The 2014 NRL season was the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 17th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand, for the Auckland Nines, replacing the Rugby League All Stars Match for the year, in the pre-season. After 26 rounds of the regular season, the Sydney Roosters were again crowned minor premiers and the competition had been reduced to a top eight teams to contest the finals series. The grand final was won by the South Sydney Rabbitohs, ending a 43-year premiership drought, winning 30–6 against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
Teams
The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 8th consecutive year. The 2014 season also presents a record 7 teams naming co-captains. The NRL's salary cap for the clubs' top 25 players was $A6.3M for 2014. Colours Club Season Home ground(s) Head coach Captain(s) Brisbane Broncos 27th season Suncorp Stadium Anthony Griffin Corey Parker & Justin Hodges Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 80th season ANZ Stadium Des Hasler Michael Ennis & Frank Pritchard Canberra Raiders 33rd season GIO Stadium Canberra Ricky Stuart Terry Campese→Brett White & Jarrod Croker Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 48th season Remondis Stadium (Suspended) → Peter Sharp (Resigned) → James Shepherd & → Jeff Robson Gold Coast Titans 8th season Cbus Super Stadium John Cartwright→Neil Henry Nate Myles & Greg Bird Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 65th season Brookvale Oval Geoff Toovey Jamie Lyon & Jason King Melbourne Storm 17th season AAMI Park Craig Bellamy Cameron Smith Newcastle Knights 27th season Hunter Stadium Wayne Bennett Kurt Gidley New Zealand Warriors 20th season Mt. Smart Stadium Matthew Elliott→Andrew McFadden Simon Mannering North Queensland Cowboys 20th season 1300SMILES Stadium Paul Green Johnathan Thurston & Matt Scott Parramatta Eels 68th season Parramatta Stadium Brad Arthur Jarryd Hayne & Tim Mannah Penrith Panthers 48th season Centrebet Stadium Ivan Cleary Kevin Kingston & Peter Wallace →Brent Kite & Jamie Soward St. George Illawarra Dragons 16th season WIN Jubilee Oval & WIN Stadium Steve Price→Paul McGregor Ben Creagh South Sydney Rabbitohs 105th season ANZ Stadium Michael Maguire John Sutton Sydney Roosters 107th season Allianz Stadium Trent Robinson Anthony Minichiello Wests Tigers 15th season Campbelltown Stadium & Leichhardt Oval Mick Potter Robbie Farah
Pre-season
The 2014 pre-season featured the inaugural Auckland Nines competition, held over a weekend at Auckland's Eden Park. Hailed a success with its large attendances, the tournament was won by North Queensland Cowboys, claiming their first piece of silverware. The following weekend the 2014 World Club Challenge was played in Sydney, the first time the match was held outside England since 1994, with the Sydney Roosters defeating the Wigan Warriors convincingly.
Unlike previous seasons' advertising campaigns that featured a pop song, in 2014 the NRL's You're the difference was a spoken-word piece that focused on the game's fans. The NRL's official season launch was on 26 February at the Sydney Exhibition Centre and featured Roosters captain Anthony Minichiello speaking as the face of the game.
In the annual pre-season Charity Shield match, the Dragons hosted the Rabbitohs but were beaten.
Regular season
The regular season commenced on Thursday, 6 March in Sydney between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Sydney Roosters. A number of themed rounds featured in the 2014 season, including Men of League Heritage Round (round 5), Women in League Round (round 10), and Indigenous Round (round 23). In addition, the NRL chose to designate round 19 as 'Rise for Alex' round in order to allow the rugby league community to show their support for Newcastle Knights player Alex McKinnon, who suffered a severe neck injury in round 3. One dollar from each ticket sold across all eight games were donated to support McKinnon's recovery, where it raised over $147,000 in total.
For the first time in the code's 106-year history, not one player was sent off from the field during the regular season.NRL referees says they are not afraid to send off players in the finals series, Fox Sports Australia, 14 September 2014
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 F1 F2 F3 GF Brisbane BroncosCBY6NQL4SYD4SGI16PAR7GCT4NEW26SOU2NQL13GCT14WTI2MAN26CAN24XNZL9CRO2XPEN1NZL6MEL22MAN12CBY31SOU26NEW42SGI8MEL10NQL12 Canberra RaidersNQL6NEW6GCT12SOU12PEN6NEW14MEL2MAN36NZL42PEN6NQL30SYD14BRI24XCBY8WTI1XGCT16MEL14SOU16NZL36PAR8SGI18CRO10WTI15PAR13 Canterbury Bankstown BulldogsBRI6CRO38PEN2MEL28SYD1NZL1SOU1NEW4SGI32NZL4SYD20XMAN22PAR10CAN8XMAN7MEL2WTI28NQL8PEN6BRI31PAR2WTI20SOU7GCT1MEL24MAN1PEN6SOU24Cronulla-Sutherland SharksGCT6CBY38SGI2NEW30NZL31MAN20SYD6PEN4PAR18WTI2SOU18XSGI30XMAN26BRI2SYD2NEW13NQL18PEN2PAR20NZL4MEL42CAN10NQL1WTI16Gold Coast TitansCRO6WTI30CAN12NQL1MEL2BRI4PEN2WTI16SOU22BRI14NZL8XPEN22MEL4SGI1XSOU4CAN16NEW14PAR6NQL20SYD8MAN3SGI28NZL42CBY1Manly Warringah Sea EaglesMEL1SOU2PAR4SYD8WTI16CRO20NQL5CAN36MEL3NEW1XBRI26CBY22XCRO26SYD8CBY7WTI32SGI9NZL10BRI12SOU19GCT3PAR10PEN1NQL14SOU16CBY1Melbourne StormMAN1PEN1NEW8CBY28GCT2SGI4CAN2NZL6MAN3SOU13XNQL22SYD20GCT4PAR26SGI12XCBY2CAN14BRI22WTI22NEW2CRO42PEN14SYD12BRI10CBY24Newcastle KnightsPEN22CAN6MEL8CRO30NQL26CAN14BRI26CBY4PEN22MAN1XNZL20WTI3SYD17NQL8PAR6XCRO13GCT14SYD4SOU40MEL2NZL6BRI42PAR30SGI30 New Zealand WarriorsPAR20SGI19NQL4WTI24CRO31CBY1SGI10MEL6CAN42CBY4GCT8NEW20SOU16XBRI9PEN10XPAR48BRI6MAN10CAN36CRO4NEW6SYD34GCT42PEN16 North Queensland CowboysCAN6BRI4NZL4GCT1NEW26WTI12MAN5PAR28BRI13SYD32CAN30MEL22PAR2XNEW8SOU2SGI3XCRO18CBY8GCT20WTI58PEN1SOU12CRO1MAN14BRI12SYD1Parramatta EelsNZL20SYD52MAN4PEN16BRI7SYD2WTI3NQL28CRO18SGI36 XPEN26NQL2CBY10MEL26NEW6XNZL48SOU20GCT6CRO20CAN8CBY2MAN10NEW30CAN13 Penrith PanthersNEW22MEL1CBY2PAR16CAN6SOU16GCT2CRO4NEW22CAN6XPAR26GCT22SGI4XNZL10WTI16BRI1SYD20CRO2CBY6SGI12NQL1MEL14MAN1NZL16SYD1XCBY6 South Sydney RabbitohsSYD20MAN2WTI9CAN12SGI20PEN16CBY1BRI2GCT22MEL13CRO18SGI19NZL16WTI22XNQL2GCT4XPAR20CAN16NEW40MAN19BRI26NQL12CBY7SYD4MAN16XSYD10CBY24 St. George Illawarra DragonsWTI20NZL19CRO2BRI16SOU20MEL4NZL10SYD20CBY32PAR36XSOU19CRO30PEN4GCT1MEL12NQL3XMAN9WTI16SYD8PEN12CAN18GCT28BRI8NEW30 Sydney RoostersSOU20PAR52BRI4MAN8CBY1PAR2CRO6SGI20WTI24NQL32CBY20CAN14MEL20NEW17XMAN8CRO2XPEN20NEW4SGI8GCT8WTI44NZL34MEL12SOU4PEN1NQL1SOU10Wests TigersSGI20GCT30SOU9NZL24MAN16NQL12PAR3GCT16SYD24CRO2BRI2XNEW3SOU22XCAN1PEN16MAN32CBY28SGI16MEL22NQL58SYD44CBY20CAN15CRO16 Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 F1 F2 F3 GF
Bold – Opposition's Home game X – Bye Opponent for round listed above margin
Ladder
Ladder progression Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8. Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round. Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round. Underlined numbers indicate that the team had a bye during that round. Team12345678910111213141516171819202122232425261 Sydney 0 2 4 4 4 4 6 8 10 10 12 14 16 18 20 20 20 22 24 24 26 28 30 32 34 362 Manly-Warringah 0 2 4 6 6 8 10 12 12 14 16 16 18 2022 24 24 26 28 30 32 32 34 34 36 363 South Sydney 2 2 2 2 4 6 6 8 10 10 12 14 16 18 20 20 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 32 34 344 Penrith 2 2 4 4 6 6 8 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 2222 24 26 26 26 28 30 32 32 32 345 North Queensland 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 6 8 10 10 12 12 14 14 16 16 18 20 22 24 26 26 28 30 326 Melbourne 2 4 6 6 6 8 8 8 10 12 14 14 14 16 18 18 20 20 22 24 26 26 28 30 30 327 Canterbury-Bankstown 0 2 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 16 1818 1820 2224 26 26 26 26 26 28 30 30 308 Brisbane 2 4 4 6 6 6 8 8 8 10 12 14 16 18 18 18 20 20 22 22 22 24 24 26 28 289 New Zealand 0 0 2 4 4 4 4 6 8 8 10 12 12 14 16 18 20 22 22 22 24 26 26 26 28 2810 Parramatta 2 2 2 4 6 8 8 8 10 12 14 14 16 18 18 18 20 20 20 22 24 26 26 28 28 2811 St. George Illawarra 2 4 6 6 6 6 8 8 8 8 10 10 12 12 14 16 18 20 20 22 22 22 24 26 26 2612 Newcastle 0 0 0 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 6 6 6 6 8 10 12 14 14 16 16 18 20 20 22 2413 Wests 0 2 4 4 6 8 10 10 10 12 12 14 16 16 18 20 20 20 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 2414 Gold Coast 2 2 4 6 8 10 10 12 12 12 12 14 14 14 14 16 18 18 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2215 Canberra 0 2 2 4 4 4 6 6 6 6 8 8 8 10 10 10 12 14 14 14 14 14 14 16 18 2016 Cronulla-Sutherland 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 66 8 8 10 12 12 12 14 14 14 14 14 14 14
Finals series
For the third year the NRL uses the finals system previously implemented by the ARL competition from the 1990s (also used as the AFL finals system) to decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams. All but two teams retained a top-eight position to feature in this season's finals series. The Brisbane Broncos made a return after finishing 12th in 2013, whilst the Penrith Panthers made their first finals appearance since 2010 and only the second time since 2004. By failing to qualify, the Canberra Raiders missed the finals in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1986.
By the time of the 2014 NRL Grand final list-determining preliminary finals, the top four finishing teams remained except for the 2nd-placed Sea Eagles, who'd been replaced by the 7th-placed Bulldogs.
HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and Time (Local)VenueRefereesCrowd QUALIFYING & ELIMINATION FINALS Manly Warringah Sea Eagles24 – 40 South Sydney Rabbitohs 12 September 2014, 8:00pm Allianz Stadium Shayne HayneGavin Badger 25,733 Sydney Roosters18 – 19 Penrith Panthers 13 September 2014, 5:55pm Allianz Stadium Jared MaxwellHenry Perenara 23,449 North Queensland Cowboys32 – 20 Brisbane Broncos 13 September 2014, 7:55pm 1300SMILES Stadium Gerard SuttonBen Cummins 25,120 Melbourne Storm4 – 28 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 14 September 2014, 4:10pm AAMI Park Matt CecchinGavin Morris 19,230 SEMI FINALS Sydney Roosters31 – 30 North Queensland Cowboys 19 September 2014, 8:00pm Allianz Stadium Shayne HayneGavin Badger 18,355 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles17 – 18 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs † 20 September 2014, 7:50pm Allianz Stadium Gerard SuttonBen Cummins 28,186 PRELIMINARY FINALS South Sydney Rabbitohs32 – 22 Sydney Roosters 26 September 2014, 8:00pm ANZ Stadium Gerard SuttonBen Cummins 52,592 Penrith Panthers12 – 18 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 27 September 2014, 8:00pm ANZ Stadium Shayne HayneGavin Badger 46,168 † Match decided in golden point extra time.
Chart
Grand final
Regular season player statistics The following statistics are of the conclusion of round 26. South Sydney's winger Lote Tuqiri was the oldest player in the 2014 NRL Season at the age of 35, he is three days older than Parramatta's Fuifui Moimoi
Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField Goals208 Johnathan Thurston10824207 James Maloney4951202 Jarrod Croker18650175 Adam Reynolds4783163 Shaun Johnson9631 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayer21 Alex Johnston20 Jarryd Hayne19 Semi Radradra18 Jarrod Croker17 Peta Hiku17 Sisa Waqa17 Manu Vatuvei
Top 5 goal scorers GoalsPlayer95 James Maloney82 Johnathan Thurston78 Adam Reynolds68 Cameron Smith65 Jamie Lyon65 Jarrod Croker Top 5 tacklers TacklesPlayer1,074 Nathan Friend1,060 Andrew McCullough974 Matt Ballin940 Jake Friend923 Cameron Smith
2014 Transfers
Players