| 2013 National Rugby League | |
|---|---|
| Duration | March 7 – October 6, 2013 |
| Teams | 16 |
| Premiers |  Sydney Roosters (13th title) |
| Minor premiers | Sydney Roosters (17th title) |
| Matches played | 201 |
| Points scored | 8210 |
| Average attendance | 16,643 |
| Attendance | 3,345,248 |
| Top points scorer | James Maloney (252) |
| Wooden spoon | Parramatta Eels (13th spoon) |
| Dally M Medal |  Cooper Cronk |
| Top try-scorer(s) |  David Williams (20)Jorge Taufua (20)Michael Jennings (20) |
← 2012 2014 → | |
The2013 NRL season was the 106th season of professionalrugby league club competition in Australia. TheNational Rugby League's main competition, named the2013 Telstra Premiership after major sponsorsTelstra Corporation, was contested by sixteen teams during the regular season, which lasted from March to September, and resulted in the top eight finishing teams, who went on to contest the finals. The season culminated in theGrand Final, in which theSydney Roosters defeated theManly-Warringah Sea Eagles 26-18 to win their first NRL premiership since2002.
The NRL season started with the2013 NRL All Stars match, which was played in February. The2013 Holden Cup, the NRL's Under-20s competition, also took place alongside the Premiership, with most matches held before the first grade competition. The Parramatta Eels picked up the wooden spoon for the second consecutive season after winning only five matches for the season.
The 2013 NRL season was marred by a major investigation involving theCronulla-Sutherland Sharks' supplements program, which was alleged to have taken place during the2011 season. Following an almost year-long investigation byASADA and the NRL, a series of penalties were applied on the club, including, among others, the 12-month suspension ofShane Flanagan as the club's head coach, as well as a$1,000,000 fine (with $400,000 suspended) and the deregistration of Trent Elkin as the club's trainer.[1]
Despite the off-field controversy, the Sharks were still able to reach the NRL finals for the second consecutive year, losing to eventual grand finalists Manly in the second week.
The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 7th consecutive year. A report conducted by Brand Finance valued the Penrith Panthers club at $46.2m, the highest of any Australian sporting brand, while the Brisbane Broncos had the highest brand equity.[2]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sydney Roosters(P) | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 640 | 325 | +315 | 40 |
| 2 |  South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 588 | 384 | +204 | 40 |
| 3 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 589 | 373 | +216 | 37 |
| 4 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 588 | 366 | +222 | 35 |
| 5 |  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 468 | 460 | +8 | 32 |
| 6 |  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 529 | 463 | +66 | 30 |
| 7 |  Newcastle Knights | 24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 528 | 422 | +106 | 29 |
| 8 |  North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 507 | 431 | +76 | 28 |
| 9 |  Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 500 | 518 | −18 | 26 |
| 10 |  Penrith Panthers | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 495 | 532 | −37 | 26 |
| 11 |  New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 495 | 554 | −59 | 26 |
| 12 |  Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 434 | 477 | −43 | 25 |
| 13 |  Canberra Raiders | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 434 | 624 | −190 | 24 |
| 14 |  St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 379 | 530 | −151 | 18 |
| 15 |  Wests Tigers | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 386 | 687 | −301 | 18 |
| 16 |  Parramatta Eels | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 326 | 740 | −414 | 14 |
| 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 | Sydney | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 28 | 30 | 32 | 34 | 36 | 38 | 38 | 38 | 40 |
| 2 | South Sydney | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 28 | 30 | 32 | 32 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 36 | 38 | 40 | 40 |
| 3 | Melbourne | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 27 | 27 | 29 | 31 | 33 | 35 | 35 | 37 |
| 4 | Manly-Warringah | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 23 | 25 | 27 | 29 | 31 | 31 | 33 | 35 | 35 |
| 5 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 30 | 30 | 32 |
| 6 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 30 | 30 |
| 7 | Newcastle | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 27 | 29 |
| 8 | North Queensland | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 28 |
| 9 | Gold Coast | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 26 | 26 |
| 10 | Penrith | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 26 |
| 11 | New Zealand | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 26 |
| 12 | Brisbane | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 25 |
| 13 | Canberra | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 |
| 14 | St. George Illawarra | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18 |
| 15 | Wests | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 16 | Parramatta | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 |
For the second year the NRL uses the finals system previously implemented by the ARL competition from the 1990s (also used as theAFL final eight system) to decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams. Both the seventh-placedNewcastle Knights and minor premiersSydney Roosters return the finals after last featuring respectively in 2011 and 2010, whilst the other six teams (Bulldogs, Storm, Rabbitohs, Sea Eagles, Cowboys & Sharks) were featured in the preceding finals series.
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time (Local) | Venue | Referees | Crowd | |||||
| QUALIFYING & ELIMINATION FINALS | ||||||||
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | 20 – 10 | Melbourne Storm | 13 September 2013, 7:45pm | ANZ Stadium | Shane Hayne Jared Maxwell | 21,609 | ||
| Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 20 – 18 | North Queensland Cowboys | 14 September 2013, 4:00pm | Allianz Stadium | Matt Cecchin Henry Peranara | 32,747 | ||
| Sydney Roosters | 4 – 0 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 14 September 2013, 7:00pm | Ben Cummins Gerard Sutton | ||||
| Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 6 – 22 | Newcastle Knights | 15 September 2013, 4:00pm | ANZ Stadium | Ashley Klein Gavin Badger | 23,086 | ||
| SEMI FINALS | ||||||||
| Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 – 18 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 20 September 2013, 7:45pm | Allianz Stadium | Shayne Hayne Ashley Klein | 23,837 | ||
| Melbourne Storm | 16 – 18 | Newcastle Knights | 21 September 2013, 7:45pm | AAMI Park | Ben Cummins Gerard Sutton | 19,649 | ||
| PRELIMINARY FINALS | ||||||||
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | 20 – 30 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 27 September 2013, 7:45pm | ANZ Stadium | Ben Cummins Gerard Sutton | 44,546 | ||
| Sydney Roosters | 40 – 14 | Newcastle Knights | 28 September 2013, 7:45pm | Allianz Stadium | Shayne Hayne Ashley Klein | 37,752 | ||
| Qualifying and elimination finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary finals | Grand final | ||||||||||||||||
| 14 Sept,Allianz Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Sydney | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Manly-Warringah | 0 | 20 Sept,Allianz Stadium | ||||||||||||||||
| Manly-Warringah | 24 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 14 Sept,Allianz Stadium | Cronulla-Sutherland | 18 | 28 Sept,Allianz Stadium | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 20 | Sydney | 40 | |||||||||||||||
| 8 | North Queensland | 18 | Newcastle | 14 | 6 Oct,ANZ Stadium | ||||||||||||||
| Sydney | 26 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 15 Sept,ANZ Stadium | 27 Sept,ANZ Stadium | Manly-Warringah | 18 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 6 | South Sydney | 20 | |||||||||||||||
| 7 | Newcastle | 22 | 21 Sept,AAMI Park | Manly-Warringah | 30 | ||||||||||||||
| Melbourne | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 13 Sept,ANZ Stadium | Newcastle | 18 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | South Sydney | 20 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Melbourne | 10 | |||||||||||||||||
Sunday, 6 October 19:15 |
| Sydney Roosters | 26 – 18 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Daniel Tupou Aidan Guerra Shaun Kenny-Dowall Michael Jennings Goals: James Maloney (5/5) | Half Time: 8 – 6 | Tries: Jorge Taufua Jamie Lyon Steve Matai Goals: (2/3)Jamie Lyon |
ANZ Stadium,Sydney Attendance: 81,491 Referee: Shayne Hayne, Ben Cummins Clive Churchill Medal:Daly Cherry-Evans |
The following statistics are of the conclusion of round 26.
Top 5 point scorers
Top 5 try scorers
| Top 5 goal scorers
|
| Coach | 2012 Club | 2013 Club |
|---|---|---|
| Mick Potter |  Super League:Bradford Bulls | Wests Tigers |
| Trent Robinson |  Super League:Catalans Dragons | Sydney Roosters |
| Ricky Stuart |  New South Wales | Parramatta Eels |
