2012 NRL season explained

Year:	2012
Competition:	National Rugby League
Duration:	March 1 – September 30, 2012
Teams:	16
Count:	2nd
Mpcount:	7th
Matches:	201
Avg Attendance:	17,346
Attendance:	3,486,494
Top Point Scorer:	Jarrod Croker (226)
Top Try Scorer:	Ben Barba (22)
Player Of The Year:	Ben Barba (Dally M Medal)
Nextseason Year:	2013

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.^[1]

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

See also: 2012 NRL season results. 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 (around a bye in round 17), 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

width=175		width=175		width=175	width=175
Brisbane Broncos 25th season Ground: Suncorp Stadium Coach: Anthony Griffin Captain: Justin Hodges	Canberra Raiders 31st season Ground: Canberra Stadium Coach: David Furner Captain: Terry Campese→David Shillington	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 78th season Ground: ANZ Stadium Coach:Des Hasler Captain: Michael Ennis	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 46th season Ground: Toyota Stadium Coach: Shane Flanagan Captain: Paul Gallen
Gold Coast Titans 6th season Ground: Skilled Park Coach: John Cartwright Captain: Scott Prince	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 63rd season Grounds: Brookvale Oval Coach: Geoff Toovey Captains: Jamie Lyon & Jason King	Melbourne Storm 15th season Ground: AAMI Park Coach: Craig Bellamy Captain: Cameron Smith	Newcastle Knights 25th season Ground: Hunter Stadium Coach: Wayne Bennett Captain: Kurt Gidley→Danny Buderus
New Zealand Warriors 18th season Ground: Mt. Smart Stadium Coach: Brian McClennan→Tony Iro Captain: Simon Mannering	North Queensland Cowboys 18th season Ground: Dairy Farmers Stadium Coach: Neil Henry Captains: Johnathan Thurston & Matt Scott	Parramatta Eels 66th season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Stephen Kearney→Brad Arthur Captain: Nathan Hindmarsh	Penrith Panthers 46th season Ground: Centrebet Stadium Coach:Ivan Cleary Captain: Luke Lewis→Kevin Kingston
South Sydney Rabbitohs 103rd season Ground: ANZ Stadium Coach: Michael Maguire Captains: Michael Crocker, Roy Asotasi, John Sutton, Matt King, Sam Burgess,	Sydney Roosters 105th season Ground: Allianz Stadium Coach: Brian Smith Captain: Braith Anasta	St. George Illawarra Dragons 14th season Grounds: WIN Jubilee Oval & WIN Stadium Coach: Steve Price Captain: Ben Hornby	Wests Tigers 13th season Grounds: Allianz Stadium, Campbelltown Stadium & Leichhardt Oval Coach: Tim Sheens Captain: Robbie Farah

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 were featured 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.^[2]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
Home	Score	Away	width=17%	Date and Time (Local)	width=17%	Venue	width=11%	Referees	width=7%	Crowd
QUALIFYING & ELIMINATION FINALS
align=left	Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs	16 - 10	align=left	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	7 September 2012, 7:45pm	ANZ Stadium	Ben Cummins Ashley Klein	36,420
align=left	Melbourne Storm	24 - 6	align=left	South Sydney Rabbitohs	8 September 2012, 5:45pm	AAMI Park	Shayne Hayne Jason Robinson	19,750
align=left	North Queensland Cowboys	33 - 16	align=left	Brisbane Broncos	8 September 2012, 7:45pm	Dairy Farmers Stadium	Matt Cecchin Gerard Sutton	21,307
align=left	Canberra Raiders	34 - 16	align=left	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	9 September 2012, 4:00pm	Canberra Stadium	Tony Archer Chris James	24,450
SEMI FINALS
align=left	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	22 - 12	align=left	North Queensland Cowboys	14 September 2012, 7:45pm	Allianz Stadium	Shayne Hayne Ben Cummins	16,678
align=left	South Sydney Rabbitohs	38 - 16	align=left	Canberra Raiders	15 September 2012, 7:45pm	ANZ Stadium	Tony Archer Matt Cecchin	35,874
PRELIMINARY FINALS
align=left	Melbourne Storm	40 - 12	align=left	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	21 September 2012, 7:45pm	AAMI Park	Matt Cecchin Tony Archer	25,543
align=left	Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs	32 - 8	align=left	South Sydney Rabbitohs	22 September 2012, 7:45pm	ANZ Stadium	Shayne Hayne Ben Cummins	70,354

Chart

Grand final

See main article: 2012 NRL Grand Final.

Regular season player statistics

The following statistics are correct as of the conclusion of Round 26.Top 5 point scorers

width=50	Points	width=200	Player	width=30	Tries	width=30	Goals	width=30	Field Goals
220	Jarrod Croker	16	78	0
184	Adam Reynolds	2	87	2
176	Johnathan Thurston	3	82	0
172	Jamie Lyon	9	68	0
158	Benji Marshall	5	72	3

Top 5 try scorers

width=50	Tries	width=200	Player
21	Ben Barba
21	Ashley Graham
18	Akuila Uate
17	Josh Morris
16	Reece Robinson
16	Jarrod Croker

Top 5 goal scorers

width=50	Goals	width=200	Player
87	Adam Reynolds
82	Johnathan Thurston
78	Jarrod Croker
72	Benji Marshall
68	Jamie Lyon
68	Cameron Smith

Attendance figures

Home ground figures

Club	Total	Average	Best Crowd
Brisbane Broncos	400,528	33,377	43,171 vs North Queensland Cowboys, Round 2
	282,864	23,572	70,354 vs South Sydney Rabbitohs, Finals Week 3
	251,024	20,919	29,482 vs Canterbury Bulldogs, Round 22
	226,848	18,904	35,874 vs Canberra Raiders, Finals Week 2
	205,334	17,111	37,502 vs Manly Sea Eagles, Round 1 ²
	201,663	16,803	45,863 vs St George Illawarra Dragons, Round 26
St George Illawarra Dragons	197,111	16,426	40,164 vs Sydney Roosters, Round 8 ³
	194,726	16,227	25,608 vs South Sydney Rabbitohs, Round 5
	175,120	14,593	20,095 vs New Zealand Warriors, Round 21 ⁴
	172,978	14,415	20,367 vs Brisbane Broncos, Round 15
	172,865	14,405	20,187 vs South Sydney Rabbitohs, Round 22
	158,802	13,234	21,380 vs St George Illawarra Dragons, Round 6
	152,217	12,685	25,534 vs Manly Sea Eagles, Finals Week 3
	149,790	12,482	19,934 vs South Sydney Rabbitohs, Round 19
	130,301	10,858	15,579 vs Wests Tigers, Round 7
	122,274	10,190	24,450 vs Cronulla Sharks, Finals Week 1

2012 Transfers

Players

Player	2011 Club	2012 Club
data-sort-value="Kenny, Nick"	Nick Kenny	Brisbane Broncos	Retirement
data-sort-value="Lockyer, Darren"	Darren Lockyer	Brisbane Broncos	Retirement
data-sort-value="Tronc, Shane"	Shane Tronc	Brisbane Broncos	Retirement
data-sort-value="Galea, Danny"	Danny Galea	Canberra Raiders	Penrith Panthers
data-sort-value="Miller, Josh"	Josh Miller	Canberra Raiders	St. George Illawarra Dragons
data-sort-value="Milne, David"	David Milne	Canberra Raiders	Mackay Cutters (Intrust Super Cup)
data-sort-value="Orford, Matt"	Matt Orford	Canberra Raiders	Retirement
data-sort-value="Tongue, Alan"	Alan Tongue	Canberra Raiders	Retirement
data-sort-value="Vidot, Daniel"	Daniel Vidot	Canberra Raiders	St. George Illawarra Dragons
data-sort-value="Armit, Chris"	Chris Armit	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Penrith Panthers
data-sort-value="Hodgson, Michael"	Michael Hodgson	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Retirement
data-sort-value="Idris, Jamal"	Jamal Idris	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Gold Coast Titans
data-sort-value="Millington, Grant"	Grant Millington	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Super League: Castleford Tigers
data-sort-value="Paea, Mickey"	Mickey Paea	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Super League: Hull Kingston Rovers
data-sort-value="Roberts, Ben"	Ben Roberts	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Parramatta Eels
data-sort-value="Ryan, Andrew"	Andrew Ryan	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Retirement
data-sort-value="Warburton, Gary"	Gary Warburton	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	Retirement
data-sort-value="Aiton, Paul"	Paul Aiton	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Super League: Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
data-sort-value="Collis, Dean"	Dean Collis	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Super League: Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
data-sort-value="Cordoba, Josh"	Josh Cordoba	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	N/A
data-sort-value="Douglas, Luke"	Luke Douglas	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Gold Coast Titans
data-sort-value="Smith, Tim"	Tim Smith	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Super League: Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
data-sort-value="Snowden, Kade"	Kade Snowden	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Newcastle Knights
data-sort-value="Tautai, Taulima"	Taulima Tautai	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Parramatta Eels
data-sort-value="Brown, Riley"	Riley Brown	Gold Coast Titans	Retirement
data-sort-value="Campbell, Preston"	Preston Campbell	Gold Coast Titans	Retirement
data-sort-value="Capewell, Luke"	Luke Capewell	Gold Coast Titans	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Friend, Nathan"	Nathan Friend	Gold Coast Titans	New Zealand Warriors
data-sort-value="Laffranchi, Anthony"	Anthony Laffranchi	Gold Coast Titans	Super League: St. Helens
data-sort-value="Matthews, Will"	Will Matthews	Gold Coast Titans	St. George Illawarra Dragons
data-sort-value="Meyers, Brad"	Brad Meyers	Gold Coast Titans	Retirement
data-sort-value="Rogers, Mat"	Mat Rogers	Gold Coast Titans	Retirement
data-sort-value="Tagataese, Sam"	Sam Tagataese	Gold Coast Titans	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
data-sort-value="Tomane, Joe"	Joe Tomane	Gold Coast Titans	ACT Brumbies (Super Rugby)
data-sort-value="Tonga, Esikeli"	Esikeli Tonga	Gold Coast Titans	Parramatta Eels
data-sort-value="Toopi, Clinton"	Clinton Toopi	Gold Coast Titans	Retirement
data-sort-value="Robertson, Michael"	Michael Robertson	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	Super League: London Broncos
data-sort-value="Rodney, Shane"	Shane Rodney	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	Super League: London Broncos
data-sort-value="Seu Seu, Terence"	Terence Seu Seu	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	Retirement
data-sort-value="Blair, Adam"	Adam Blair	Melbourne Storm	Wests Tigers
data-sort-value="Champion, Beau"	Beau Champion	Melbourne Storm	Gold Coast Titans
data-sort-value="Stanley, Chase"	Chase Stanley	Melbourne Storm	St. George Illawarra Dragons
data-sort-value="Thompson, Troy"	Troy Thompson	Melbourne Storm	Retirement
data-sort-value="Woolnough, Adam"	Adam Woolnough	Melbourne Storm	Retirement
data-sort-value="Ciraldo, Cameron"	Cameron Ciraldo	Newcastle Knights	Penrith Panthers
data-sort-value="De Gois, Isaac"	Isaac De Gois	Newcastle Knights	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
data-sort-value="Kaufusi, Antonio"	Antonio Kaufusi	Newcastle Knights	Super League: London Broncos
data-sort-value="Lulia, Keith"	Keith Lulia	Newcastle Knights	Super League: Bradford Bulls
data-sort-value="MacDougall, Adam"	Adam MacDougall	Newcastle Knights	Retirement
data-sort-value="McDonnell, Shannon"	Shannon McDonnell	Newcastle Knights	Super League: Hull Kingston Rovers
data-sort-value="Paterson, Cory"	Cory Paterson	Newcastle Knights	North Queensland Cowboys
data-sort-value="Rogers, Ben"	Ben Rogers	Newcastle Knights	Retirement
data-sort-value="Southern, Steve"	Steve Southern	Newcastle Knights	Super League: Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
data-sort-value="Taufua, Mark"	Mark Taufua	Newcastle Knights	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
data-sort-value="Tolar, Daniel"	Daniel Tolar	Newcastle Knights	Retirement
data-sort-value="Berrigan, Shaun"	Shaun Berrigan	New Zealand Warriors	Canberra Raiders
data-sort-value="Heremaia, Aaron"	Aaron Heremaia	New Zealand Warriors	Super League: Hull F.C.
data-sort-value="Hohaia, Lance"	Lance Hohaia	New Zealand Warriors	Super League: St. Helens
data-sort-value="Inu, Krisnan"	Krisnan Inu	New Zealand Warriors	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
data-sort-value="Latimore, Jeremy"	Jeremy Latimore	New Zealand Warriors	St. George Illawarra Dragons
data-sort-value="Moon, Joel"	Joel Moon	New Zealand Warriors	Super League: Salford City Reds
data-sort-value="Seymour, Brett"	Brett Seymour	New Zealand Warriors	Super League: Hull F.C.
data-sort-value="Ah Mau, Leeson"	Leeson Ah Mau	North Queensland Cowboys	St. George Illawarra Dragons
data-sort-value="Tonga, Willie"	Willie Tonga	North Queensland Cowboys	Parramatta Eels
data-sort-value="Hicks, Chris"	Chris Hicks	Parramatta Eels	Retirement
data-sort-value="Manuokafoa, Manase"	Manase Manuokafoa	Parramatta Eels	Super League: Bradford Bulls
data-sort-value="Mortimer, Daniel"	Daniel Mortimer	Parramatta Eels	Sydney Roosters
data-sort-value="Reddy, Joel"	Joel Reddy	Parramatta Eels	Wests Tigers
data-sort-value="Robson, Jeff"	Jeff Robson	Parramatta Eels	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
data-sort-value="Shackleton, Shane"	Shane Shackleton	Parramatta Eels	Penrith Panthers
data-sort-value="Walker, Chris"	Chris Walker	Parramatta Eels	Retirement
data-sort-value="Webb, Carl"	Carl Webb	Parramatta Eels	Retirement
data-sort-value="Whatuira, Paul"	Paul Whatuira	Parramatta Eels	Retirement
data-sort-value="Bell, Matthew"	Matthew Bell	Penrith Panthers	Wests Tigers
data-sort-value="Civoniceva, Petero"	Petero Civoniceva	Penrith Panthers	Brisbane Broncos
data-sort-value="Gordon, Yileen"	Yileen Gordon	Penrith Panthers	Retirement
data-sort-value="Iosefa, Masada"	Masada Iosefa	Penrith Panthers	Wests Tigers
data-sort-value="Paulo, Joseph"	Joseph Paulo	Penrith Panthers	Parramatta Eels
data-sort-value="Purtell, Adrian"	Adrian Purtell	Penrith Panthers	Super League: Bradford Bulls
data-sort-value="Tahu, Timana"	Timana Tahu	Penrith Panthers	Newcastle Knights
data-sort-value="Waterhouse, Trent"	Trent Waterhouse	Penrith Panthers	Super League: Warrington Wolves
data-sort-value="Falloon, Beau"	Beau Falloon	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Gold Coast Titans
data-sort-value="McPherson, Shannan"	Shannan McPherson	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Super League: Salford City Reds
data-sort-value="Ross, Ben"	Ben Ross	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
data-sort-value="Sandow, Chris"	Chris Sandow	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Parramatta Eels
data-sort-value="Stuart, Luke"	Luke Stuart	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Retirement
data-sort-value="Wesser, Rhys"	Rhys Wesser	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Retirement
data-sort-value="Boyd, Darius"	Darius Boyd	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Newcastle Knights
data-sort-value="Cuthbertson, Adam"	Adam Cuthbertson	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Newcastle Knights
data-sort-value="Gasnier, Mark"	Mark Gasnier	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Retirement
data-sort-value="Green, Jon"	Jon Green	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
data-sort-value="Greenfield, Michael"	Michael Greenfield	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Melbourne Storm
data-sort-value="Simmonds, Reece"	Reece Simmonds	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Retirement
data-sort-value="Carney, Todd"	Todd Carney	Sydney Roosters	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
data-sort-value="Conn, Daniel"	Daniel Conn	Sydney Roosters	Retirement
data-sort-value="Graham, Phil"	Phil Graham	Sydney Roosters	Gold Coast Titans
data-sort-value="Myles, Nate"	Nate Myles	Sydney Roosters	Gold Coast Titans
data-sort-value="Perrett, Sam"	Sam Perrett	Sydney Roosters	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
data-sort-value="Riddell, Mark"	Mark Riddell	Sydney Roosters	Retirement
data-sort-value="Ryles, Jason"	Jason Ryles	Sydney Roosters	Melbourne Storm
data-sort-value="Daniela, Geoff"	Geoff Daniela	Wests Tigers	Penrith Panthers
data-sort-value="Fifita, Andrew"	Andrew Fifita	Wests Tigers	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
data-sort-value="Flanagan, Mark"	Mark Flanagan	Wests Tigers	Super League: St. Helens
data-sort-value="Gibbs, Bryce"	Bryce Gibbs	Wests Tigers	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
data-sort-value="Lui, Robert"	Robert Lui	Wests Tigers	North Queensland Cowboys
data-sort-value="McKinnon, Wade"	Wade McKinnon	Wests Tigers	Super League: Hull F.C.
data-sort-value="Payten, Todd"	Todd Payten	Wests Tigers	Retirement
data-sort-value="Newton, Clint"	Clint Newton	Super League: Hull Kingston Rovers	Penrith Panthers
data-sort-value="Buderus, Danny"	Danny Buderus	Super League: Leeds Rhinos	Newcastle Knights
data-sort-value="Burgess, Luke"	Luke Burgess	Super League: Leeds Rhinos	South Sydney Rabbitohs
data-sort-value="Cashmere, Ray"	Ray Cashmere	Super League: Salford City Reds	Wests Tigers
data-sort-value="Graham, James"	James Graham	Super League: St. Helens	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
data-sort-value="King, Matt"	Matt King	Super League: Warrington Wolves	South Sydney Rabbitohs
data-sort-value="Hoffman, Ryan"	Ryan Hoffman	Super League: Wigan Warriors	Melbourne Storm
data-sort-value="MacDougall, Luke"	Luke MacDougall	Saracens F.C. (English rugby union)	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
data-sort-value="Pelo, Dimitri"	Dimitri Pelo	Montpellier Hérault (French rugby union)	Canberra Raiders
data-sort-value="Mason, Willie"	Willie Mason	RC Toulonnais (French rugby union)	Newcastle Knights
data-sort-value="Chambers, Will"	Will Chambers	Munster (Irish rugby union)	Melbourne Storm

Coaches

Coach	2011 Club	2012 Club
Des Hasler	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Ivan Cleary	New Zealand Warriors	Penrith Panthers
Wayne Bennett	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Newcastle Knights
Michael Maguire	Super League: Wigan Warriors	South Sydney Rabbitohs
Brian McClennan	N/A	New Zealand Warriors

External links

NRL.com – Official site of the NRL, National Rugby League
NRL final eight Calculator, footy.com.au

Notes and References

News: AAP. NRL dumps McIntyre system. 12 September 2012. ABC News. 22 February 2012.
Web site: Canterbury Bulldogs beat South Sydney Rabbitohs 32-8 to win through to NRL grand final. Adelaide Now.