The 1996 ARL premiership (also known as the 1996 Optus Cup due to sponsorship from Optus) was the 89th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the second to be administered by the Australian Rugby League (ARL). Twenty teams contested the premiership, including five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, two from greater New South Wales, four from Queensland, and one each from New Zealand, the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia. Ultimately two Sydney clubs, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and St. George Dragons contested the grand final.
The grand finals:
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles vs St. George Dragons (Senior Grade) Cronulla Sharks vs Auckland Warriors (Reserve Grade) South Queensland Crushers vs Parramatta Eels (Under-20s Grade)
The winners in all grades were:
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (Senior Grade) Cronulla Sharks (Reserve Grade) South Queensland Crushers (Under-20s Grade)
The test match
Australia vs Fiji
The State of Origin Series
Queensland vs New South Wales
The Region of Origin Series
City vs Country
Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous season except for the re-branding of the Gold Coast team from the "Seagulls" to the "Chargers" as the ARL took control of the club. Auckland Warriors 2nd seasonGround: Ericsson Stadium Coach: John MonieCaptain: Greg AlexanderBrisbane Broncos 9th seasonGround: ANZ Stadium Coach: Wayne BennettCaptain: Allan LangerCanberra Raiders 15th seasonGround: Bruce Stadium Coach: Tim SheensCaptain: Ricky Stuart → Laurie DaleyCanterbury Bulldogs 62nd seasonGround: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Chris AndersonCaptain: Simon GilliesCronulla Sharks 30th seasonGround: Endeavour Park Coach: John LangCaptain: Andrew EttingshausenGold Coast Chargers 9th seasonGround: Seagulls Stadium Coach: Phil EconomidisCaptain: Dave WatsonIllawarra Steelers 15th seasonGround: Wollongong Stadium Coach: Allan McMahonCaptain: John Cross → Paul McGregorManly Sea Eagles 50th seasonGround: Brookvale Oval Coach: Bob FultonCaptain: Geoff TooveyNewcastle Knights 9th seasonGround: Marathon Stadium Coach: Malcolm ReillyCaptain: Paul HarragonNorth Qld Cowboys 2nd seasonGround: Stockland Stadium Coach: Graham LoweCaptain: Dean SchifillitiNorth Syd. Bears 89th seasonGround: North Sydney Oval Coach: Peter LouisCaptain: Jason TaylorParramatta Eels 50th seasonGround: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Ron HilditchCaptain: Gary Freeman → Jarrod McCrackenPenrith Panthers 30th seasonGround: Penrith Stadium Coach: Royce SimmonsCaptain: Steve CarterSouth Qld Crushers 2nd seasonGround: Suncorp Stadium Coach: Bob LindnerCaptain: Trevor GillmeisterSouth Syd. Rabbitohs 89th seasonGround: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Ken ShineCaptain: Craig Field → Craig Salvatori St. George Dragons 76th seasonGround: Kogarah Oval Coach: David WaiteCaptain: Mark CoyneSydney City Roosters(East. Sub. Roosters) 89th seasonGround: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Phil GouldCaptain: Sean GarlickSydney Tigers(Balmain Tigers) 89th seasonGround: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Wayne PearceCaptain: Paul SironenWestern Reds 2nd seasonGround: WACA Ground Coach: Peter MulhollandCaptain: Mark GeyerWest. Sub. Magpies 89th seasonGround: Campbelltown Stadium Coach: Tommy RaudonikisCaptain: Paul Langmack
Regular season With the Super League war in full effect off the field, those clubs affiliated with the breakaway competition refused to participate in five games of Round 1, all forfeited to ARL-aligned clubs and only four of the ten scheduled games took place. Of the two games between two Super League clubs, Canterbury versus North Queensland was cancelled, whilst Auckland flew a team consisting of players from the Otahuhu Leopards and Ellerslie Eagles clubs to Brisbane and were thus declared winners over the Broncos by forfeit.Frank Endacott with John Coffey Being Frank:The Frank Endacott Story. Auckland, Hodder Moa Beckett, 2002. . p.78
Following up on their performance in the 1995 season up to the grand final, Manly-Warringah dominated the season with their defence, which conceded only 34 tries in 25 matches, the best record of any team since the six-tackle rule was introduced in 1971. Indeed, the Sea Eagles only conceded 191 points during the minor round, an average of only 8.7 points per game, while scoring 549 points at 24.9 points per game. Their 1995 rivals Canberra were hit by injuries which wiped out the seasons of key players including captain Ricky Stuart, Bradley Clyde and Jason Croker, and suspensions to Kiwi props John Lomax and Quentin Pongia.
Super League-aligned Canterbury were also hit by the loss of key players Jim Dymock, Dean Pay, Jason Smith and Jarrod McCracken to ARL-loyal Parramatta and Brett Dallas to North Sydney. Sydney City started the season in good form, but fell off after winning their first ten games, whilst Brisbane (with Allan Langer putting in some strong performances) dominated early but as had become their custom, lost ground mid-season during the Origin period. North Sydney, with a powerful forward pack and skillful goal-kicking half Jason Taylor feeding a superb set of outside backs, were expected to make the Grand Final, but as had become their habit in the 1990s they lost the preliminary final, this time to St. George.
The 20-team competition in 1995 and 1996 caused frequent jackpots in FootyTAB's "Pick The Margins" and after three successive rounds without a single winner, on 8 July 1996 after a last-minute Sydney City penalty goal, one punter received an all-time record for any form of sports betting in Australia: $2,006,217.
This year Canterbury-Bankstown back Terry Lamb set new record for most first-grade premiership games at 350 before retiring at the end of the season.
North Sydney's Jason Taylor won the official player of the year award, the Rothmans Medal, while the Dally M Medal was awarded to Brisbane's Allan Langer.
At the end of the season, ARL chief executive John Quayle resigned and was replaced by Balmain president (and former hooker) Neil Whittaker.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 F1 F2 F3 GF Auckland WarriorsBRIForfeitILA+8WES−14NOR+4MAN−12ILA+10PAR+24ROS−12NEW−4CRO−4TIG−12PEN+10WES+16SOU+14GCC+14WRD−20SQC+4NQL+46STG−29CBY−2CAN−24BRI−32 Brisbane BroncosACKForfeitWES+22ILA+50SQC+20NQL+44STG+18CBY+22CAN+34WRD+8NOR−6MAN−14ILA−8PAR+6ROS−2NEW+5CRO+3TIG+20PEN+30WES+30SOU+2GCC+28ACK+32NOR−5CRO−6 Canberra RaidersSQCForfeitPEN0PAR−6NQL+56STG−10CBY+30WRD+20BRI−34NOR+34MAN−16ILA+2PAR−40ROS+4NEW+2CRO−8TIG+18PEN+16WES−8SOU+30GCC+14ACK+24SQC+26STG−2 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs−TIG−4ROS−6STG−20WRD+4CAN−30BRI−22NOR−8MAN−20ILA+12PAR+18ROS+12NEW+10CRO−10TIG−2PEN+2WES−4SOU+24GCC+10ACK+2SQC+1NQL+28 Cronulla-Sutherland SharksNEWForfeitSTG+8WRD−7WRD+14TIG+20PEN+8WES−8SOU+18GCC+8ACK+4SQC+24NQL−6STG0CBY+10CAN+8BRI−3NOR0MAN+2ILA−7PAR+8ROS+8NEW+22WES+8BRI+6MAN−24 Gold Coast ChargersNOR−16MAN−14SOU+2MAN−4ILA+8PAR+13ROS−3NEW−42CRO−8TIG+12PEN−6WES−32SOU−2WRD0ACK−14SQC+48NQL−10STG−12CBY−10CAN−14BRI−28NOR−30 Illawarra SteelersWES−9ACK−8BRI−50SOU+42GCC−8ACK−10SQC+4NQL+16STG+6CBY−12CAN−2BRI+8NOR−30MAN−8WRD−1PAR−16ROS−16NEW+12CRO+7TIG−2PEN+40WES−4 Manly Warringah Sea EaglesSOU+38GCC+14NOR−10GCC+4ACK+12SQC+8NQL+42STG+4CBY+20CAN+16BRI+14NOR+23WRD−3ILA+8PAR+44ROS+28NEW+16CRO−2TIG+18PEN−4WES+30SOU+38ROS+2XCRO+24STG+12 Newcastle KnightsCROForfeitWRD+6STG−4TIG−12PEN+2WES+22SOU+6GCC+42ACK+4SQC+16NQL−16STG+11CBY−10CAN−2BRI−5NOR0MAN−16ILA−12PAR−2ROS+16WRD+4CRO−22 North Queensland Cowboys−ROS−38TIG+15CAN−56BRI−44NOR−44MAN−42ILA−16PAR−14ROS−24NEW+16CRO+6TIG−2PEN−21WES−8SOU−2GCC+10ACK−46SQC+5WRD−26STG+4CBY−28 North Sydney BearsGCC+16SOU+16MAN+10ACK−4SQC+14NQL+44STG+42CBY+8CAN−34BRI+6WRD+22MAN−23ILA+30PAR+2ROS−5NEW0CRO0TIG+24PEN+34WES−1SOU+42GCC+30BRI+5XSTG−17 Parramatta EelsPENForfeitSQC−4CAN+6WES−4SOU+28GCC−13ACK−24SQC+10NQL+14STG+4CBY−18CAN+40BRI−6NOR−2MAN−44ILA+16WRD+12ROS0NEW+2CRO−8TIG−12PEN−8 Penrith PanthersPARForfeitCAN0SQC+18ROS−16NEW−2CRO−8TIG−2WRD+34WES−10SOU+8GCC+6ACK−10SQC−4NQL+21STG−26CBY−2CAN−16BRI−30NOR−34MAN+4ILA−40PAR+8 South Queensland CrushersCANForfeitPAR+4PEN−18BRI−20NOR−14MAN−8ILA−4PAR−10ROS−26NEW−16CRO−24TIG−10PEN+4WES+2SOU−32GCC−48ACK−4WRD−2NQL−5STG−18CBY−1CAN−26 South Sydney RabbitohsMAN−38NOR−16GCC−2ILA−42PAR−28ROS−62NEW−6CRO−18TIG+28PEN−8WES0WRD+6GCC+2ACK−14SQC+32NQL+2STG−20CBY−24CAN−30BRI−2NOR−42MAN−38 St. George DragonsWRDForfeitCRO−8NEW+4CBY+20CAN+10BRI−18NOR−42MAN−4ILA−6PAR−4ROS+16NEW−11CRO0TIG+11PEN+26WES+8SOU+20GCC+12ACK+29SQC+18NQL−4WRD+6CAN+2ROS+20NOR+17MAN−12 Sydney TigersROS−28CBY+4NQL−15NEW+12CRO−20WRD+4PEN+2WES+6SOU−28GCC−12ACK+12SQC+10NQL+2STG−11CBY+2CAN−18BRI−20NOR−24MAN−18ILA+2PAR+12ROS−14 Sydney City RoostersTIG+28NQL+38CBY+6PEN+16WES+20SOU+62GCC+3ACK+12SQC+26NQL+24STG−16CBY−12CAN−4BRI+2NOR+5MAN−28ILA+16PAR0WRD+12NEW−16CRO−8TIG+14MAN−2STG−20 Western RedsSTGForfeitNEW−6CRO+7CRO−14CBY−4TIG−4CAN−20PEN−34BRI−8WES−14NOR−22SOU−6MAN+3GCC0ILA+1ACK+20PAR−12SQC+2ROS−12NQL+26NEW−4STG−6 Western Suburbs MagpiesILA+9BRI−22ACK+14PAR+4ROS−20NEW−22CRO+8TIG−6PEN+10WRD+14SOU0GCC+32ACK−16SQC−2NQL+8STG−8CBY+4CAN+8BRI−30NOR+1MAN−30ILA+4CRO−8 Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 F1 F2 F3 GF
Bold – Home game X – Bye Opponent for round listed above margin
Ladder TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 Manly (P)22 1804549191+358362 Brisbane211704607263+344343 North Sydney221525598325+273324 Sydney City Roosters221516521321+200315 Cronulla211425399268+131306 Canberra211317538384+154277 St. George211218443360+83278 Western Suburbs221219394434−40259 Newcastle2110110416388+282310 Canterbury2111010375378−32211 Auckland2111011412427−152212 Sydney Tigers2211011319459−1402213 Parramatta219111404415−112114 Illawarra228014403444−411615 Penrith217113363464−1011516 Western Reds216114313420−1071317 North Queensland216015288643−3551218 Gold Coast225116359521−1621119 South Sydney225116314634−3201120 South Queensland213018220496−2768
Finals HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd Qualifying Finals Cronulla Sharks20–12 Western Suburbs Magpies6 September 1996Parramatta StadiumDavid Manson22,433 Brisbane Broncos16–21 North Sydney Bears7 September 1996Suncorp Stadium*Eddie Ward25,983 Canberra Raiders14–16 St. George Dragons7 September 1996Sydney Football StadiumKelvin Jeffes28,185 Manly Sea Eagles16–14 Sydney City Roosters8 September 1996Sydney Football StadiumPaul McBlane31,327 Semi-finals Brisbane Broncos16–22 Cronulla Sharks14 September 1996Sydney Football StadiumKelvin Jeffes27,665 Sydney City Roosters16–36 St. George Dragons15 September 1996Sydney Football StadiumDavid Manson37,858 Preliminary Finals North Sydney Bears12–29 St. George Dragons21 September 1996Sydney Football StadiumKelvin Jeffes37,779 Manly Sea Eagles24–0 Cronulla Sharks22 September 1996Sydney Football StadiumDavid Manson40,525 Grand Final Manly Sea Eagles20–8 St. George Dragons29 September 1996Sydney Football StadiumDavid Manson40,985 Although Brisbane's home ground during the 1996 ARL season was ANZ Stadium this game was played at Suncorp.
Chart
Grand Final
This was the last Grand Final to feature two Sydney-based teams until 2003. 40,985 people were at the Sydney Football Stadium for the match, the lowest attendance since 1989. The match was refereed by Queenslander David Manson. For St. George, it was their third Grand Final appearance in the 1990s and would prove to be their last as a stand-alone club. Manly, looking for their sixth premiership, had been beaten Grand Finalists in 1995.
This would be the third and final time the two clubs would meet in a Grand Final, with St George having been victorious on both previous occasions in 1957 and 1959.