interpretation of the offside rule. Failure to penalise resulted in a late field goal to Canberra Raiders, winning them the match.
- The Cronulla Sharks and North Queensland Cowboys fell further out of favour for a top eight berth with poor performances on Saturday night, whilst the Bulldogs extended their run to six straight with a victory over the Dragons.
[edit] Round 24 - Several surprising results changed the face of the competition in Round 24. The most notable of these was the fall of first and second placed Melbourne and the Bulldogs to much less fancied opponents. The latter side suffered greatly in their 30-0 loss to the Brisbane Broncos, with 2 players suffering major injuries and their star forward Willie Mason receiving a two match suspension.
- Penrith's victory over Cronulla in the dying moments saw the clear eight cut and dried, although the Panthers did have a small chance of making the final eight had results gone their way.
- St George Illawarra fought their way back to form with a 30-point victory over the Wests Tigers.
[edit] Round 25 - Controversy struck the NRL once again, when North Queensland Cowboys player Mitchell Sargent testing positive to the drug cocaine.[7] He was immediately sacked from the club.
- The Panthers were the only team outside the eight before Round 25 with a slight chance of becoming finalists. However, with the Panthers losing, the top eight became set in stone, meaning no other team was any longer able to make the final series.
- For the second week in a row, the Broncos held their opponents scoreless beating Parramatta 23-0.
[edit] Round 26 - With one round to go, the top eight had already settled, with no team outside the top eight able to make the final series. Teams between positions three and six were all in with a chance to host a home semi final at the start at the round and the jostling for positions continued over the weekend. The top eight was finalised on Sunday when the Brisbane Broncos defeated the New Zealand Warriors 36-12. The Melbourne Storm and Bulldogs had their final positions locked in going into the final round.
- Coaching dramas engulfed the game leading into Round 26, with the news that Ricky Stuart was to be dumped as the coach of the Sydney Roosters for the 2007 NRL Season. Whilst a replacement is yet to be found, The South Sydney Rabbitohs were quick to tie up any chance of losing incoming assistant coach Jason Taylor by promoting him to head coach for the coming season.
[edit] Finals [edit] Week One [edit] First Qualifying Final [edit] Second Qualifying Final [edit] Third Qualifying Final [edit] Fourth Qualifying Final [edit] Week Two [edit] First Semi Final [edit] Second Semi Final | Date | Saturday, 16 September 2006 7:45 pm AEST | | Tries (Newcastle Knights) | 1 K. Gidley | | Tries (Brisbane Broncos) | 1: D. Stagg, B. Tate, J. Hodges, K. Hunt, P. Civoniceva, S. Berrigan, D. Lockyer, D. Boyd | | Goals (Newcastle Knights) | 1 from 2: A. Johns | | Goals (Brisbane Broncos) | 8 from 8: C. Parker
1 from 1: D. Lockyer | | Field Goals (Newcastle Knights) | None | | Field Goals (Brisbane Broncos) | None | | Venue | Aussie Stadium, Sydney, NSW | | Attendance | 22,081 | | Referee | Steven Clark | [edit] Week Three [edit] First Preliminary Final | Date | Friday, 22 September 2006 7:45 pm AEST | | Tries (Canterbury Bulldogs) | 1 D. Holdsworth, H. El Masri, B. Shewin, M. Utai | | Tries (Brisbane Broncos) | 2: S. Berrigan
1: D. Carlaw, D. Boyd, D. Lockyer, B. Tate ,C. Parker | | Goals (Canterbury Bulldogs) | 4 from 4: H. El Masri | | Goals (Brisbane Broncos) | 3 from 6: C. Parker
2 from 2: D. Lockyer | | Field Goals (Canterbury Bulldogs) | None | | Field Goals (Brisbane Broncos) | 1: D. Lockyer | | Venue | Aussie Stadium, Sydney, NSW | | Attendance | 29,511 | | Referee | Paul Simpkins | [edit] Second Preliminary Final [edit] GRAND FINAL [edit] References - ^ National Rugby League Smith Resigns as Eels Coach Monday, May 15, 2006 - 5:22 pm
- ^ National Rugby League Riddell and Smith Fined Monday, Tuesday, May 16, 2006 - 3:11 pm
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald Claims Sharks' Tevita Latu punched woman Monday, May 22, 2006
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald NRL sacks Latu for bashing woman Wednesday, May 24, 2006
- ^ The Australian First win starting point for Rabbitohs June 12, 2006
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald Timmins arrested in Brisbane June 17, 2006 - 3:16 pm
- ^ News.com.au NRL star tests positive to cocaine August 24, 2006 - 03:15 pm
|
