2005 NRL season

2005 National Rugby League
Teams	15
Premiers	Wests Tigers (1st title)
Minor premiers	Parramatta (5th title)
Matches played	189
Points scored	8861 (total) 46.884 (per match)
Attendance	3,276,675 (total) 17,337 (per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Brett Hodgson (308)
Top try scorer(s)	16px Matthew Bowen (21)

The 2005 NRL season was the 98th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the eighth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of clubs remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen teams contesting the 2005 Telstra Premiership, which culminated in a grand final between the Wests Tigers and the North Queensland Cowboys.

Season summary

In 2005 the NRL's salary cap was $3.25 million for the 25 highest-paid players in a club.

The season was statistically the closest season ever, with just sixteen points separating the Parramatta Eels (1st) and Newcastle Knights (15th). It was also notable in that the previous four premiers failed to qualify for the finals (Bulldogs, Penrith Panthers, Sydney Roosters and Newcastle Knights).

In the middle of 2005 the NRL reached a broadcasting rights agreement with Foxsports and Channel 9 worth $500 million over six years, representing a 65% increase in direct television income.

The Knights recorded their worst ever start to a season (13 straight losses) and were consigned to last place for the entire season. They did however win 8 of their last 11 games thanks to the return of superstar Andrew Johns. The Knights also defeated five of the top eight teams during the season, four of which were at home. They also recorded their then equal worst ever defeat - a 50-0 thrashing by the Parramatta Eels in round 14. During this match, an EnergyAustralia Stadium attendant ran onto the field, trying to tackle Parramatta's Daniel Wagon before he scored in the 78th minute. It should also be noted that minor premiers the Parramatta Eels lost to each of the bottom four teams (Bulldogs, Rabbitohs, Raiders and Knights in rounds 8, 2, 19 and 20 respectively) during the course of the season.

It was announced that the Gold Coast Titans were to be admitted into the NRL as the sixteenth team, scheduled to begin playing in the 2007 season. The Titans would recruit John Cartwright as their inaugural coach and Preston Campbell was their first signing.

Johnathan Thurston won the 2005 Dally M Medal by a single point from Newcastle's Andrew Johns, despite Johns missing over a third of the season with a broken jaw.

The two clubs that had players sent off won their matches (unlike in 2004) but the dismissal of John Hopoate made rugby league headlines. Hopoate was sent off in his team's win over the Cronulla Sharks and consequently received a 17-match ban. The Sea Eagles then terminated his contract.

The Wests Tigers became the first ever joint venture club to win the premiership, having formed in 2000 as a union between the Balmain Tigers and Western Suburbs Magpies, both foundation members of the original New South Wales Rugby Football League.

Advertising

In 2005 the NRL and their advertising agency MJW Hakuhodo for the third year running stayed with the Hoodoo Gurus' "That's My Team" soundtrack and developed three different musical executions.

The campaign focussed on the association of "strength" with the game and the ads featured three different musical interpretations of the song all without vocals. Each was created intending to bring out the positionings of rugby league characteristice of ‘strength of body’, ‘strength of mind’ and ‘strength of character’

Outdoor supersites also featured in suburban locations in NSW and local cinema versions of the TVC ran with a call to action inviting fans to attend a game of the team local to the cinema location.

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Parramatta Eels	24	16	0	8	2	704	456	+248	36
2	St George Illawarra Dragons	24	16	0	8	2	655	510	+145	36
3	Brisbane Broncos	24	15	0	9	2	597	484	+113	34
4	Wests Tigers	24	14	0	10	2	676	575	+101	32
5	16x16px North Queensland Cowboys	24	14	0	10	2	639	563	+76	32
6	Melbourne Storm	24	13	0	11	2	640	462	+178	30
7	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	12	0	12	2	550	564	-14	28
8	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	24	12	0	12	2	554	632	-78	28
9	Sydney Roosters	24	11	0	13	2	488	487	+1	26
10	Penrith Panthers	24	11	0	13	2	554	554	=0	26
11	New Zealand Warriors	24	10	0	14	2	515	528	-13	24
12	Bulldogs	24	9	1	14	2	472	670	-198	23
13	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	9	1	14	2	482	700	-218	23
14	Canberra Raiders	24	9	0	15	2	465	606	-141	22
15	Newcastle Knights	24	8	0	16	2	467	667	-200	20

Ladder progression

• Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.
• Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
• Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round
• Underlined numbers indicate that the team had a bye during that round.

	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	Parramatta	2	2	4	4	4	6	8	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	22	24	26	26	26	28	30	32	32	34	36
2	St. George Illawarra	0	0	0	0	2	2	4	6	8	10	12	12	14	16	18	18	20	20	22	24	26	28	30	32	34	36
3	Brisbane	2	2	4	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	26	28	30	32	32	34	34	34	34	34	34
4	Wests Tigers	0	2	4	6	8	8	8	8	8	10	12	12	12	14	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	28	30	32	32	32
5	File:North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland	0	2	4	6	6	8	10	12	12	12	14	16	18	18	20	20	22	22	22	24	26	26	26	28	30	32
6	Melbourne	2	4	4	6	6	6	8	8	10	12	12	14	16	16	16	18	20	22	22	24	24	24	26	28	30	30
7	Cronulla-Sutherland	2	2	4	6	8	10	10	12	14	16	18	18	18	18	20	22	22	22	24	24	24	26	26	28	28	28
8	Manly-Warringah	2	4	6	8	8	10	12	12	14	16	16	18	20	20	22	22	22	22	22	24	24	26	26	26	26	28
9	Sydney Roosters	2	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	8	10	12	14	14	16	16	18	20	20	20	20	20	20	22	22	24	26
10	Penrith	0	0	2	2	4	6	6	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	12	12	12	14	14	14	16	18	20	22	24	26
11	New Zealand	0	2	2	4	4	6	8	8	8	8	10	12	12	14	14	16	16	16	18	20	20	20	20	20	22	24
12	Bulldogs	2	2	2	2	4	4	6	8	8	8	10	10	11	13	15	17	17	19	21	23	23	23	23	23	23	23
13	South Sydney	0	2	2	2	4	4	4	6	6	6	6	6	7	9	9	9	9	11	13	13	15	17	19	21	21	23
14	Canberra	2	4	6	8	10	10	10	12	14	14	14	14	16	16	16	18	20	20	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22
15	Newcastle	0	0	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	6	6	8	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	20

Finals series

To decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams, the NRL adopts the McIntyre Final Eight System.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Qualifying Finals
Wests Tigers	50 – 6	23x23px North Queensland Cowboys	9 September 2005	Telstra Stadium	Paul Simpkins	26,463
Brisbane Broncos	18 – 24	Melbourne Storm	10 September 2005	Suncorp Stadium	Steve Clark	25,193
St George Illawarra Dragons	28 – 22	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	10 September 2005	WIN Stadium	Tony Archer	19,608
Parramatta Eels	46 – 22	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	11 September 2005	Parramatta Stadium	Tim Mander	19,710
Semi Finals
Melbourne Storm	16 – 24	23x23px North Queensland Cowboys	17 September 2005	Aussie Stadium	Paul Simpkins	16,810
Wests Tigers	34 – 6	Brisbane Broncos	18 September 2005	Aussie Stadium	Tim Mander	36,563
Preliminary Finals
St George Illawarra Dragons	12 – 20	Wests Tigers	24 September 2005	Aussie Stadium	Tim Mander	41,260
Parramatta Eels	0 – 29	23x23px North Queensland Cowboys	25 September 2005	Telstra Stadium	Steve Clark	44,327

Finals Chart

	Qualifying Finals					Semi Finals					Preliminary Finals					Grand Final
	1	Parramatta	46
	8	Manly	22
											1W	Parramatta	0
	2	St. George Illawarra	28			4W	Melbourne	16				File:North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland	29
	7	Cronulla	22			2L	File:North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland	24									File:North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland	16
																	Wests Tigers	30
	3	Brisbane	18								2W	St. George Illawarra	12
	6	Melbourne	24			3W	Wests Tigers	34				Wests Tigers	20
						1L	Brisbane	6
	4	Wests Tigers	50
	5	File:North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland	6

Grand final

Main article: 2005 NRL Grand Final

Sunday, 2 October 19:00 AEST

Wests Tigers	30 - 16	File:North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys
Tries: Bryce Gibbs Pat Richards Anthony Laffranchi Daniel Fitzhenry Todd Payten Goals: Brett Hodgson (5/6)	Report	Tries: Matt Bowen Travis Norton Matt Sing Goals: Josh Hannay (2/3)

Telstra Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 82,453 Referee/s: Tim Mander Man of the Match: Scott Prince

Statistics and records

• The Broncos' Darren Smith was the NRL's oldest player in 2005 at 36 years and 284 days.
• The Brisbane Broncos set a new club record for highest score conceded (50 points) and greatest losing margin (46 points), when they lost 50-4 against the Melbourne Storm at Olympic Park in Round 4. These records were broken in 2007 and 2009 respectively.
• The Newcastle Knights lost a club record 13 straight matches from 13 March - 19 June, and went on to win the wooden spoon for the first time.
• In Rounds 23 and 24, the Canterbury Bulldogs suffered their worst defeats since 1935, when they lost 56-4 against the Parramatta Eels in Round 23, then lost 54-2 against Wests Tigers in Round 24.
• Wests Tigers' club record for their longest winning streak with 8 wins from round 16 to round 24.
• Wests Tigers' standing record for their biggest ever win : 54-2 over the Canterbury Bulldogs in Round 24.

Leading try scorers

Rank	Tries	Player	Team	Matches	Try Ave.
1	21	Matt Bowen	North Queensland Cowboys	21	1.00
1	20	Billy Slater	Melbourne Storm	25	0.80
1	20	Colin Best	St George Illawarra Dragons	26	0.77
1	20	Pat Richards	Wests Tigers	28	0.71
5	19	Shaun Berrigan	Brisbane Broncos	23	0.83
6	18	Ty Williams	North Queensland Cowboys	23	0.78
6	18	Paul Whatuira	Wests Tigers	24	0.75
7	17	Amos Roberts	Sydney Roosters	28	0.61
9	16	Brett Stewart	Manly Sea Eagles	24	0.67
9	16	David Simmons	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	25	0.64
9	16	Matt Sing	North Queensland Cowboys	25	0.64

Leading point scorers

Rank	Points	Player	Team	Matches	Tries	Gls	Fld Goals	Pts Ave.
1	308	Brett Hodgson	Wests Tigers	28	15	124	-	11.00
2	214	Luke Burt	Parramatta Eels	23	11	85	-	9.30
3	190	Preston Campbell	Penrith Panthers	23	11	73	-	8.26
4	186	Luke Covell	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	22	9	75	-	8.45
5	180	Hazem El Masri	Bulldogs	18	11	68	-	10.00
6	172	Matt Orford	Melbourne Storm	26	11	63	2	6.62
7	152	Josh Hannay	North Queensland Cowboys	21	7	62	-	7.24
8	147	Stacey Jones	New Zealand Warriors	23	5	63	1	6.39
9	142	Clinton Schifcofske	Canberra Raiders	19	6	58	2	7.47
10	140	Michael Witt	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	19	5	60	-	7.37

External links

• NRL official website
• LeagueUnlimited
• Rugby League Tables and Statistics 2005
• Sports Australia League