National Rugby League season 1998

Infobox rugby league season
year = 1998
competition = National Rugby League


imagesize = 125px
caption =
teams = 20
premiers = leagueicon|Brisbane Broncos|16 Brisbane
count = 4th
minor premiers = leagueicon|Brisbane Broncos|16 Brisbane
mpcount = 3rd
matches = 253
points = 10131
attendance = 2921264
top points scorer = leagueicon|Sydney Roosters|16 Ivan Cleary (284)
top try scorer = leagueicon|Brisbane Broncos|16 Darren Smith (23)
1998 saw the inaugural season of the reunited National Rugby League premiership, the 91st 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.

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.

eason 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.

Teams

Grand Final

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.

In the 31st minute Steve Price stepped through an opening in the Broncos' defence then passed to Willie Talau who scored, putting the Bulldogs back in front. Canterbury held this 12–10 lead until half time.

It was Brisbane's Tonie Carroll who broke the game open less than two minutes after the break with a great try to put the Broncos back in front 16–12. The Bulldogs scored no more points in the match, swamped in the second half by five unanswered tries from Brisbane, the second coming from Wendell Sailor following through on a Steve Renouf burst out wide in the 51st minute; the third from Darren Lockyer chipping the ball through, regathering and passing to Gorden Tallis who grounded it under posts in the 60th minute; the fourth from Phillip Lee, who fought his way through in the 69th minute; and the last from a clever Alfie Langer pass to Carroll on the burst, who ran twenty metres before passing back inside for a supporting Darren Smith (in his final match for the Broncos before moving to Canterbury) who touched down on 75 minutes.

The 38 points scored by the Broncos means the match set a new 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. The result gave Brisbane, who had been minor premiers and premiership favourites from season's start, their fourth premiership in seven years at a time when the game was in the most turbulent phase in its history.

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

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.

References

* [http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/snotes.html Rugby League Tables - Notes] "The World of Rugby League"
* [http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/seas/1998.html Rugby League Tables - Season 1998] "The World of Rugby League"
* [http://www.rl1908.com/premiership.htm Premiership History and Statistics] "RL1908"
* [http://rl1908.com/Grandfinals/1998.htm 1998 - Broncos Take Inaugural NRL Competition] "RL1908"