National Rugby League
The National Rugby League ( NRL Telstra Premiership also, after the main sponsor of the League ) is the highest professional rugby league league in Australia. The league consists of 15 Australian a team from New Zealand teams and is considered the most popular rugby league club competition in the world.
History
The mid-1990s broke in Australia from war in rugby league sports, the so-called Super League was. The dispute revolved around broadcasting rights and the supremacy of the Australian Rugby League. Here, Rupert Murdoch Packers for the traditional umbrella organization Australian Rugby League stood for the newly formed Super League and Kerry over. Murdoch tried to gain a foothold with the establishment of an alternative Rugby League League to the Australian market. After numerous court cases 1997, the Super League and the Australian Rugby League premiership were held in parallel. After this season, it came to the union of the two leagues to today's National Rugby League.
The first NRL 1998 season was contested by 20 teams. They had agreed to integrate the league to reduce until the year 2000 to 14 teams. For this, the associations was evaluated by sponsorship, viewership and sporting success. It was also found a large sum of money, as promised in the event of a merger between two teams. By 1999 there were three such associations. For the 2000 season there were some exclusions League. But a team that South Sydney Rabbitohs could prevail against the exclusion of the courts and attacked again in 2002 into a league action.
The final game in 1999 set a new world record for a rugby league game with 107,999 viewers. The league was becoming more popular. In 2001, the great Australian telecom company Telstra mini cation increased as a main sponsor of the league. The audience figures increased steadily in the following years and in 2005 reached its climax. The final match of the NRL in 2007 was the most-watched show on Australian television. Moreover, it was taken with the Gold Coast Titans again a team from Gold Coast in the league.
2008 marked the centenary of Rugby League in Australia. In addition to a custom printed on the shirts of teams in a grand gala was held on April 17, among other things, the best players of the last century were honored. In 2010 it came to an inglorious incident as the Melbourne Storm two of their previously achieved championships were withdrawn. The club had the ceiling on salaries are not adhered to and obscures its accounts.
Men
In the 2013 season the following teams played in the NRL:
Game Mode
The NRL Championship begins in March of each year. Based on the results of the previous season, the 16 teams are divided into two equal groups, each with eight teams. Each team then plays twice against all eight teams from the other group, each one home and one away game. Only one game against six teams from their own group then discharged, but against the seventh team two. The season thus comprises 24 games for each team. In addition there are two byes, bringing the season total of 26 game days and includes 192 encounters. Not every team can unsubscribe against any other team from its own group a home game, so the clubs are allowed to game plan preparation before the season starts in the league to submit a wish list of home game opponents.
After the 26th Round the first eight teams take four weeks from the knockout stage. The game is played according to the McIntyre Final Eight System: First, the table first plays against the eighth-, the second to the seventh, etc. The games are played in the stadium of the higher-ranked team. Subsequently, the eight teams will be placed in a new order: Place one to four show the winner among themselves sorted by the initial placement season on the 26th matchday. This similarly applies to the losers, which divide the places five to eight among themselves.
The two last- placed teams are eliminated after the first week. The top two teams are set for each a semifinal in the third week. The teams in the stands three to six games in the second week to the remaining two semi-final places. The sixth placed incident on the fourth and the fifth to the third. Home right here have the higher-ranked teams in the order that results after the 1.Playoff Round. In the third week, then the two semi-finals will be played, the two seeded teams in the first week have home.
The winners of the semi-finals finally meet in the fourth week of the knockout stage in the Grand Final. The final of the NRL is one of the largest and most popular sporting events in Australia. It is discharged with an elaborate framework program since 1999 at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. The local government of the Australian state of New South Wales has paid $ 45 million to the NRL, to maintain the venue until 2022.
The winner of the Grand Final receives the official NRL trophy, the Winfield Cup. Each player of the winning team gets handed a championship ring. The man voted best player of the finals will also be awarded the Clive Churchill Medal.
Salary Cap
Since there are the NRL there for the participating clubs a fixed amount, the salary of the players may not exceed a year. This salary cap ( salary cap ) is AU $ 4.1 million. Each club must have 25 players under contract, whose content must be at least $ 50,000. Since compliance with the salary cap is actively monitored, it is for violations usually by small amounts, draw a fine for the club concerned by themselves.
Nevertheless, there have been three cases of major breaches of the salary requirements. 2002 was one the Bulldogs a systematic infringers. The team were denied a penalty in addition to all the points of the season, which they lost their lead and not even reached the knockout phase. Before the 2006 season, the New Zealand Warriors violations of their former manager in previous seasons revealed. The club then lost 4 points in the current season, had to pay 430,000 and plan in the 2007 season with a more stringent salary cap a fine of $.
The most serious incident of this kind was announced on 22 April 2010. The Melbourne Storm had over five years issued a total of $ 1.7 million too much for salaries and this systematically obscured. The association of two championships were subsequently withdrawn, they had won in this period. The resulting prize money totaling $ 1.1 million had to be distributed among the remaining teams from the league. In addition, a fine of $ 500,000 imposed and all points of the 2010 season has been revoked. Since the association, all other points of the season will not be credited, the Melbourne Storm will finish the 2010 season with zero points.