The 2008 National Rugby League season consisted of 26 weekly regular season rounds, starting on 14 March, followed by four weeks of play-offs, culminating in a Grand Final on 5 October.[1]
The Bulldogs suffered their worst collapse when they led Parramatta 20–0 at halftime to lose 28–20 at ANZ Stadium, while that comeback was Parramatta's second largest.
Both of National Rugby League season 2007's grand finalists, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the Melbourne Storm, were beaten this round both by one point by Newcastle and Cronulla.
A new ANZ Stadium regular season attendance record (excluding double headers) was set when 36,526 came to the match between the Bulldogs and the Sydney Roosters.
Golden point is invoked for the third time in 2008, the Cronulla v St. George Illawarra match going to extra time.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are the remaining team to yet win a game after falling for their fourth consecutive game against the Manly Sea Eagles who managed to keep them tryless by 20 points to 2.
The Sydney Roosters' and the Bulldogs' match was labelled the "Grudge Match of the Year" as many of the Roosters high-profile players were former Bulldogs and it was their first clash since forward Willie Mason left the Bulldogs for the Roosters. However the match was one-sided as the Roosters scored a 28-point victory. Braith Anasta, a former Bulldog, was named man of the match while Mason scored two tries.
This premiership round, the Heritage Round, was set down to celebrate the anniversary of the first round of the 1908 premiership. Teams wore jerseys reflecting their club or region's first season in the competition.
Cronulla play their first home game of the season after five rounds on the road when waiting for their home venue (Toyota Stadium) to be upgraded. It results in a golden point loss to Penrith.
The Newcastle Knights put their season back into the positive after defeating the Sydney Roosters, bouncing back from a 20-12 half time deficit by scoring four tries within the remaining ten minutes.
Melbourne win their twelfth straight match against Canberra after coming from 16-4 down at halftime.
This round saw a change in the lead on the competition ladder, with the Gold coast Titans edging ahead of the Brisbane Broncos.
The 0-0 halftime scoreline during the Melbourne and Newcastle match was the fourth time in three years that the first half of an NRL match has been scoreless.
Melbourne's win over Newcastle places the 2007 minor premiership winning Storm to the top of the table for the first time in 2008. Meanwhile, last year's second finishing team, the Sea Eagles, entered the top four.
The Brisbane Broncos recorded their first back-to-back losses of the season.
The St. George Illawarra Dragons defeated Melbourne for the first time since 2004. Up to eight players from the usual Melbourne squad were omitted from the match due to State of Origin duties.
The Penrith Panthers made the top eight for the first time in 2008 by beating the Warriors.
Denan Kemp equalled the club record for most tries in a match for the Brisbane Broncos with 4 tries, one of which was the match-winner scored after the final siren.
The Bulldogs became the first team for 2008 to be held scoreless in a match.
North Queensland's Luke O'Donnell is also sent off in the Cowboys loss to Penrith in golden point extra time.
Brett Finch played his 200th NRL game. He became only the 5th player to reach this milestone before reaching the age of 27.
Players selected for State of Origin were again absent from this round's fixtures.
South Sydney's rare win over the Warriors was their first win against them since 1999.
Wendell Sailor makes his return to the NRL with St. George Illawarra after a seven-year absence.
The Sydney Roosters fail to score against Manly for the second time in a row, losing 0-56 in Round 17, 2007.
For the first time, the Gold Coast Titans held their opposition scoreless with an 18-0 win over the Melbourne Storm at Skilled Park, in the process maintaining their undefeated home record in 2008.
Both Friday night games were won by the home teams by one point which both avoided heading into extra time.
The Bulldogs suffered their second thrashing in five weeks, this time 18-58 by Canberra and is the most points the Bulldogs have ever conceded in 49 seasons (since 1959).
The Cowboys suffered their 8th loss in a row, this time going down 48-20 to the Melbourne Storm in Melbourne and are now in grave danger along with South Sydney for wooden spoon contenders.
The Roosters maintained their seven-year undefeated streak in Newcastle, grittingly winning 16-14.
The Sharks have ended Parramatta's clean run with their Toyota Park Stadium however, it resulted with Cronulla losing their key man and Blues five-eighth Greg Bird, injured in Cronulla's 16-14 win over Parramatta.
South Sydney earn their third win of the season in a tough affair with Gold Coast 24-23 with only a penalty goal from Isaac Luke putting them in front into full-time. Their win sees the Rabbitohs move out of last place for the first time this season after 15 rounds, slipping North Queensland to their long-held position.
The Dragons protected their five-year unbeaten streak in Newcastle with a 24–16 victory over the Knights, which was also St George Illawarra's seventh consecutive victory.
Penrith's win over Parramatta was somewhat soured when Penrith captain Petero Civoniceva was racially taunted by Eels fans at Parramatta Stadium.
For the second week in a row, the South Sydney Rabbitohs came back to win, this time coming from 18 points down early in the second half against the Bulldogs in extra time, scoring four consecutive games for the first time in 14 years.
The St George Illawarra Dragons were, for the second time in three years, denied a record-equalling 8th-straight victory when they succumbed to the Canberra Raiders, who won their first match at WIN Stadium since 1995.
The Warriors posted just their third away win of 2008 by thumping the Bulldogs by 40 points to 22 to achieve their first win over the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium.
Dragons prop Jason Ryles became the fourth player to be sent off this season for intentionally kicking Storm prop Jeff Lima. Melbourne's Billy Slater and Adam Blair and Dragons' Jamie Soward were also sin-binned for fighting. St. George Illawarra failed to score for the first time since Round 3, 2000 – a scoring streak of 219 matches.
Gavin Badger was dropped from refereeing for the following week as a result of several bad decisions in the Melbourne Storm – St. George Illawarra game.
Melbourne's victory over Manly was their first win at Brookvale Oval since 1999, and their third straight against the Sea-Eagles.
North Queensland ended a 13-game losing streak with a win over the Bulldogs.
The Canberra Raiders recorded their highest score in a match, beating the previous best of 68, set in 1993, it was the equal 3rd highest score in history and the highest score by any team since 2003 when Parramatta also scored 74. Raiders' five-eighth Terry Campese scores 36 points (four tries and 10 goals), a feat bettered only three times in history.
The Eels and Roosters contested the inaugural Jack Gibson Cup this round, with Parramatta claiming the trophy.[3]
The St George Illawarra Dragons recorded their seventh-straight victory over the Brisbane Broncos, with ex-Bronco Wendell Sailor scoring his first NRL try since he switched to rugby union against his former club.
The Gold Coast Titans got one step closer to completing a clean sweep over the fellow Queensland teams in the competition this season, beating the North Queensland Cowboys.
Manly-Warringah conceded more than 40 points in a match for the first time since 2005. This was also South Sydney's highest score achieved under coach Jason Taylor.
Parramatta's win over the Wests Tigers brought them to eight consecutive wins against their opposing club.
After the completion of round 23, the Melbourne Storm reclaimed the top spot on the competition ladder, taking advantage of Manly's loss to Souths.
Panthers Vs Bulldogs became the longest match without extra time due to referee Gavin Badger's referrals to video referee Russell Smith.
For the second time this season, the Sydney Roosters were held scoreless, against a top four team.
For the second consecutive time at Suncorp Stadium, the Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast Titans were brought into golden point, with the Broncos taking out both games. This denied the Titans a complete clean sweep over their fellow Queensland teams.
The NRL schedule staged its first double-header since Round 1 of the 2004 season. ANZ Stadium featured both the Wests Tigers vs Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles match and the Bulldogs vs Parramatta Eels game in sequence with one another during Saturday night of 23 August 2008.
After trailing 19–6 at halftime, the Canberra Raiders tallied 34 points in the second half to stun the South Sydney Rabbitohs 25–40.
The New Zealand Warriors' poor record at Wollongong's WIN Stadium continued as they had not won at that ground since 1996.
Melbourne won their first match at CUA Stadium since 2003.
Wayne Bennett celebrated his last regular season game as the Broncos coach after 21 years of coaching the Brisbane Broncos since their opening season in 1988. Along with Bennett, the defender Tonie Carroll also celebrated playing his last regular season game for the Broncos after serving for twelve seasons and playing over 200 games for the maroon-and-golds. The Broncos also recorded their fifth straight win over the Knights, knocking them out of finals contention.
The Sydney Roosters' physical 10–0 win over St. George Illawarra Dragons saw them make the finals for the first time since 2004 when they finished off runners-up to the Bulldogs. It was also the first time the Roosters had held an opposing team scoreless since 2004.
The New Zealand Warriors finals-earning win over the Eels at Parramatta Stadium was their first win at Parramatta since the club's first season in 1995.
The Tigers levelled their all-time record against the Gold Coast Titans by beating them 28–12, having already beaten them 20–18 in round 11.
The Bulldogs picked up their first wooden spoon since 2002, when they were then controversially stripped of 37 points for their salary-cap breach.
The Melbourne Storm racked up their record third consecutive minor premiership for the first time in the NRL competition, taking hold of pole position in seasons 2006, 2007 and now 2008, a feat which hasn't been known since Manly did so in 1995, 96, and 97. The game was also to commemorate Melbourne's longest serving player, Matt Geyer, who played his last regular season game to defeat the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Olympic Park Stadium in Melbourne 42–4.
The Canberra Raiders scored 52 against the Bulldogs, the 2nd time in the season the Raiders had put 50 or more on the Bulldogs (following the 58-18 demolition job in Round 15), they became the 6th team in history to achieve this feat and the first team since Parramatta did it to Newtown in 1983. It was the 2nd time the Bulldogs had been on the receiving end of this feat, the other being in their debut season, 1935.
The Parramatta and Warriors games got 5,102 people, the lowest crowd of the season
In the qualifying finals, matches were played at the higher placed team's home ground. 1st and 2nd highest placed winning teams then proceeded to the preliminary finals.
In the preliminary finals, matches were played at the highest placed winning teams from the qualifying finals "home region" ground. For Sydney teams, Newcastle, St. George Illawarra and Canberra, this was the Sydney Football Stadium or Stadium Australia. For Brisbane and the Gold Coast - Suncorp Stadium, North Queensland - Dairy Farmers Stadium, Melbourne - the Telstra Dome or the MCG, and for New Zealand, Mt Smart Stadium.
The Sydney Roosters make a return to the finals after a three-year absence, their last being in 2004 when they were runners-up to the now wooden-spooned Bulldogs.
Both Melbourne and Manly faced sides that have defeated them during the season and hold some records against the top two teams this year. Manly took on the 7th ranked St. George Illawarra Dragons who defeated Manly at Brookvale Oval 20-18 in round 11 and have currently won four of their past six games at Brookvale Oval, while Melbourne faced the Warriors, who were recently outdone against the New Zealand club in Auckland by a mere 8-6 and are one of the two teams in the past three years that have defeated the Storm at Melbourne.
Cronulla's defeat over the Canberra Raiders gave them their seventh consecutive finals defeat, last achieving a finals victory in 2000.
The New Zealand Warriors' striking last-minute win over Melbourne made them the first 8th-placed team to defeat the season's minor premiers at their home ground in NRL history since the McIntyre system was introduced in 1999. This landmark win deserved them a home final against the Sydney Roosters.
For the second year running Manly had the week off whilst for the first time since 1999Cronulla hosted a home preliminary final.
Both matches this weekend were NRL grand final rematches; the New Zealand Warriors faced the Sydney Roosters whom they lost to in the 2002 decider, whilst Melbourne travelled to Brisbane to take on their 2006 Grand Final nemesis the Broncos.
New Zealand become the first team to get to a preliminary final from 8th position, beating the Roosters 30-13.
After trailing for all but the last 46 seconds of the match, Melbourne got out of jail in a controversial match against the Brisbane Broncos with a Greg Inglis try and subsequently ended their season, and that of the Broncos' coaching career of Wayne Bennett, and went on to play Cronulla in the preliminary final.
The Sydney Football Stadium was allocated for both Preliminary Finals, due to both sides from the Sydney region the home stadium could have been allocated to either the Sydney Football Stadium, or the larger ANZ Stadium. It was stated that due to both clubs ranking in the lower half of average attendances for home games in 2008.
Manly's 40 to nil victory against Melbourne win in the 2008 Grand Final is the largest on record, surpassing the Eastern Suburbs' 38-0 win over St. George in 1975.
On the other hand, the runners-up Melbourne Storm became the first team since 1978 to be held scoreless in a Grand Final (when Cronulla suffered so 16-0 against Manly.)
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Sydney Roosters
Gold Coast Titans
North Queensland Cowboys
Parramatta Eels
Bulldogs
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Cronulla Sharks
Newcastle Knights
Canberra Raiders
Brisbane Broncos
Penrith Panthers
Wests Tigers
St George Illawarra Dragons
Melbourne Storm
New Zealand Warriors
Bulldogs
North Queensland Cowboys
New Zealand Warriors
Newcastle Knights
Melbourne
New Zealand
Manly
Sydney
St. George Illawarra
Cronulla
Canberra
Brisbane