- 2005 NRL season
-
2005 NRL season 
Teams 15 Premiers 
Wests Tigers (1st title)Minor premiers 
Parramatta (5th title)Matches played 189 Points scored 8861 (total)
46.884 (per match)Attendance 3,276,675 (total)
17,337 (per match)Top point scorer(s) Brett Hodgson (308)Top try scorer(s) 
Matthew Bowen (21)The 2005 NRL season was the 98th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the eighth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of clubs remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen clubs contesting the 2005 Telstra Premiership, which culminated in a grand final between the Wests Tigers and the North Queensland Cowboys.
Contents
Season summary
In 2005 the NRL's salary cap was $3.25 million for the 25 highest-paid players in a club.[1]
The season was statistically the closest season ever, with just sixteen points separating the Parramatta Eels (1st) and Newcastle Knights (15th). It was also notable in that the previous four premiers failed to qualify for the finals (Bulldogs, Penrith Panthers, Sydney Roosters and Newcastle Knights).
In the middle of 2005 the NRL reached a broadcasting rights agreement with Foxsports and Channel 9 worth $500 million over six years, representing a 65% increase in direct television income.[2]
The Knights recorded their worst ever start to a season (13 straight losses) and were consigned to last place for the entire season. They did however win 8 of their last 11 games thanks to the return of superstar Andrew Johns. The Knights also defeated five of the top eight teams during the season, four of which were at home. They also recorded their then equal worst ever defeat - a 50-0 thrashing by the Parramatta Eels in round 14. During this match, an EnergyAustralia Stadium attendant ran onto the field, trying to tackle Parramatta's Daniel Wagon before he scored in the 78th minute. It should also be noted that minor premiers the Parramatta Eels lost to each of the bottom four teams (Bulldogs, Rabbitohs, Raiders and Knights in rounds 8, 2, 19 and 20 respectively) during the course of the season.
It was announced that the Gold Coast Titans were to be admitted into the NRL as the sixteenth team, scheduled to begin playing in the 2007 season. The Titans would recruit John Cartwright as their inaugural coach and Preston Campbell was their first signing.
Johnathan Thurston won the 2005 Dally M Medal by a single point from Newcastle's Andrew Johns, despite Johns missing over a third of the season with a broken jaw. Johns had previously won the award in 1998, 1999 and 2002.
the Broncos' Darren Smith was the NRL's oldest player in 2005 at 36 years and 284 days.[3]
The two clubs that had players sent off won their matches (unlike in 2004) but the dismissal of John Hopoate made rugby league headlines. Hopoate was sent off in his team's win over the Cronulla Sharks and consequently received a 17-match ban. The Sea Eagles then terminated his contract.
The Wests Tigers became the first ever joint venture club to win the premiership, having formed in 2000 as a union between the Balmain Tigers and Western Suburbs Magpies, both foundation members of the original New South Wales Rugby Football League.
Teams
Advertising
In 2005 the NRL and their advertising agency MJW Hakuhodo for the third year running stayed with the Hoodoo Gurus' "That's My Team" soundtrack[4] and developed three different musical executions.
The campaign focussed on the association of "strength" with the game and the ads featured three different musical interpretations of the song all without vocals. Each was created intending to bring out the positionings of rugby league characteristice of ‘strength of body’, ‘strength of mind’ and ‘strength of character’
Outdoor supersites also featured in suburban locations in NSW and local cinema versions of the TVC ran with a call to action inviting fans to attend a game of the team local to the cinema location.[5]
Records Set In 2005
- The Brisbane Broncos then-club record for their biggest loss stood at 46 points, when they lost 50-4 against the Melbourne Storm at Olympic Park in round 4. It was also the first ever time the Broncos conceded 50 points in a match. This record was equalled in the final round of the 2007 season when the Parramatta Eels beat them 68-22 (also the first time the Broncos had conceded over 50 points), and then eclipsed in 2009 when the Canberra Raiders defeated the Broncos 56-0.
- The Newcastle Knights lost a club record 13 straight matches from 13 March - 19 June. Also making them wooden spooners for the very first time. They also equalled their then-worst ever defeat marginally, going down 50-0 to the Parramatta Eels.
- In rounds 23 and 24, the Canterbury Bulldogs suffered their worst defeats in 7 decades when they lost 56-4 against the Parramatta Eels in round 23, then lost 54-2 against Wests Tigers in round 24, this game still stands as the Wests Tigers biggest ever win. This was equalled in round 21, 2008 when the Tigers again beat the Bulldogs by 52 points, but by a scoreline of 56-4.
Ladder
For more details on this topic, see 2005 NRL season results.Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts 1 Parramatta24 16 0 8 2 704 456 +248 36 2 
St George Illawarra24 16 0 8 2 655 510 +145 36 3 
Brisbane24 15 0 9 2 597 484 +113 34 4 Wests Tigers24 14 0 10 2 676 575 +101 32 5 North Queensland24 14 0 10 2 639 563 +76 32 6 
Melbourne24 13 0 11 2 640 462 +178 30 7 
Cronulla-Sutherland24 12 0 12 2 550 564 -14 28 8 
Manly-Warringah24 12 0 12 2 554 632 -78 28 9 
Sydney Roosters24 11 0 13 2 488 487 +1 26 10 
Penrith24 11 0 13 2 554 554 =0 26 11 
New Zealand24 10 0 14 2 515 528 -13 24 12 
Bulldogs24 9 1 14 2 472 670 -198 23 13 
South Sydney24 9 1 14 2 482 700 -218 23 14 
Canberra24 9 0 15 2 465 606 -141 22 15 
Newcastle24 8 0 16 2 467 667 -200 20 Ladder progression
- Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.
- Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
- Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round
- Underlined numbers indicate that the team had a bye during that round.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 1 Parramatta2 2 4 4 4 6 8 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 22 24 26 26 26 28 30 32 32 34 36 2 
St. George Illawarra0 0 0 0 2 2 4 6 8 10 12 12 14 16 18 18 20 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 3 Brisbane2 2 4 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 26 28 30 32 32 34 34 34 34 34 34 4 Wests Tigers0 2 4 6 8 8 8 8 8 10 12 12 12 14 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 32 34 5 North Queensland0 2 4 6 6 8 10 12 12 12 14 16 18 18 20 20 22 22 22 24 26 26 26 28 30 32 6 Melbourne2 4 4 6 6 6 8 8 10 12 12 14 16 16 16 18 20 22 22 24 24 24 26 28 30 30 7 Cronulla-Sutherland2 2 4 6 8 10 10 12 14 16 18 18 18 18 20 22 22 22 24 24 24 26 26 28 28 28 8 Manly-Warringah2 4 6 8 8 10 12 12 14 16 16 18 20 20 22 22 22 22 22 24 24 26 26 26 26 28 9 Sydney Roosters2 4 4 4 4 6 6 6 8 10 12 14 14 16 16 18 20 20 20 20 20 20 22 22 24 26 10 
Penrith0 0 2 2 4 6 6 8 8 8 8 8 8 10 12 12 12 14 14 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 11 New Zealand0 2 2 4 4 6 8 8 8 8 10 12 12 14 14 16 16 16 18 20 20 20 20 20 22 24 12 Bulldogs2 2 2 2 4 4 6 8 8 8 10 10 11 13 15 17 17 19 21 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 13 South Sydney0 2 2 2 4 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 7 9 9 9 9 11 13 13 15 17 19 21 21 23 14 Canberra2 4 6 8 10 10 10 12 14 14 14 14 16 16 16 18 20 20 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 15 Newcastle0 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 6 6 8 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 20 Finals series
To decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams, the NRL adopts the McIntyre Final Eight System.
Home Score Away Match Information Date and Time Venue Referee Crowd Qualifying Finals 
Wests Tigers50 – 6 
North Queensland Cowboys9 September 2005 Telstra Stadium Paul Simpkins 26,463 
Brisbane Broncos18 – 24 
Melbourne Storm10 September 2005 Suncorp Stadium Steve Clark 25,193 
St George Illawarra Dragons28 – 22 
Cronulla Sharks10 September 2005 WIN Stadium Tony Archer 19,608 
Parramatta Eels46 – 22 
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles11 September 2005 Parramatta Stadium Tim Mander 19,710 Semi Finals Melbourne Storm16 – 24 North Queensland Cowboys17 September 2005 Sydney Football Stadium Paul Simpkins 16,810 Wests Tigers34 – 6 Brisbane Broncos18 September 2005 Sydney Football Stadium Tim Mander 36,563 Preliminary Finals St George Illawarra Dragons12 – 20 Wests Tigers24 September 2005 Sydney Football Stadium Tim Mander 41,260 Parramatta Eels0 – 29 North Queensland Cowboys25 September 2005 Telstra Stadium Steve Clark 44,327 Grand final
Main article: NRL 2005 Grand FinalSunday, 2 October
19:00 AESTWests Tigers 30 - 16 North Queensland CowboysANZ Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 82,453
Referee/s: Tim Mander
Man of the Match: Scott PrinceTries:
Bryce Gibbs
Pat Richards
Anthony Laffranchi
Daniel Fitzhenry
Todd Payten
Goals:
Brett Hodgson (5/6)Tries:
Matt Bowen
Travis Norton
Matt Sing
Goals:
Josh Hannay (2/3)Statistics
Records set in 2005
- Newcastle Knights' club record for their longest losing streak with 13 games from round 1 to round 15.
- Canterbury Bulldogs equalled the record of most points in a match by a losing side, scoring 36 points in their 37-36 loss to the Wests Tigers in round 3.
- Wests Tigers' club record for their longest winning streak with 8 wins from round 16 to round 24.
- Wests Tigers' standing record for their biggest ever win : 54-2 over the Canterbury Bulldogs in Round 24.
- Wests Tigers came only the third team in history to win a premiership in their first finals campaign; only behind South Sydney Rabbitohs in 1908 and Newtown in 1910
Leading try scorers
Rank Tries Player Team Matches Try Ave. 1 21 Matt Bowen North Queensland Cowboys 21 0.95 1 20 Billy Slater Melbourne Storm 25 0.80 1 20 Colin Best St George Illawarra Dragons 26 0.77 1 20 Pat Richards Wests Tigers 28 0.71 5 19 Shaun Berrigan Brisbane Broncos 23 0.83 6 18 Ty Williams North Queensland Cowboys 23 0.78 6 18 Paul Whatuira Wests Tigers 24 0.78 7 17 Amos Roberts Sydney Roosters 28 0.61 9 16 Brett Stewart Manly Sea Eagles 24 0.67 9 16 David Simmons Cronulla Sharks 25 0.64 9 16 Matt Sing North Queensland Cowboys 25 0.64 Leading point scorers
Rank Points Player Team Matches Tries Gls Fld Goals Pts Ave. 1 308 Brett Hodgson Wests Tigers 28 15 124 - 11.00 2 214 Luke Burt Parramatta Eels 23 11 85 - 9.30 3 190 Preston Campbell Penrith Panthers 23 11 73 - 8.26 4 186 Luke Covell Cronulla Sharks 22 9 75 - 8.45 5 180 Hazem El Masri Bulldogs 18 11 68 - 10.00 6 172 Matt Orford Melbourne Storm 26 11 63 2 6.62 7 152 Josh Hannay North Queensland Cowboys 21 7 62 - 7.24 8 147 Stacey Jones New Zealand Warriors 23 5 63 1 6.39 9 142 Clinton Schifcofske Canberra Raiders 19 6 58 2 7.47 10 140 Michael Witt Manly Sea Eagles 19 5 60 - 7.37 Sources and footnotes
- ^ Solomon, David (2007). Pillars of power: Australia's institutions. Federation Press. pp. 204. ISBN 1862876452, 9781862876453. http://books.google.com/books?id=LfNCBtoDV4EC&printsec=frontcover.
- ^ "NRL secures $500m rights deal". ABC News (Australia: Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 2005-07-01. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2005/07/01/1405200.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
- ^ Toohey, Barry (2 February 2011). "Still some bite in old Mad Dog". The Daily Telegraph (Australia: News Limited). http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/still-some-bite-in-old-mad-dog/story-e6frfgbo-1225998290314. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
- ^ Pace, Daniel (2005-03-02). "Same theme, different sound for NRL ads". AAP Sports News (Australia: The Gale Group, Inc. ()). http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-105924916.html. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
- ^ B&T magazine article 2005
External links
- NRL official website
- LeagueUnlimited
- Rugby League Tables and Statistics 2005
- Sports Australia League
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