2012 NRL season
The 2012 NRL season was the 105th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the first run by the newly formed Australian Rugby League Commission. The main competition, called the 2012 NRL Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra Corporation was contested by the sixteen teams of the National Rugby League. The season started with the 2012 NRL All Stars match and culminated in the 2012 NRL grand final. The 2012 Toyota Cup season also took place alongside the Premiership. The McIntyre Final Eight System, in use since 1999, was replaced with the finals system previously used by the ARL in the 1990s.
The 2012 Premiership was won by the Melbourne Storm, officially the club's second following the removal of their 2007 and 2009 premierships, among other titles, due to salary cap breaches exposed in April 2010. They defeated minor premiers the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 14-4 in the Grand Final, which was held on Sunday 30 September at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.
Season summary
Halfway through the 2012 season, the NRL's Chief Executive Officer David Gallop stood down from his role after just over a decade in the role.Records Set on 2012
- The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs won twelve consecutive matches between Rounds 11 and 24, the longest winning streak for the club in 8 years. They also won their first minor premiership in 18 years.
- The Melbourne Storm lost five consecutive matches from rounds 16 to 21, the longest losing streak in Craig Bellamy's coaching career and the second longest losing streak in the club's history.
- For the first time since 1989, the South Sydney Rabbitohs finished in the top four, and they also won their first finals match since 1987.
Teams
Ladder
Finals series
For details on the finals see 2012 NRL season results.The NRL returned to the top-eight system used by the ARL in the 1990s to decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams. This replaced the McIntyre Final Eight System that was used for the past 12 seasons. Only four of last year's finalists will feature in this year's finals series: Melbourne Storm, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys. For the teams that did not feature last year, the Canberra Raiders last appeared in 2010, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 2009, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in 2008 and South Sydney in 2007. South Sydney made only their second finals appearance since 1989 and also their second preliminary final since winning the premiership in 1971. The last time the club made the preliminary final was also in 1989.
Chart
Grand final
Player statistics
The following statistics are inclusion of the finals series.Top 5 point scorers
| Points | Player | Tries | Goals | Field Goals |
| 226 | Jarrod Croker | 16 | 81 | 0 |
| 208 | Adam Reynolds | 3 | 97 | 2 |
| 192 | Johnathan Thurston | 3 | 90 | 0 |
| 190 | Jamie Lyon | 11 | 73 | 0 |
| 167 | Benji Marshall | 5 | 72 | 3 |
Top 5 try scorers
| Tries | Player |
| 22 | Ben Barba |
| 21 | Ashley Graham |
| 18 | Akuila Uate |
| 17 | Josh Morris |
| 17 | Andrew Everingham |
Top 5 goal scorers
| Goals | Player |
| 97 | Adam Reynolds |
| 90 | Johnathan Thurston |
| 81 | Jarrod Croker |
| 77 | Cameron Smith |
| 73 | Jamie Lyon |
Attendance figures
Home ground figures
2012 Transfers
Players
| Player | 2011 Club | 2012 Club |
| Nick Kenny | Brisbane Broncos | Retirement |
| Darren Lockyer | Brisbane Broncos | Retirement |
| Shane Tronc | Brisbane Broncos | Retirement |
| Danny Galea | Canberra Raiders | Penrith Panthers |
| Josh Miller | Canberra Raiders | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| David Milne | Canberra Raiders | Mackay Cutters |
| Matt Orford | Canberra Raiders | Retirement |
| Alan Tongue | Canberra Raiders | Retirement |
| Daniel Vidot | Canberra Raiders | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Chris Armit | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Penrith Panthers |
| Michael Hodgson | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Retirement |
| Jamal Idris | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Gold Coast Titans |
| Grant Millington | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Super League: Castleford Tigers |
| Mickey Paea | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Super League: Hull Kingston Rovers |
| Ben Roberts | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Parramatta Eels |
| Andrew Ryan | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Retirement |
| Gary Warburton | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Retirement |
| Paul Aiton | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Super League: Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| Dean Collis | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Super League: Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| Josh Cordoba | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | N/A |
| Luke Douglas | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Gold Coast Titans |
| Tim Smith | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Super League: Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| Kade Snowden | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Newcastle Knights |
| Taulima Tautai | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Parramatta Eels |
| Riley Brown | Gold Coast Titans | Retirement |
| Preston Campbell | Gold Coast Titans | Retirement |
| Luke Capewell | Gold Coast Titans | Brisbane Broncos |
| Nathan Friend | Gold Coast Titans | New Zealand Warriors |
| Anthony Laffranchi | Gold Coast Titans | Super League: St. Helens |
| Will Matthews | Gold Coast Titans | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Brad Meyers | Gold Coast Titans | Retirement |
| Mat Rogers | Gold Coast Titans | Retirement |
| Sam Tagataese | Gold Coast Titans | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Joe Tomane | Gold Coast Titans | ACT Brumbies |
| Esikeli Tonga | Gold Coast Titans | Parramatta Eels |
| Clinton Toopi | Gold Coast Titans | Retirement |
| Michael Robertson | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Super League: London Broncos |
| Shane Rodney | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Super League: London Broncos |
| Terence Seu Seu | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Retirement |
| Adam Blair | Melbourne Storm | Wests Tigers |
| Beau Champion | Melbourne Storm | Gold Coast Titans |
| Chase Stanley | Melbourne Storm | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Troy Thompson | Melbourne Storm | Retirement |
| Adam Woolnough | Melbourne Storm | Retirement |
| Cameron Ciraldo | Newcastle Knights | Penrith Panthers |
| Isaac De Gois | Newcastle Knights | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Antonio Kaufusi | Newcastle Knights | Super League: London Broncos |
| Keith Lulia | Newcastle Knights | Super League: Bradford Bulls |
| Adam MacDougall | Newcastle Knights | Retirement |
| Shannon McDonnell | Newcastle Knights | Super League: Hull Kingston Rovers |
| Cory Paterson | Newcastle Knights | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Ben Rogers | Newcastle Knights | Retirement |
| Steve Southern | Newcastle Knights | Super League: Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| Mark Taufua | Newcastle Knights | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Daniel Tolar | Newcastle Knights | Retirement |
| Shaun Berrigan | New Zealand Warriors | Canberra Raiders |
| Aaron Heremaia | New Zealand Warriors | Super League: Hull F.C. |
| Lance Hohaia | New Zealand Warriors | Super League: St. Helens |
| Krisnan Inu | New Zealand Warriors | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Jeremy Latimore | New Zealand Warriors | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Joel Moon | New Zealand Warriors | Super League: Salford City Reds |
| Brett Seymour | New Zealand Warriors | Super League: Hull F.C. |
| Leeson Ah Mau | North Queensland Cowboys | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Willie Tonga | North Queensland Cowboys | Parramatta Eels |
| Chris Hicks | Parramatta Eels | Retirement |
| Manase Manuokafoa | Parramatta Eels | Super League: Bradford Bulls |
| Daniel Mortimer | Parramatta Eels | Sydney Roosters |
| Joel Reddy | Parramatta Eels | Wests Tigers |
| Jeff Robson | Parramatta Eels | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Shane Shackleton | Parramatta Eels | Penrith Panthers |
| Chris Walker | Parramatta Eels | Retirement |
| Carl Webb | Parramatta Eels | Retirement |
| Paul Whatuira | Parramatta Eels | Retirement |
| Matthew Bell | Penrith Panthers | Wests Tigers |
| Petero Civoniceva | Penrith Panthers | Brisbane Broncos |
| Yileen Gordon | Penrith Panthers | Retirement |
| Masada Iosefa | Penrith Panthers | Wests Tigers |
| Joseph Paulo | Penrith Panthers | Parramatta Eels |
| Adrian Purtell | Penrith Panthers | Super League: Bradford Bulls |
| Timana Tahu | Penrith Panthers | Newcastle Knights |
| Trent Waterhouse | Penrith Panthers | Super League: Warrington Wolves |
| Beau Falloon | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Gold Coast Titans |
| Shannan McPherson | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Super League: Salford City Reds |
| Ben Ross | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Chris Sandow | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Parramatta Eels |
| Luke Stuart | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Retirement |
| Rhys Wesser | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Retirement |
| Darius Boyd | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Newcastle Knights |
| Adam Cuthbertson | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Newcastle Knights |
| Mark Gasnier | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Retirement |
| Jon Green | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Michael Greenfield | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Melbourne Storm |
| Reece Simmonds | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Retirement |
| Todd Carney | Sydney Roosters | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Daniel Conn | Sydney Roosters | Retirement |
| Phil Graham | Sydney Roosters | Gold Coast Titans |
| Nate Myles | Sydney Roosters | Gold Coast Titans |
| Sam Perrett | Sydney Roosters | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Mark Riddell | Sydney Roosters | Retirement |
| Jason Ryles | Sydney Roosters | Melbourne Storm |
| Geoff Daniela | Wests Tigers | Penrith Panthers |
| Andrew Fifita | Wests Tigers | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Mark Flanagan | Wests Tigers | Super League: St. Helens |
| Bryce Gibbs | Wests Tigers | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Robert Lui | Wests Tigers | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Wade McKinnon | Wests Tigers | Super League: Hull F.C. |
| Todd Payten | Wests Tigers | Retirement |
| Clint Newton | Super League: Hull Kingston Rovers | Penrith Panthers |
| Danny Buderus | Super League: Leeds Rhinos | Newcastle Knights |
| Luke Burgess | Super League: Leeds Rhinos | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Ray Cashmere | Super League: Salford City Reds | Wests Tigers |
| James Graham | Super League: St. Helens | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Matt King | Super League: Warrington Wolves | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Ryan Hoffman | Super League: Wigan Warriors | Melbourne Storm |
| Luke MacDougall | Saracens F.C. | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Dimitri Pelo | Montpellier Hérault | Canberra Raiders |
| Willie Mason | RC Toulonnais | Newcastle Knights |
| Will Chambers | Munster | Melbourne Storm |