2007 NRL season
The 2007 NRL season was the one hundredth season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the tenth run by the National Rugby League. Sixteen teams contested the NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, and with the inclusion of a new team, the Gold Coast Titans, the competition was the largest run since the 1999 NRL season.
The Melbourne Storm were the minor premiers in 2007, six points clear of second-placed Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. The Storm eventually ran out 34-8 winners in the 2007 NRL Grand Final to claim the premiership. However, they were subsequently stripped of both their minor premiership and premiership titles on 22 April 2010, after they were found to be guilty of breaching the league's salary cap.
Season summary
Pre-season, 2006 premiers the Brisbane Broncos travelled to England to play the Super League champions in the 2007 World Club Challenge.The 2007 NRL Season kicked off on Friday 16 March 2007 with eight games to be played in each round. The 2007 season saw the return of Monday Night Football, which helped the NRL to set new first round aggregate attendance record of 174,475. The opening round also saw two matches at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium, one featured reigning champions Brisbane playing fellow Queensland side the Cowboys, while the second match introduced the newest club to be admitted to the competition, the Gold Coast Titans.
The North Queensland Cowboys' Jason Smith was the NRL's oldest player in 2007 at 35 years and 186 days.
Teams had fewer byes in 2007 than in the 2006 competition. With an odd number of teams contesting between 2002 and 2006, the draw meant that at least one team would have to have a bye each weekend. With the inclusion of the 16th team for the 2007 season, the National Rugby League had the option of reverting to the system used between 2000 and 2001 in which every team played in each round. However, this option was not chosen. In 2007, teams had just a single bye during the year, grouped in periods that will assist clubs around representative fixtures.
The top eight was not settled until the final round as the Brisbane Broncos and Wests Tigers were both on 24 points in 8th and 9th position respectively, with the Broncos ahead on points differential. Both teams lost their final regular season match and as a result of this, the South Sydney Rabbitohs made the top eight for the first time since 1989. The New Zealand Warriors secured a home final: the second match in the history of the National Rugby League Finals played outside of Australia. The first was the Warriors' victory over the Canberra Raiders at Mt Smart Stadium while on their way to the 2002 Grand Final.
On the other end of the ladder, the Newcastle Knights and Penrith Panthers were both in contention for the Wooden Spoon - the traditional label for last place. The Knights performed well in their last match and denied the Wests Tigers a spot in the top eight, winning by two points, whereas the Panthers were defeated by the New Zealand Warriors, seeing them finish last.
2007 saw a total of over 3 million spectators attend regular season matches for only the second time in history.
Records set
- The Brisbane Broncos recorded their biggest win in the club's history with a 71-6 win over the Newcastle Knights at Suncorp Stadium in round 11. It's also the Newcastle Knights biggest ever loss.
- New Zealand Warriors prop forward Steve Price ran 4,515 metres with the ball in 2007, more than any other forward in history.
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- Brisbane Broncos - Darren Lockyer in front of the Story Bridge.
- Bulldogs - Andrew Ryan and Luke Patten in Sydney Olympic Park.
- Canberra Raiders - Phil Graham in front of Parliament House.
- Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks - on the steps of North Cronulla Beach.
- Gold Coast Titans - Luke Bailey taking a hit-up on Surfers Paradise' Beach.
- Manly Warringah Sea Eagles - on the Manly Beach Boulevarde.
- Melbourne Storm - running across Federation Square.
- Newcastle Knights - Danny Buderus scoring a try on the Newcastle Waterfront.
- North Queensland Cowboys - streets of Townsville.
- New Zealand Warriors - Steve Price in front of the city skyline of Auckland.
- Parramatta Eels - Eric Grothe, Jr. running down Church Street.
- Penrith Panthers - players on Mulgoa Road.
- St George Illawarra Dragons - Mark Gasnier running along the Seacliff Drive.
- South Sydney Rabbitohs - Roy Asotasi taking a hitup in the Sydney Harbour Tunnel.
- Sydney Roosters - players in front of the pavilion at Bondi Beach.
- Wests Tigers - Robbie Farah in Sydney Olympic Park.
Sponsorship
Telecommunications giant Telstra once again hold the naming rights to the premiership season and for the seventh season the competition will be known as the "Telstra Premiership". For the second time, however, a change has been made to the Telstra Premiership Logo, to coincide with the tel-co's own new logo. The logo is now much more similar to the original NRL logo in style.Spirit producers Bundaberg Rum are sponsoring Monday night football - to be known as Bundaberg Monday Night Football. Electronics wholesaler Harvey Norman is expected to continue their support of the State of Origin Series, as is AAMI and their association with City vs Country Origin.
Teams
For the 2007 season the number of teams in the NRL had increasing from fifteen to sixteen with the re-inclusion of a Gold Coast, Queensland-based club for the first since 1998, now as the Gold Coast Titans. It was the first time the number of Premiership teams had changed since 2002 when the re-inclusion of the South Sydney Rabbitohs saw the number of teams increase from 14 to 15. The Titans were the NRL's first expansion team since the Melbourne Storm, who entered the League in 1998.The sixteen teams participated in the competition over the regular season, making it the largest it had been since 1999 when there were seventeen. Of the sixteen clubs, ten were from New South Wales, three from Queensland and one from each of Victoria, the ACT and New Zealand.
Just two foundation clubs from New South Wales Rugby League season 1908 played in this, the 100th season of the competition: the Sydney Roosters and the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Of these two clubs, only the Sydney Roosters played their 100th full season, as the South Sydney Rabbitohs were in recess during 2000 and 2001. Two foundation clubs, the Balmain Tigers and the Western Suburbs Magpies, had played in every year since 1908, but the two sides merged to create the Wests Tigers who competed every year since the merger in 2000.
| Brisbane Broncos 20th season Ground: Suncorp Stadium Coach: Wayne Bennett Captain: Darren Lockyer | Bulldogs RLFC 73rd season Ground: Telstra Stadium Coach: Steve Folkes Captain: Andrew Ryan | Canberra Raiders 26th season Ground: Canberra Stadium Coach: Neil Henry Captain: Alan Tongue | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 41st season Ground: Toyota Stadium Coach: Ricky Stuart Captain: Brett Kimmorley |
| Gold Coast Titans 1st season Ground: Carrara Stadium Coach: John Cartwright Captain: Scott Prince & Luke Bailey | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 58th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Des Hasler Captain: Matt Orford | Melbourne Storm 10th season Ground Olympic Park Stadium Coach: Craig Bellamy Captain: Cameron Smith | Newcastle Knights 20th season Ground: EnergyAustralia Stadium Coach: Brian Smith Captain: Andrew Johns → Danny Buderus |
| New Zealand Warriors 13th season Ground: Mt Smart Stadium Coach: Ivan Cleary Captain: Steve Price | North Queensland Cowboys 13th season Ground: Dairy Farmers Stadium Coach: Graham Murray Captain: Johnathan Thurston | Parramatta Eels 61st season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Michael Hagan Captain: Nathan Cayless | Penrith Panthers 41st season Ground: CUA Stadium Coach: Matthew Elliott Captain: Tony Puletua |
| South Sydney Rabbitohs 98th season Ground: Telstra Stadium Coach: Jason Taylor Captain: David Kidwell & Roy Asotasi | Sydney Roosters 100th season Ground: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Chris Anderson → Brad Fittler Captain: Craig Fitzgibbon | St. George Illawarra Dragons 9th season Ground: OKI Jubilee Stadium & WIN Stadium Coach: Nathan Brown Captain: Mark Gasnier | Wests Tigers 8th season Ground: Campbelltown Stadium & Leichhardt Oval Coach: Tim Sheens Captain: Brett Hodgson |
Ladder
Finals series
To decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams, the NRL adopts the McIntyre Final Eight System. The finals series was contested over a period of four weeks, culminating with the NRL Grand Final being held on Sunday 30 September 2007. For the first time, the week 2 and week 3 final matches were played in the cities of previous week winners rather than Sydney only.Finals Chart
Grand final
Dally M Awards
The Dally M Awards were introduced in 1980 by News Limited. The most prestigious of these awards is the Dally M Medal which is awarded to the Player Of The Year and many other awards. The other prestigious award is the Provans Summons Medal which is the season's best player as voted by the public. As well as honouring the player of the year the awards night also recognises the premier player in each position, the best coach, the best captain, representative player of the year and the most outstanding rookie of the season. The awards night and Player of the Year medal are named in honour of Australian former rugby league great Herbert Henry "Dally" Messenger. The top try-scorer and top point-scorer tallies are made at the end of the last round of the regular season and hence may be different to the overall top-scorers by the end of the finals.| Award | Player | Club |
| Dally M Medal | Johnathan Thurston | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Provan-Summons Medal | Nathan Hindmarsh | Parramatta Eels |
| Rookie of the Year | Israel Folau | Melbourne Storm |
| Captain of the Year | Steve Price | New Zealand Warriors |
| Rep Player of the Year | Cameron Smith | Melbourne Storm |
| Coach of the Year | Craig Bellamy | Melbourne Storm |
| Top Tryscorer of the Year | Israel Folau Matt Bowen | Melbourne Storm North Queensland Cowboys |
| Top Pointscorer of the Year | Hazem El Masri | Bulldogs |
Team of the Year
| Award | Player | Club |
| Best Fullback | Matthew Bowen | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Best Winger | Jarryd Hayne | Parramatta Eels |
| Best Centre | Justin Hodges | Brisbane Broncos |
| Best Five-Eighth | Darren Lockyer | Brisbane Broncos |
| Best Halfback | Johnathan Thurston | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Best Lock | Dallas Johnson | Melbourne Storm |
| Best Second-Rower | Anthony Watmough | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles |
| Best Prop | Steve Price | New Zealand Warriors |
| Best Hooker | Robbie Farah | Wests Tigers |
2007 Transfers
Players
| Player | 2006 Club | 2007 Club |
| Neville Costigan | Brisbane Broncos | Canberra Raiders |
| Casey McGuire | Brisbane Broncos | Super League: Catalans Dragons |
| Scott Minto | Brisbane Broncos | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Brett Seymour | Brisbane Broncos | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Shane Webcke | Brisbane Broncos | Retirement |
| Jason Croker | Canberra Raiders | Super League: Catalans Dragons |
| Craig Frawley | Canberra Raiders | Brisbane Broncos |
| Michael Hodgson | Canberra Raiders | Gold Coast Titans |
| Kris Kahler | Canberra Raiders | Gold Coast Titans |
| Andrew Lomu | Canberra Raiders | Brisbane Broncos |
| Terry Martin | Canberra Raiders | Celtic Crusaders |
| Adam Mogg | Canberra Raiders | Super League: Catalans Dragons |
| Clinton Schifcofske | Canberra Raiders | Queensland Reds |
| Jason Smith | Canberra Raiders | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Simon Woolford | Canberra Raiders | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Roy Asotasi | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Tony Grimaldi | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Retirement |
| Daniel Irvine | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Nate Myles | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Sydney Roosters |
| Darren Albert | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Retirement |
| Phil Bailey | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Super League: Wigan Warriors |
| Matt Hilder | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Gold Coast Titans |
| Tevita Leo-Latu | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Super League: Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| Hutch Maiava | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Super League: Hull F.C. |
| Darren Mapp | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Celtic Crusaders |
| Beau Scott | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| James Stosic | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Gold Coast Titans |
| Nigel Vagana | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Richard Villasanti | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Retirement |
| Ben Kennedy | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Retirement |
| Michael Witt | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | New Zealand Warriors |
| Jamie Feeney | Melbourne Storm | Retirement |
| Nathan Friend | Melbourne Storm | Gold Coast Titans |
| Scott Hill | Melbourne Storm | Super League: Harlequins RL |
| David Kidwell | Melbourne Storm | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Glen Turner | Melbourne Storm | Canberra Raiders |
| Chris Walker | Melbourne Storm | Gold Coast Titans |
| Jake Webster | Melbourne Storm | Gold Coast Titans |
| Brian Carney | Newcastle Knights | Munster |
| Dustin Cooper | Newcastle Knights | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Matt Gidley | Newcastle Knights | Super League: St. Helens |
| Todd Lowrie | Newcastle Knights | Parramatta Eels |
| Anthony Quinn | Newcastle Knights | Melbourne Storm |
| Craig Smith | Newcastle Knights | Retirement |
| Sione Faumuina | New Zealand Warriors | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Awen Guttenbeil | New Zealand Warriors | Castleford Tigers |
| Clinton Toopi | New Zealand Warriors | Super League: Leeds Rhinos |
| Brent Webb | New Zealand Warriors | Super League: Leeds Rhinos |
| Brett Firman | North Queensland Cowboys | Penrith Panthers |
| Josh Hannay | North Queensland Cowboys | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Travis Norton | North Queensland Cowboys | Retirement |
| Mitchell Sargent | North Queensland Cowboys | Newcastle Knights |
| Matt Sing | North Queensland Cowboys | Super League: Hull F.C. |
| Wade McKinnon | Parramatta Eels | New Zealand Warriors |
| John Morris | Parramatta Eels | Wests Tigers |
| Glenn Morrison | Parramatta Eels | Super League: Bradford Bulls |
| Luke O'Dwyer | Parramatta Eels | Gold Coast Titans |
| Adam Peek | Parramatta Eels | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Henry Perenara | Parramatta Eels | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Matt Petersen | Parramatta Eels | Gold Coast Titans |
| Paul Stringer | Parramatta Eels | Retirement |
| Michael Vella | Parramatta Eels | Super League: Hull Kingston Rovers |
| Dean Widders | Parramatta Eels | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Preston Campbell | Penrith Panthers | Gold Coast Titans |
| Danny Galea | Penrith Panthers | Wests Tigers |
| Lee Hookey | Penrith Panthers | Retirement |
| Craig Stapleton | Penrith Panthers | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Luke Swain | Penrith Panthers | Gold Coast Titans |
| Adam MacDougall | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Newcastle Knights |
| Mark Minichiello | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Gold Coast Titans |
| Todd Polglase | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Newcastle Knights |
| Ben Walker | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Retirement |
| Shane Walker | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Retirement |
| Luke Bailey | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Gold Coast Titans |
| Trent Barrett | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Super League: Wigan Warriors |
| Colin Best | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Canberra Raiders |
| Matt Bickerstaff | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Canberra Raiders |
| Aaron Gorrell | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Super League: Catalans Dragons |
| Clint Greenshields | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Super League: Catalans Dragons |
| Michael Henderson | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Gold Coast Titans |
| Reece Simmonds | St. George Illawarra Dragons | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Shaun Timmins | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Retirement |
| Ryan Cross | Sydney Roosters | Western Force |
| John Doyle | Sydney Roosters | Retirement |
| Mark Edmondson | Sydney Roosters | Super League: Salford City Reds |
| Brett Finch | Sydney Roosters | Parramatta Eels |
| Chris Flannery | Sydney Roosters | Super League: St. Helens |
| Glenn Hall | Sydney Roosters | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
| Adrian Morley | Sydney Roosters | Super League: Warrington Wolves |
| Sam Harris | Wests Tigers | New South Wales Waratahs |
| Anthony Laffranchi | Wests Tigers | Gold Coast Titans |
| Jamahl Lolesi | Wests Tigers | Super League: Huddersfield Giants |
| Scott Prince | Wests Tigers | Gold Coast Titans |
| John Skandalis | Wests Tigers | Super League: Huddersfield Giants |
| Brad Meyers | Super League: Bradford Bulls | Gold Coast Titans |
| Richie Fa'aoso | Super League: Castleford Tigers | Parramatta Eels |
| Danny Nutley | Super League: Castleford Tigers | Sydney Roosters |
| Chris Beattie | Super League: Catalans Dragons | Sydney Roosters |
| Ian Hindmarsh | Super League: Catalans Dragons | Parramatta Eels |
| Richard Mathers | Super League: Leeds Rhinos | Gold Coast Titans |
| Andrew Dunemann | Super League: Salford City Reds | Canberra Raiders |
| Jamie Lyon | Super League: St. Helens | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
| Logan Swann | Super League: Warrington Wolves | New Zealand Warriors |
| Michael Dobson | Super League: Wigan Warriors | Canberra Raiders |
| Scott Logan | Super League: Wigan Warriors | Canberra Raiders |
| David Myles | Toulouse Olympique | Gold Coast Titans |
| Matt Rua | Central Comets | Melbourne Storm |
| Mat Rogers | New South Wales Waratahs | Gold Coast Titans |
| Jason Moodie | N/A | Wests Tigers |