The 2012 NRL season was the 105th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the first run by the newly formed Australian Rugby League Commission. The main competition, called the 2012 NRL Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra was contested by the sixteen teams of the National Rugby League. The season started with the 2012 NRL All Stars match and culminated in the 2012 NRL grand final. The 2012 Toyota Cup season also took place alongside the Premiership. The McIntyre final eight system, in use since 1999, was replaced with the finals system previously used by the ARL in the 1990s.

The 2012 Premiership was won by the Melbourne Storm, officially the club's second following the removal of their 2007 and 2009 premierships, among other titles, due to salary cap breaches exposed in April 2010. They defeated minor premiers the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 14-4 in the Grand Final, which was held on Sunday 30 September at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

Season summary

Halfway through the 2012 season, the NRL's Chief Executive Officer David Gallop stood down from his role after just over a decade in the role.

Records Set on 2012 The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs won twelve consecutive matches between Rounds 11 and 24, the longest winning streak for the club in 8 years. They also won their first minor premiership in 18 years. The Melbourne Storm lost five consecutive matches from rounds 16 to 21 (around a bye in round 17), the longest losing streak in Craig Bellamy's coaching career and the second longest losing streak in the club's history. For the first time since 1989, the South Sydney Rabbitohs finished in the top four, and they also won their first finals match since 1987.

Teams Brisbane Broncos25th seasonGround: Suncorp StadiumCoach: Anthony Griffin Captain: Justin Hodges Canberra Raiders31st seasonGround: Canberra StadiumCoach: David FurnerCaptain: Terry Campese→David ShillingtonCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 78th seasonGround: ANZ StadiumCoach:Des Hasler Captain: Michael EnnisCronulla-Sutherland Sharks46th seasonGround: Toyota StadiumCoach: Shane FlanaganCaptain: Paul GallenGold Coast Titans6th seasonGround: Skilled ParkCoach: John CartwrightCaptain: Scott PrinceManly Warringah Sea Eagles63rd seasonGrounds: Brookvale OvalCoach: Geoff TooveyCaptains: Jamie Lyon & Jason KingMelbourne Storm15th seasonGround: AAMI ParkCoach: Craig BellamyCaptain: Cameron SmithNewcastle Knights25th seasonGround: Hunter StadiumCoach: Wayne BennettCaptain: Kurt Gidley→Danny BuderusNew Zealand Warriors18th seasonGround: Mt. Smart StadiumCoach: Brian McClennan→Tony IroCaptain: Simon ManneringNorth Queensland Cowboys18th seasonGround: Dairy Farmers StadiumCoach: Neil HenryCaptains: Johnathan Thurston & Matt ScottParramatta Eels66th seasonGround: Parramatta StadiumCoach: Stephen Kearney→Brad ArthurCaptain: Nathan HindmarshPenrith Panthers46th seasonGround: Centrebet StadiumCoach:Ivan ClearyCaptain: Luke Lewis→Kevin Kingston South Sydney Rabbitohs103rd seasonGround: ANZ StadiumCoach: Michael MaguireCaptains: Michael Crocker, Roy Asotasi, John Sutton, Matt King, Sam Burgess,Sydney Roosters105th seasonGround: Allianz StadiumCoach: Brian SmithCaptain: Braith AnastaSt. George Illawarra Dragons14th seasonGrounds: WIN Jubilee Oval & WIN StadiumCoach: Steve PriceCaptain: Ben HornbyWests Tigers13th seasonGrounds: Allianz Stadium, Campbelltown Stadium & Leichhardt OvalCoach: Tim SheensCaptain: Robbie Farah

Ladder

Finals series For details on the finals see 2012 NRL season results.

The NRL returned to the top-eight system used by the ARL in the 1990s to decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams. This replaced the McIntyre final eight system that was used for the past 12 seasons. Only four of last year's finalists were featured in this year's finals series: Melbourne Storm, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys. For the teams that did not feature last year, the Canberra Raiders last appeared in 2010, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 2009, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in 2008 and South Sydney in 2007. South Sydney made only their second finals appearance since 1989 and also their second preliminary final since winning the premiership in 1971. The last time the club made the preliminary final was also in 1989.

HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and Time (Local)VenueRefereesCrowd QUALIFYING & ELIMINATION FINALS Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs16 – 10 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 7 September 2012, 7:45pm ANZ Stadium Ben CumminsAshley Klein 36,420 Melbourne Storm24 – 6 South Sydney Rabbitohs 8 September 2012, 5:45pm AAMI Park Shayne HayneJason Robinson 19,750 North Queensland Cowboys 33 – 16 Brisbane Broncos 8 September 2012, 7:45pm Dairy Farmers Stadium Matt CecchinGerard Sutton 21,307 Canberra Raiders34 – 16 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 9 September 2012, 4:00pm Canberra Stadium Tony ArcherChris James 24,450 SEMI FINALS Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 22 – 12 North Queensland Cowboys 14 September 2012, 7:45pm Allianz StadiumShayne HayneBen Cummins16,678 South Sydney Rabbitohs 38 – 16 Canberra Raiders 15 September 2012, 7:45pm ANZ StadiumTony ArcherMatt Cecchin35,874 PRELIMINARY FINALS Melbourne Storm40 – 12 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 21 September 2012, 7:45pmAAMI ParkMatt CecchinTony Archer25,543 Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs32 – 8 South Sydney Rabbitohs 22 September 2012, 7:45pm ANZ StadiumShayne HayneBen Cummins70,354

Chart

Grand final

Regular season player statistics The following statistics are correct as of the conclusion of Round 26.

Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField Goals220 Jarrod Croker16780184 Adam Reynolds2872176 Johnathan Thurston3820172 Jamie Lyon9680158 Benji Marshall5723 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayer21 Ben Barba21 Ashley Graham18 Akuila Uate17 Josh Morris16 Reece Robinson16 Jarrod Croker

Top 5 goal scorers GoalsPlayer87 Adam Reynolds82 Johnathan Thurston78 Jarrod Croker72 Benji Marshall68 Jamie Lyon68 Cameron Smith

Attendance figures

Home ground figures Club Total Average Best Crowd Brisbane Broncos 400,528 33,377 43,171 vs North Queensland Cowboys, Round 2 Canterbury Bulldogs 282,864 23,572 70,354 vs South Sydney Rabbitohs, Finals Week 3 Newcastle Knights 251,024 20,919 29,482 vs Canterbury Bulldogs, Round 22 South Sydney Rabbitohs 226,848 18,904 35,874 vs Canberra Raiders, Finals Week 2 New Zealand Warriors 205,334 17,111 37,502 vs Manly Sea Eagles, Round 1 2 Parramatta Eels 201,663 16,803 45,863 vs St George Illawarra Dragons, Round 26 St George Illawarra Dragons 197,111 16,426 40,164 vs Sydney Roosters, Round 8 3 Wests Tigers 194,726 16,227 25,608 vs South Sydney Rabbitohs, Round 5 Manly Sea Eagles 175,120 14,593 20,095 vs New Zealand Warriors, Round 21 4 North Queensland Cowboys 172,978 14,415 20,367 vs Brisbane Broncos, Round 15 Gold Coast Titans 172,865 14,405 20,187 vs South Sydney Rabbitohs, Round 22 Cronulla Sharks 158,802 13,234 21,380 vs St George Illawarra Dragons, Round 6 Melbourne Storm 152,217 12,685 25,534 vs Manly Sea Eagles, Finals Week 3 Sydney Roosters 149,790 12,482 19,934 vs South Sydney Rabbitohs, Round 19 Penrith Panthers 130,301 10,858 15,579 vs Wests Tigers, Round 7 Canberra Raiders 122,274 10,190 24,450 vs Cronulla Sharks, Finals Week 1

2012 Transfers

Players