National Rugby League season 1998
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| National Rugby League season 1998 | |
 |
|
| Teams | 20 |
| Premiers |  Brisbane (4th title) |
| Minor premiers | Brisbane (3rd title) |
| Matches played | 253 |
| Points scored | 10131 (average 40.043 per match) |
| Attendance | 2,921,264 (average 11,546 per match) |
| Top points scorer(s) |  Ivan Cleary (284) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Darren Smith (23) |
1998 saw the inaugural season of the reunited National Rugby League premiership, the 90th season of professional rugby league football in Australia. 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 premiership.
Contents |
[edit] 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.
[edit] Season summary
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 only 14 clubs would be invited to contest the premiership.
Ivan Cleary's tally of 284 points was, at the time, an individual record for most points scored in a season in Australian club rugby league history; it has since been beaten on no less than five occasions.
The record for the biggest comeback in premiership history was also re-set during the 1998 season. In round 12, the North Queensland Cowboys trailed 26–0 at half-time and came back to beat the Penrith Panthers 36–28.
[edit] Teams
 Adelaide Rams |
 Auckland Warriors |
 Balmain Tigers |
 Brisbane Broncos |
 Canberra Raiders |
 Canterbury Bulldogs |
 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
 Gold Coast Chargers |
 Illawarra Steelers |
 Manly Sea Eagles |
 Melbourne Storm |
 Newcastle Knights |
 North Sydney Bears |
 North Queensland Cowboys |
 Parramatta Eels |
 Penrith Panthers |
 Sydney City Roosters |
 South Sydney Rabbitohs |
 St. George Dragons |
 Western Suburbs Magpies |
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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 |
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 |
[edit] 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 also surprised many, making it to 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 win 32-20 in extra time against the Parramatta Eels in the Preliminary Final.
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Qualifying Finals | ||||||||
 Canberra Raiders |
17–4 |  Manly Sea Eagles |
28 August 1998 | Bruce Stadium | Bill Harrigan | 15,953 | ||
 St. George Dragons |
12–20 |  Canterbury Bulldogs |
29 August 1998 | Jubilee Oval | Steve Clark | 16,833 | ||
 Parramatta Eels |
25–12 |  North Sydney Bears |
29 August 1998 | Parramatta Stadium | Kevin Jeffes | 16,033 | ||
 Melbourne Storm |
12–26 |  Sydney City Roosters |
30 August 1998 | Olympic Park | Paul McBlane | 18,247 | ||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
| North Sydney Bears |
2–23 | Canterbury Bulldogs |
4 September 1998 | North Sydney Oval | Bill Harrigan | 18,718 | ||
| Melbourne Storm |
24–10 | Canberra Raiders |
5 September 1998 | Olympic Park | Steve Clark | 12,592 | ||
 Newcastle Knights |
15–26 | Sydney City Roosters |
5 September 1998 | Marathon Stadium | Kevin Jeffes | 26,482 | ||
 Brisbane Broncos |
10–15 | Parramatta Eels |
6 September 1998 | ANZ Stadium | Paul McBlane | 21,172 | ||
| Preliminary Finals | ||||||||
| Newcastle Knights |
16–28 | Canterbury Bulldogs |
12 September 1998 | Sydney Football Stadium | Steve Clark | 24,449 | ||
| Brisbane Broncos |
30–6 | Melbourne Storm |
13 September 1998 | Sydney Football Stadium | Bill Harrigan | 20,354 | ||
| Finals | ||||||||
| Sydney City Roosters |
18–46 | Brisbane Broncos |
19 September 1998 | ANZ Stadium | Steve Clark | 28,374 | ||
| Parramatta Eels |
20–32 | Canterbury Bulldogs |
20 September 1998 | Sydney Football Stadium | Bill Harrigan | 36,841 | ||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| Brisbane Broncos |
38–12 | Canterbury Bulldogs |
27 September 1998 | Sydney Football Stadium | Bill Harrigan | 40,857 | ||
[edit] Grand Final
| Brisbane Broncos | Position | Canterbury-Bankstown |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Steven Price |
| Gorden Tallis | SR | Tony Grimaldi |
| Brad Thorn | SR | Robert Relf |
| Tonie Carroll | LK | Travis Norton |
| Michael Hancock | Reserve | Steve Reardon |
| John Plath | Reserve | Troy Stone |
| Kevin Campion | Reserve | Glen Hughes |
| Petero Civoniceva | 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.
Canterbury held a 12–10 lead at half time. However Brisbane's Tonie Carroll broke the game open after the break with a great try to put Brisbane back in front 16–12 in the 43rd minute. The Bulldogs scored no more points in the match, swamped in the second half by five unanswered tries from Brisbane who had been minor premiers and premiership favourites from season's start. The 38–12 scoreline was at the time, the highest-scoring grand final in Australian rugby league history. The result gave Brisbane their fourth premiership in seven years at a time where the game was in the most turbulent phase in its history.
The 38 points scored by Brisbane means the match holds the standing record for the most points by a club in a Grand final. The 26 point margin is the second highest in the rankings of the biggest winning margins in a Grand Final.
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
[edit] 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.
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.
[edit] References
- 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
