National Rugby League

The National Rugby League (NRL) is one of the most popular sporting competitions in Australia and, in recent times, New Zealand, consisting of fifteen teams playing rugby league football against each other.

How the NRL works

The draw

The fifteen NRL teams play each other in a rotating roster that lasts for twenty-six rounds, typically from the beginning of March through to September. This is known as the regular season.

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The teams are divided into three groups of ostensibly equal strength, based on the previous year's standings. Each team plays the other teams within their group once (4 games), and the teams outside their group twice (20 games), for a total of 24 games and 2 byes.

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This system has varied from year to year since 1988, due to frequent changes in the number of teams participating.

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The rounds

There is one round every weekend. Seven games occur in each round, usually on Friday night (7:30pm local time), Saturday (5:30 pm and two games at 7:30pm local time) and Sunday (2:30pm and two games at 3:00pm local time) during the regular season, with one team receiving the bye.

Related Topics:
Friday - Saturday - Sunday

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However, for two rounds during the season, three teams have the bye in the same round, at State of Origin time. Players involved in Origin games (held mid-week) cannot participate in club matches on the weekend before - teams who traditionally supply the bulk of players to the State of Origin series will usually receive the bye at this time.

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Points and ladder

The winner of each game per round is awarded two points on the League Ladder. The team with the bye is also awarded two points automatically. If a game is drawn between the two teams, each team is awarded one point each. (However, drawn matches are first subject to the golden point process, introduced in 2003.).

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At the end of the regular season, the eight teams with the highest point totals on the ladder qualify for the finals. In the event of two or more teams sharing the same competition points, the finishing order is decided by points differential i.e. points scored during games minus points conceded.

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Prior to 1995, however, a team could not be excluded from the finals system by points differential alone, in these cases, a mid-week playoff (or, if required, series of playoffs, such as in 1960) was held to determine the finalists.

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Finals series

Currently the NRL is using the McIntyre Final Eight System, this has also varied over the years http://stats.rleague.com/rl/snotes.html.

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This consists of a number of knockout and sudden-death games over four weeks between the top eight teams in August and September until there are only two teams remaining. In the first week, the top four seeds play at their respective home grounds. From Week Two onwards, all final matches are scheduled to be played in Sydney, however, some matches have been moved in special circumstances, to some controversy.

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The top two then play in the Grand Final, which has always taken place in Sydney on a Sunday in late September, or early October.

Related Topics:
Grand Final - Sydney

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Since 1999 the Grand Final has been contested at Telstra Stadium, the primary athletics venue during the 2000 Olympic Games held in Sydney. From 1988 to 1998 the Grand Final was held at Sydney Football Stadium, and until 1987 was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground for around eighty years.

Related Topics:
Telstra Stadium - 2000 - Olympic Games - Sydney Football Stadium - Sydney Cricket Ground

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