The curtain has fallen on the National Rugby League regular season and before we roll out the red carpet for what looks to be an exciting finals series, let’s take stock of the season thus far.
There have been a number of highs and lows in season 2012, the following are my top five in various categories.
Over-Achievers
1. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
2. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
3. North Queensland Cowboys
4. Canberra Raiders
5. Manly Sea Eagles
Minor Premiership or not, there can be no arguing that the Bulldogs have had an impressive regular season. After a 2011 campaign that saw them finish in ninth place, Todd ‘the magician’ Greenberg managed to convince Des ‘insular peninsula’ Hasler to leave his beloved Sea Eagles after a premiership winning season.
Fast forward 26 rounds and the Bulldogs are flying higher than a mid-air tryst between Lisa Robertson and Ralph Fiennes.
At least there is one success story out of the Shire this year.
The sharks have performed extremely well, thanks in large to the man motivator Paul Gallen. A season over 26 rounds is not built on the efforts of one player but when Gallen was side-lined so too were the sharks. Honourable mentions go to Todd Carney, Jeremy Smith and the Tigers’ outcasts Bryce Gibbs and Andrew Fifita.
The Cowboys have impressed with a fit Johnathan Thurston and are always difficult to beat, especially when playing at Dairy Farmers.
Add a rejuvenated Matthew Bowen to the mix and James ‘NSW for life’ Tamou and you have the beginnings of a formidable side. What has been more impressive is the contributions from the second tier. Ashley Graham, Kane Linnett and Brent Tate have finished well and Gavin Cooper and Tariq Sims have been impressive.
The Raiders get a shout out because even a die-hard Canberra fan has to admit no one thought they would be playing footy in September. When Terry ‘Leimo’ Campese was ruled out for the season and Josh Dugan was moved to five-eighth, TAB Sportsbet started paying out on the Raiders to finish outside the eight.
Jarrod Croker, Reece Robinson, Josh McCrone and Shaun Fensom deserve the lion’s share of the credit.
The Sea Eagles have struggled with injuries and have hardly fielded their strongest team all season. With finals footy beckoning they have kicked into gear and, for mine, are the favourites.
When Glenn and Brett Stewart step on the field together it’s a lock. Unbelievably, the Sea Eagles have re-signed all their stars on long term deals, which has the Melbourne Storm asking for their accountant’s number.
Under-Achievers
1. Wests Tigers
2. New Zealand Warriors
3. St George-Illawarra Dragons
4. Brisbane Broncos
5. Newcastle Knights
Where are the Eels and the Roosters I hear you ask? How can the Broncos make the list? My assessment is based purely on how teams have performed in comparison to their rosters.
Eels supporters shouldn’t be surprised that their team finished with the wooden spoon. Ill disciplined, out of form and ridiculous recruitment comes to mind when summing up their season. Hopefully Ricky Stuart and 2013 brings better things for the men in blue and yellow.
The Tigers have been as hot and cold as a Finnish Sauna, which is a shame because finals football isn’t the same without them. Benji Marshall hasn’t been at his best, but the entire team has looked distracted. The Tigers, in true Kevin Rudd style, have announced an end of season review, but what will that tell them that they don’t already know. If you don’t play as a team you won’t win games.
The Warriors, with basically the same roster that made the grand final last year, have looked like the Warialda Wombats all season. The loss of Ivan Cleary can’t be underestimated but considering what he’s done at the Panthers, that can’t be the reason. Currently without a coach for 2013, perhaps Stephen ‘Lazarus’ Kearney might bring them back from the dead?
The Dragons have struggled for consistency since the departure of Sir Benny and haven’t bought any new cattle to suggest things will change. The Dragons’ attack this season has been as potent as your grandfather after 50 schooners. Steve Price deserves another season at the helm but there are some worrying signs at present for the Red V.
The Broncos have gone from contenders to pretenders in the second half of the season. The hole left by Darren Lockyer’s retirement is yet to be filled and they are losing some good quality players at the end of the season, highlighted by Ben Te’o. The Broncos’ season is effectively over, with a trip to Dairy Farmers a nightmare considering their current form.
The Knights this season have been as impressive as Nathan Tinkler’s foray into thoroughbred racing. The biggest surprise has been their form at home, which has been non-existent. The Wayne Bennett factor perhaps had people expecting too much from the Knights this season, but it was the way they lost some of their matches which was most concerning.
Tune in for part two, which will look at the 2012 regular season’s most under-rated and over-rated players.
Adam Everitt
Guest
Looking forward to part 2 now. Pull your blummin' finger out :)
Meesta Cool
Guest
Melbourne are competing for the 'game attendance dollar' against a code pulling GREAT numbers. Plus the schedulers in their infinite wisdom never seem check the times and days that BIG AFL games are being played. with a Major AFL game on at same day/ time, Parking, transport and Sports fans are difficult to find!, so the minority sport loses out in the 'bums on seats' numbers... In these times of economic instability, something has to suffer. I know that since retirement I cannot afford to go to every home game and I am positive that at least 95% of a visiting teams supporters cannot afford make the journey to Melbourne. More thought must be given to scheduling of Storm's home games, sadly and in reality, they will always be second tier sport to the AFL's stranglehold on the city... This does not mean that the club cannot continue to be strong, it just means that they have to rely on the 'corporate dollar a little more than most!.
kovana
Guest
Agreed NF, i love these kind of data articles.
NF
Guest
peeko how about Sydney teams who had decades of success, culture & tradition in there respective areas yet drew disappointing crowds time & time again despite the amount of history that have there. It's quite pathetic what some of the Sydney teams drew despite having all that time to nurture and grow a fan base the use of fixed scheduling and developing an attendance culture should change that over time. I'm sick of the whining & complaining just to get to the game.
peeeko
Roar Guru
how about brisbane, 1 team, nearly 2mln people?
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Of the 16,800 at Shark Park on sunday arvo,would have to say 16,700 Shark's supporters and 100 Cowboys. Maybe father's day had the impact,but if they were playing the Dragons a crowd of 19-20,000 on a fine day or night would see 60/40 in favour of Sharks locals. Just a few things to suggest all is not gloom and doom with some of the mentioned clubs. GC junior participation up 10%(don't know whether teh population is growing or the current pop is taking the game up in increasing numbers. Storm whilst crowds were down ,memberships according to the Storm were up 30%,and they do not include freebies in their numbers.The games against the Broncos,Saints in particular were either scheduled badly or on shocker nights weatherwise. Monday nights great for pay TV ,ordinary for crowds. that's the nature of the beast. Considering crowds are up,when well suppoerted teams like the Dragons,and Parramatta and to a lesser degree Tigers were down the points ledger,suggest there is plenty of room to move The first 20 weeks fixed scheduling is a win for the fans,despite the whining about the current Tv deal. Considering the uncertainty in an economy that is doing OK by world standards(but people still losing jobs from mgt to shop floo)0,suggest rugby league is in a healthy state. All it needs is a cash bonanza:check and a decent marketing campaign year long :TBD,and it will reach great heights. And provide better cover for local grounds,when weather is up the creek.Forget the idea of ground rationalisation ,when teams like Parramatta,Manly,Penrith,Sharks are so far away geographically ,with lousy road and transport infrastructure .Crowds would drop,not increase.Anyone thinking the Sharks would secure 16,800 at the SFS on father;s day against teh Cowboys ,needs a health check. And of course expansion latest 2016.
sean maguire
Guest
I agree Planko, the NRL really needs to do something about getting major event buses going to ANZ from the northern beaches because it is takes 1/4 of the time to go direct to ANZ than change several times on regular public transport. I see them running for all the Waratahs games, the NRL needs to get them happening for league games.
NF
Guest
A better idea if for Sydney fans to get to the game more often no more excuses with the fixed scheduling.
Anakin
Guest
I've said it countless times before, and I'll say it again. Sydney team crowd numbers are skewed - as they comprise arguably a 40-60 or 50-50 split in club supporters between the 2 opposing teams. Between Parra & Penrith for example, what actual % are Parra fans v Penrith fans? St George v Cronulla? Bulldogs v Souths? etc. Compare these clubs to the Cowboys, Storm, Broncos etc whose crowd figures would have to be 80-90% fans of those respective teams. I'd like to see Sydney clubs (or indeed any club) split their turnstiles - and get an ACCURATE reflection of how many of their actual fans are coming through the gates.
Aidan
Roar Pro
Thanks Mark, Yeah that's what I love most about the game- it is so unpredictable. As a Dragons supporter very dissappointed but picked up my tickets today for the Raiders game on Sunday which should be a cracker.
planko
Guest
A sentence to describe yours. Just another guy who bashes Manly and were dont car....
Matt F
Roar Guru
It feeds into the pre-season expectations thing. People who think their team can do something good this season are more likely to buy memberships. People who have bought memberships are more likely to go to a bunch of matches
eagleJack
Guest
Renegade, capacity at Brookvale is well down after ground renovations. You couldn't fit another soul in for many games this year that only had 16k in attendance. Also, interesting that of the 14,972 at the Titans game on the w/end there were well over 10k Manly supporters. But I thought we didn't travel.......
Mark Young
Roar Guru
Good stuff Aiden! Well written, funny, love it! Remember the hoo haa before the Thursday night season opener between the Knights and Dragons? Who would have thoughts that both of them AND the preseason favourites AND the grand finalists would all miss the 8!
Renegade
Guest
Hey Planko, Good Luck to the Eagles as well. I think the cowboys will win and win well on the weekend and i also think they are a big chance of going all the way.....however just to clear the air, I'm not a cowboys fan. It's going to be a great finals series but for all we know, there's a million possible GF match ups that could occur but for all we know we may end up with another Melbourne vs Manly GF.
planko
Guest
Good luck on the weekend Renegade. Even though they were Super League I would prefer to and expect more of the cowboys than even Souths. Cowboys have some really classy attacking players. I could be proven wrong but souths are not there yet IMO. I really think Melbourne will know what do with Inglis this weekend. The commentator's made a lot of South's last game and the fact is that they only scroed 3 tries against a very average team with nothing to play for. 2 of those tries were really soft. Sutton and Inglis's tries against any of the top teams would not have happened. Hopefully the Eagles get up so they dont have to play the Cowboys in week 2.
Renegade
Guest
I don't know mate.....their crowds are extremely dissapointing as well, considering they use to average 20k when they were useless. I enjoy watching the eagles play....it's not a matter of hate, it's just that the club doesn't have a large supporter base. The small percentage of people that do follow them don't show up at games anyway....something has to give. It should be pack out Brookie or let the Bears back in.
planko
Guest
The fact that you are still banging on about it means that the club is safe and is relevant. You hate keeps us where we are. Unlike the we support wife beaters FNQ Cowboys ! What excuse does the FNQ Cowboys have have for their luck lustre crowd figures ?
Renegade
Guest
It's still crap mate. Their two biggest crowds this year were away from Brookvale which actually inflates their overall average. 20'000 in Perth and 18'000 in Gosford. Even if you take out yesterday's game for Parra, they still have a higher average than Manly. The biggest example of Manly's dissapointing crowds is that they couldn't even pack out brookie for the game against the dogs (hasler's return).....it was 16k or so if my memory serves me correct. Poor form.
Matt_S
Roar Pro
I think the take up of memberships (ticketed) by warriors supporters helped with their averages.