The 2008 National Rugby League season consisted of 26 weekly regular season rounds, starting on 14 March, followed by four weeks of play-offs, culminating in a grand final on 5 October.
Regular season Times for Rounds 1–3 were Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time. Times for Round 4 and the remainder of the season were Australian Eastern Standard Time.
Round 1 This round marked the first premiership round of the centenary season of rugby league in Australia. Skilled Park on the Gold Coast became the 70th first-grade venue used, and was filled to capacity for its first NRL match with the Gold Coast Titans against the North Queensland Cowboys. The Titans' Jordan Atkins equalled the competition record of four tries on debut, emulating Johnno Stuntz (1908), Viv Farnsworth (1910), and Tony Nash (1942). The Bulldogs suffered their worst collapse when they led Parramatta 20–0 at halftime to lose 28–20 at ANZ Stadium, while that comeback was Parramatta's second largest. Brisbane's Corey Parker surpassed Darren Lockyer's and Michael De Vere's club record of most goals kicked in a match, scoring 10 goals out of 10.
HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeCrowd South Sydney Rabbitohs20-34 Sydney Roosters 14 March 2008, 7:30 pmANZ StadiumTony Archer29,386 Gold Coast Titans36-18 North Queensland Cowboys 14 March 2008, 8:30 pmSkilled ParkShayne Hayne26,974 Parramatta Eels28-20 Bulldogs 15 March 2008, 5:30 pmANZ StadiumJason Robinson25,065 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles10-16 Cronulla Sharks 15 March 2008, 7:30 pmBrookvale OvalJared Maxwell15,424 Newcastle Knights30-14 Canberra Raiders 15 March 2008, 7:30 pmEnergyAustralia StadiumTony De Las Heras17,233 Brisbane Broncos48-12 Penrith Panthers 16 March 2008, 2:00 pmSuncorp StadiumGavin Badger31,250 Wests Tigers24-16 St George Illawarra Dragons 16 March 2008, 3:00 pmSydney Football StadiumSean Hampstead18,211 Melbourne Storm32-18 New Zealand Warriors 17 March 2008, 7:00 pmTelstra DomeBen Cummins20,084
Round 2 Newcastle Knights and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles played out the first golden point game of the season. The Melbourne Storm lost their 100th ever game and their first game at Olympic Park since round 24, 2006. Both of National Rugby League season 2007's grand finalists, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the Melbourne Storm, were beaten this round both by one point by Newcastle and Cronulla.
HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeCrowd Sydney Roosters14-20 Brisbane Broncos 21 March 2008, 7:30 pmSydney Football StadiumJared Maxwell18,724 South Sydney Rabbitohs12-25 Bulldogs 21 March 2008, 7:30 pmANZ StadiumSean Hampstead21,839 Penrith Panthers16-20 Canberra Raiders 22 March 2008, 5:30 pmCUA StadiumJason Robinson7,503 Newcastle Knights13-12 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 22 March 2008, 7:30 pmEnergyAustralia StadiumBen Cummins18,117 North Queensland Cowboys10-30 Wests Tigers 22 March 2008, 9:30 pmDairy Farmers StadiumTony De Las Heras20,655 New Zealand Warriors30-16 Parramatta Eels 23 March 2008, 2:00 pmMt Smart StadiumShayne Hayne15,250 Melbourne Storm16-17 Cronulla Sharks 23 March 2008, 3:00 pmOlympic Park StadiumTony Archer10,720 St George Illawarra Dragons30-12 Gold Coast Titans 24 March 2008, 7:00 pmWIN StadiumGavin Badger10,521
Round 3 All matches this round were won by home teams. A new Suncorp Stadium attendance record for premiership games was set with 50,612. Brisbane Broncos made it three wins from their first three matches of the season for the first time since 2003. Newcastle Knights played their second consecutive golden point game but lost to the Parramatta Eels. Melbourne Storm suffered their first back-to-back loss since rounds 3 and 4, 2006. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles got their biggest ever win over the New Zealand Warriors.
HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeCrowd Brisbane Broncos36-2 North Queensland Cowboys 28 March 2008, 8:30 pmSuncorp StadiumBen Cummins50,612 Parramatta Eels24-23 Newcastle Knights 28 March 2008, 7:30 pmParramatta StadiumTony Archer15,176 Sydney Roosters10-6 Melbourne Storm 29 March 2008, 5:30 pmSydney Football StadiumShayne Hayne12,137 Canberra Raiders21-14 St George Illawarra Dragons 29 March 2008, 7:30 pmCanberra StadiumGavin Badger14,400 Gold Coast Titans18-4 Cronulla Sharks 29 March 2008, 9:30 pmSkilled ParkJason Robinson19,050 Penrith Panthers26-22 South Sydney Rabbitohs 30 March 2008, 2:00 pmCUA StadiumTony De Las Heras10,839 Bulldogs32-12 Wests Tigers 30 March 2008, 3:00 pmANZ StadiumJared Maxwell21,546 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles52-6 New Zealand Warriors 31 March 2008, 7:00 pmBrookvale OvalSean Hampstead10,175
Round 4 A new ANZ Stadium regular season attendance record (excluding double headers) was set when 36,526 came to the match between the Bulldogs and the Sydney Roosters. Golden point was invoked for the third time in 2008, the Cronulla v St. George Illawarra match going to extra time. The South Sydney Rabbitohs were the remaining team to yet win a game after falling for their fourth consecutive game against the Manly Sea Eagles, who managed to keep them tryless by 20 points to 2. The Sydney Roosters' and the Bulldogs' match was labelled the "Grudge Match of the Year", as many of the Roosters high-profile players were former Bulldogs and it was their first clash since forward Willie Mason left the Bulldogs for the Roosters. However the match was one-sided as the Roosters scored a 28-point victory. Braith Anasta, a former Bulldog, was named man of the match while Mason scored two tries.
HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeCrowd Bulldogs12-40 Sydney Roosters 4 April 2008, 7:30 pmANZ StadiumTony Archer36,526 Melbourne Storm28-8 Brisbane Broncos 4 April 2008, 7:30 pmOlympic Park StadiumJared Maxwell13,831 St George Illawarra Dragons16-18 Cronulla Sharks 5 April 2008, 5:30 pmANZ StadiumSean Hampstead15,318 Gold Coast Titans32-12 Canberra Raiders 5 April 2008, 7:30 pmSkilled ParkBen Cummins17,381 North Queensland Cowboys38-14 Parramatta Eels 5 April 2008, 9:30 pmDairy Farmers StadiumBernard Sutton19,231 New Zealand Warriors26-20 Newcastle Knights 6 April 2008, 2:00 pmMt Smart StadiumTony Le Las Heras11,518 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles20-2 South Sydney Rabbitohs 6 April 2008, 3:00 pmBrookvale OvalShayne Hayne14,426 Wests Tigers8-30 Penrith Panthers 7 April 2008, 7:00 pmCampbelltown StadiumJason Robinson11,898
Round 5 For the fifth time in their ten-year history, St. George Illawarra Dragons started the season with one win and four losses. The New Zealand Warriors won their first match against the Bulldogs since the first week of the finals in 2003. Canberra Raiders won the inaugural 1989 League Legends Cup against the Wests Tigers. The Brisbane Broncos won their fourth straight match over the Newcastle Knights.
HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeCrowd Melbourne Storm26-4 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 11 April 2008, 7:30 pmOlympic Park StadiumTony Archer13,632 Parramatta Eels20-28 Gold Coast Titans 11 April 2008, 7:30 pmParramatta StadiumJared Maxwell13,321 St George Illawarra Dragons16-20 North Queensland Cowboys 12 April 2008, 5:30 pmWIN StadiumTony De Las Heras11,639 Penrith Panthers12-28 Sydney Roosters 12 April 2008, 7:30 pmCUA StadiumBernard Sutton16,294 New Zealand Warriors36-16 Bulldogs 13 April 2008, 12:00 pmMt Smart StadiumBen Cummins15,912 Canberra Raiders30-24 Wests Tigers 13 April 2008, 2:00 pmCanberra StadiumSean Hampstead12,240 Newcastle Knights22-34 Brisbane Broncos 13 April 2008, 3:00 pmEnergyAustralia StadiumShayne Hayne21,614 South Sydney Rabbitohs10-12 Cronulla Sharks 14 April 2008, 7:00 pmANZ StadiumJason Robinson12,998
Round 6: heritage round This premiership round, the heritage round, was set down to celebrate the anniversary of the first round of the 1908 premiership. Teams wore jerseys reflecting their club or region's first season in the competition.
Corey Parker played his 150th career game for the Brisbane Broncos. Cronulla played their first home game of the season after five rounds on the road when waiting for their home venue (Toyota Stadium) to be upgraded. It resulted in a golden point loss to Penrith. The Newcastle Knights put their season back into the positive after defeating the Sydney Roosters, bouncing back from a 20-12 half time deficit by scoring four tries within the remaining ten minutes. Melbourne win their twelfth straight match against Canberra after coming from 16-4 down at halftime. This round saw a change in the lead on the competition ladder, with the Gold coast Titans edging ahead of the Brisbane Broncos.
HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeCrowd Gold Coast Titans26-24 Brisbane Broncos 18 April 2008, 7:30 pmSkilled ParkTony Archer 27,176 Parramatta Eels16-20 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 18 April 2008, 7:30 pmParramatta StadiumShayne Hayne14,025 Bulldogs30-18 St George Illawarra Dragons 19 April 2008, 5:30 pmANZ StadiumBernard Sutton14,767 North Queensland Cowboys48-20 New Zealand Warriors 19 April 2008, 7:30 pmDairy Farmers StadiumJason Robinson20,554 Cronulla Sharks20-21 Penrith Panthers 19 April 2008, 7:30 pmToyota StadiumSean Hampstead13,852 Sydney Roosters20-34 Newcastle Knights 20 April 2008, 2:00 pm Bluetongue StadiumSteve Lyons14,176 Wests Tigers30-10 South Sydney Rabbitohs 20 April 2008, 3:00 pmSydney Cricket GroundBen Cummins19,122 Canberra Raiders16-23 Melbourne Storm 21 April 2008, 7:00 pmCanberra StadiumJared Maxwell15,550
Round 7 South Sydney Rabbitohs lost their ninth consecutive match (from round 24, 2007), this time to the Brisbane Broncos. This was also Tonie Carroll's 200th game for the Broncos. The Dragons bounced back from their four-game slump, causing the Sydney Roosters' first back-to-back losses for this season. Gold Coast recorded their fifth successive win, becoming the first of any Gold Coast team in the top grade ever to do so. Wests Tigers extended their winning streak against Cronulla to nine.
HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeCrowd St George Illawarra Dragons26-6 Sydney Roosters25 April 2008, 3:15 pmANZ StadiumSean Hampstead21,596 Brisbane Broncos32-18 South Sydney Rabbitohs25 April 2008, 7:45 pmSuncorp StadiumJason Robinson34,112 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles30-22 Bulldogs26 April 2008, 5:30 pmBrookvale OvalTony Archer15,229 North Queensland Cowboys10-12 Melbourne Storm26 April 2008, 7:30 pmDairy Farmers StadiumGavin Badger24,053 Gold Coast Titans36-24 New Zealand Warriors27 April 2008, 2:00 pmSkilled ParkSteve Lyons25,310 Cronulla Sharks16-20 Wests Tigers27 April 2008, 3:00 pmToyota StadiumShayne Hayne17,241 Parramatta EelsBYE Newcastle Knights Penrith PanthersBYE Canberra Raiders
Round 8 The Newcastle Knights get their first win over the Gold Coast Titans with a thrilling 13-12 match. Referee Ben Cummins was hit by a foam football thrown by angry Penrith fans after the Parramatta Eels 26-18 win over the Panthers. The South Sydney Rabbitohs got their first win of the season. This round was followed by the 2008 ANZAC Test in what was the first test match played at the Sydney Cricket Ground since 1986.
HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeCrowd Newcastle Knights13-12 Gold Coast Titans3 May 2008, 5:30 pmEnergyAustralia StadiumGavin Badger21,280 Penrith Panthers18-26 Parramatta Eels3 May 2008, 7:30 pmCUA StadiumBen Cummins18,724 Wests Tigers22-34 Brisbane Broncos3 May 2008, 8:30 pmANZ StadiumTony Archer11,177 New Zealand Warriors14-6 Canberra Raiders4 May 2008, 2:00 pmMt Smart StadiumSean Hampstead7,358 South Sydney Rabbitohs28-24 North Queensland Cowboys4 May 2008, 3:00 pmANZ StadiumShayne Hayne9,818 BulldogsBYE St George Illawarra Dragons Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesBYE Sydney Roosters Cronulla SharksBYE Melbourne Storm
Round 9 The 0-0 halftime scoreline during the Melbourne and Newcastle match was the fourth time in three years that the first half of an NRL match was scoreless.