The 2020 NRL season was the 113th of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League.
As of 3 May 2020, the season was shortened from 25 rounds to 20, and the finals series and State of Origin pushed back, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first two rounds were played before the season was suspended on 23 March, and premiership points earned from the earlier rounds are still counted. The season resumed on 28 May. After playing the first two rounds with 2 referees, the decision was made to play the remaining rounds with one referee. To accommodate this, a number of other rules changes were introduced.
Regular season All times are in AEDT (UTC+11:00) up until the 5th of April and AEST (UTC+10:00) from then on.
Round 1 HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereesAttendance Parramatta Eels 8–2 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Thursday, 12 March, 8:05pmBankwest StadiumGrant Atkins, Peter Gough21,363 Canberra Raiders 24–6 Gold Coast Titans Friday, 13 March, 6:00pmGIO StadiumChris Sutton, David Munro10,610 North Queensland Cowboys 21–28 Brisbane Broncos Friday, 13 March, 8:05pmQueensland Country Bank StadiumGerard Sutton, Gavin Badger 22,459 Newcastle Knights 20–0 New Zealand Warriors Saturday, 14 March, 3:00pmMcDonald Jones StadiumHenry Perenara, Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski10,239 South Sydney Rabbitohs 22–18 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Saturday, 14 March, 5:30pmANZ StadiumBen Cummins, Belinda Sharpe6,235 Penrith Panthers 20–14 Sydney Roosters Saturday, 14 March, 7:35pmPanthers StadiumAdam Gee, Chris Butler10,160 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 4–18 Melbourne Storm Sunday, 15 March, 4:05pmLottolandMatt Cecchin, Jon Stone10,315 St. George Illawarra Dragons 14–24 Wests Tigers Sunday, 15 March, 6:15pmWIN StadiumAshley Klein, Phil Henderson9,137 Source:
Round 2 HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereesAttendance Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 16–24 North Queensland Cowboys Thursday, 19 March, 8:05pmANZ StadiumAdam Gee, Chris Butler0 St. George Illawarra Dragons 28–32 Penrith Panthers Friday, 20 March, 6:00pmNetstrata Jubilee StadiumMatt Cecchin, Jon Stone0 Brisbane Broncos 22–18 South Sydney Rabbitohs Friday, 20 March, 8:05pmSuncorp StadiumGrant Atkins, Peter Gough0 New Zealand Warriors 6–20 Canberra Raiders Saturday, 21 March, 3:00pmCbus Super StadiumChris Sutton, David Munro0 Sydney Roosters 8–9 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Saturday, 21 March, 5:30pmLeichhardt OvalBen Cummins, Belinda Sharpe0 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 10–12 Melbourne Storm Saturday, 21 March, 7:35pmNetstrata Jubilee StadiumAshley Klein, Phil Henderson0 Wests Tigers 24–42 Newcastle Knights Sunday, 22 March, 4:05pmLeichhardt OvalGerard Sutton, Gavin Badger0 Gold Coast Titans 6–46 Parramatta Eels Sunday, 22 March, 6:15pmCbus Super StadiumHenry Perenara, Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski0 Source:
Round 3 HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereesAttendance Brisbane Broncos 6–34 Parramatta Eels Thursday, 28 May, 7:50pmSuncorp StadiumGerard Sutton0 North Queensland Cowboys 36–6 Gold Coast Titans Friday, 29 May, 6:00pmQueensland Country Bank StadiumHenry Perenara0 Sydney Roosters 28–12 South Sydney Rabbitohs Friday, 29 May, 7:55pmBankwest StadiumAshley Klein0 New Zealand Warriors 18–0 St. George Illawarra Dragons Saturday, 30 May, 3:00pmCentral Coast StadiumChris Sutton0 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 16–28 Wests Tigers Saturday, 30 May, 5:30pmBankwest StadiumAdam Gee0 Melbourne Storm 6–22 Canberra Raiders Saturday, 30 May, 7:35pmAAMI ParkGrant Atkins0 Penrith Panthers 14–14 Newcastle Knights Sunday, 31 May, 4:05pmCampbelltown StadiumBen Cummins0 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 32–6 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Sunday, 31 May, 6:30pmCentral Coast StadiumMatt Cecchin0 Source: All matches held this round included a minute's silence following the passing of league legend Arthur Summons.
Round 4 HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereesAttendance Brisbane Broncos 0–59 Sydney Roosters Thursday, 4 June, 7:50pmSuncorp StadiumGrant Atkins0 Penrith Panthers 26–0 New Zealand Warriors Friday, 5 June, 6:00pmCampbelltown StadiumMatt Cecchin0 Melbourne Storm 22–8 South Sydney Rabbitohs Friday, 5 June, 7:55pmAAMI ParkGerard Sutton0 Parramatta Eels 19–16 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Saturday, 6 June, 5:30pmBankwest StadiumBen Cummins0 North Queensland Cowboys 16–26 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Saturday, 6 June, 7:35pmQueensland Country Bank StadiumChris Sutton0 Canberra Raiders 18–34 Newcastle Knights Sunday, 7 June, 4:05pmCampbelltown StadiumAshley Klein0 Gold Coast Titans 28–23 Wests Tigers Sunday, 7 June, 6:30pmSuncorp StadiumAdam Gee0 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 22–2 St. George Illawarra Dragons Monday, 8 June, 4:05pmBankwest StadiumHenry Perenara0 Source:
The Sydney Roosters handed the Brisbane Broncos their biggest ever loss and the Broncos were held scoreless at Suncorp Stadium for the first time in their history. It was also the Roosters' biggest win since round 6, 1996.
Round 5 HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereesAttendance(where known) Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 20–18 Brisbane Broncos Thursday, 11 June, 7:50pmCentral Coast StadiumAshley Klein166 New Zealand Warriors 37–26 North Queensland Cowboys Friday, 12 June, 6:00pmCentral Coast StadiumAdam Gee21 Parramatta Eels 16–10 Penrith Panthers Friday, 12 June, 7:55pmBankwest StadiumGerard Sutton507 South Sydney Rabbitohs 32–12 Gold Coast Titans Saturday, 13 June, 3:00pmBankwest StadiumMatt Cecchin401 Newcastle Knights 12–26 Melbourne Storm Saturday, 13 June, 5:30pmCentral Coast StadiumBen Cummins194 Wests Tigers 6–14 Canberra Raiders Saturday, 13 June, 7:35pmCampbelltown StadiumChris Sutton109 St. George Illawarra Dragons 30–16 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Sunday, 14 June, 4:05pmCampbelltown StadiumHenry Perenara103 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 6–42 Sydney Roosters Monday, 15 June, 7:00pmBankwest StadiumGrant Atkins366 Source: Manly recovered from an 0–18 deficit just prior to halftime Crowds were permitted back in stadiums, albeit in limit numbers in corporate boxes only. The Bulldogs vs Roosters clash was postponed due to one of the player's children attending a school where someone tested positive to COVID-19. The Dragons vs Sharks game was shifted to start at 4:05pm as opposed to their original 6:30pm timeslot.
Round 6 HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereesAttendance(where known) Newcastle Knights 27–6 Brisbane Broncos Thursday, 18 June, 7:50pmCentral Coast StadiumGerard Sutton177 South Sydney Rabbitohs 40–12 New Zealand Warriors Friday, 19 June, 6:00pmBankwest StadiumMatt Cecchin437 Penrith Panthers 21–14 Melbourne Storm Friday, 19 June, 7:55pmCampbelltown StadiumAshley Klein115 Gold Coast Titans 8–20 St. George Illawarra Dragons Saturday, 20 June, 3:00pmSuncorp StadiumChris Sutton1,930 Wests Tigers 36–20 North Queensland Cowboys Saturday, 20 June, 5:30pmCampbelltown StadiumHenry Perenara104 Sydney Roosters 24–10 Parramatta Eels Saturday, 20 June, 7:35pmBankwest StadiumBen Cummins566 Canberra Raiders 6–14 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Sunday, 21 June, 4:05pmCampbelltown StadiumGrant Atkins Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 20–18 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Sunday, 21 June, 6:30pmBankwest StadiumAdam Gee410 Source: Stephen Kearney was sacked as coach of New Zealand after their loss to South Sydney.
Round 7 HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereesAttendance(where known) Penrith Panthers 20–12 South Sydney Rabbitohs Thursday, 25 June, 7:50pmNetstrata Jubilee StadiumGerard Sutton106 Melbourne Storm 50–6 New Zealand Warriors Friday, 26 June, 6:00pmNetstrata Jubilee StadiumBen Cummins90 Sydney Roosters 26–12 St. George Illawarra Dragons Friday, 26 June, 7:55pmBankwest StadiumGrant Atkins494 North Queensland Cowboys 32–20 Newcastle Knights Saturday, 27 June, 3:00pmQueensland Country Bank StadiumMatt Cecchin1,853 Brisbane Broncos 12–30 Gold Coast Titans Saturday, 27 June, 5:30pmSuncorp StadiumPeter Gough6,262 Parramatta Eels 25–24 Canberra Raiders Saturday, 27 June, 7:35pmBankwest StadiumAshley Klein560 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 22–40 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Sunday, 28 June, 4:05pmCentral Coast StadiumAdam Gee178 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 6–34 Wests Tigers Sunday, 28 June, 6:30pmBankwest StadiumHenry Perenara519 Source: The Penrith vs South Sydney match was originally meant to be held at Campbelltown Stadium but was moved to Netstrata Jubilee Stadium due to concerns about the playing surface at Campbelltown. The Storm vs Warriors match was originally meant to be held at AAMI Park but was moved to Netstrata Jubilee Stadium due to the high numbers of COVID-19 cases in Victoria compared to NSW & Queensland. The Wests Tigers played their 500th NRL game in their match against Canterbury.
Round 8 HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereesAttendance(where known) Melbourne Storm 27–25 Sydney Roosters Thursday, 2 July, 7:50pmSuncorp StadiumAshley Klein 5 268 Canberra Raiders 22–16 St. George Illawarra Dragons Friday, 3 July, 6:00pmGIO StadiumMatt Cecchin1 420 Parramatta Eels 42–4 North Queensland Cowboys Friday, 3 July, 7:55pmBankwest StadiumBen Cummins6 730 Gold Coast Titans 10–40 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Saturday, 4 July, 3:00pmCbus Super StadiumChris Sutton1 995 New Zealand Warriors 26–16 Brisbane Broncos Saturday, 4 July, 5:30pmCentral Coast StadiumChris Butler2 513 Wests Tigers 12–19 Penrith Panthers Saturday, 4 July, 7:35pmBankwest StadiumAdam Gee3 960 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 12–14 Newcastle Knights Sunday, 5 July, 4:05pmLottolandGrant Atkins2 271 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 10–26 South Sydney Rabbitohs Sunday, 5 July, 6:30pmBankwest StadiumPeter Gough3 585 Source: As of this round with the exception of Melbourne and New Zealand, all clubs were allowed to play at their home grounds again. Addin Fonua-Blake was sent off in Manly's game against Newcastle.
Round 9 HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereesAttendance(where known) North Queensland Cowboys 16–42 Sydney Roosters Thursday, 9 July, 7:50pmQueensland Country Bank StadiumAdam Gee6,478 Gold Coast Titans 16–12 New Zealand Warriors Friday, 10 July, 6:00pmCbus Super StadiumChris Butler5,206 South Sydney Rabbitohs 18–10 Wests Tigers Friday, 10 July, 7:55pmBankwest StadiumBen Cummins4,864 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24–56 Penrith Panthers Saturday, 11 July, 3:00pmNetstrata Jubilee StadiumAshley Klein3,277 Brisbane Broncos 26–8 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Saturday, 11 July, 5:30pmSuncorp StadiumChris Sutton7,134 Canberra Raiders 14–20 Melbourne Storm Saturday, 11 July, 7:35pmGIO StadiumGrant Atkins Newcastle Knights 4–10 Parramatta Eels Sunday, 12 July, 4:05pmMcDonald Jones StadiumGerard Sutton6,980 St. George Illawarra Dragons 34–4 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Sunday, 12 July, 6:30pmNetstrata Jubilee StadiumMatt Cecchin1,571 Source: Matt Ikuvalu became the first Sydney Roosters player to score 5 tries in a game since 1955. Charlie Staines became the first player to score four tries on debut since 2008. Dean Pay resigned as Canterbury Bulldogs coach after Canterbury's loss to the Brisbane Broncos.
Round 10