The 1998 NRL season was the 91st season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the inaugural season of the newly formed National Rugby League (NRL). After the 1997 season, in which the Australian Rugby League and Super League organisations ran separate competitions parallel to each other, they joined to create a reunited competition in the NRL. The first professional rugby league club to be based in Victoria, the Melbourne Storm was introduced into the League, and with the closure of the Hunter Mariners, Western Reds/Perth Reds and South Queensland Crushers, twenty teams competed for the premiership, which culminated in the 1998 NRL Grand Final between Brisbane and Canterbury-Bankstown. It was also the final season for the Illawarra Steelers and the St. George Dragons as their own clubs prior to their merger into the St. George-Illawarra Dragons for the 1999 NRL season
Pre-season
The National Rugby League was formed after an agreement was reached between the two rivaling competitions from 1997, the Australian Rugby League and the Super League. In December 1997, the two parties formed a joint board to run the new Australian rugby league club competition. The vast majority of the 22 clubs that contested in 1997 across the split competitions also contested the first season of the National Rugby League, with the exception of the Hunter Mariners, the Western Reds and South Queensland.
The National Rugby League imposed a $3M salary cap on each of the clubs.
Advertising Super League's ad agency VCD in Sydney successfully kept the account post-reunification. The 1998 ad featured the song "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba with its theme of rising against adversity: I get knocked down! But I get up again; you're never gonna keep me down.
There was no visual performance of the song in the ad which returned to the standard rugby league imagery of big hits and crunching tackles to accompany the track.
Teams The closure of the Hunter Mariners, Western/Perth Reds and South Queensland Crushers, and the introduction of the Melbourne Storm meant that a total of twenty clubs contested the 1998 Premiership. Eleven of these clubs were from Sydney, but an agreement between the Australian Rugby League and Super League meant that many of these clubs were in danger of being cut from the competition by the 2000 season when, it was decided, only 14 clubs would be invited to contest the premiership. Adelaide Rams 2nd & final seasonGround: Adelaide Oval → Hindmarsh Stadium Coach: Rod Reddy → Dean LanceCaptain: Kerrod WaltersAuckland Warriors 4th seasonGround: Ericsson Stadium Coach: Frank EndacottCaptain: Matthew RidgeBalmain Tigers 91st seasonGround: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Wayne PearceCaptain: Darren SenterBrisbane Broncos 11th seasonGround: ANZ Stadium Coach: Wayne BennettCaptain: Allan LangerCanberra Raiders 17th seasonGround: Bruce Stadium Coach: Mal MeningaCaptain: Laurie DaleyCanterbury Bulldogs 64th seasonGround: Belmore Oval Coach: Steve FolkesCaptain: Simon Gillies→Darren BrittCronulla Sharks 32nd seasonGround: Shark Park Coach: John LangCaptain: Andrew EttingshausenGold Coast Chargers 11th & final seasonGround: Carrara Stadium Coach: Phil EconomidisCaptain: Jamie GoddardIllawarra Steelers 17th & final seasonGround: WIN Stadium Coach: Andrew FarrarCaptain: Paul McGregorManly Sea Eagles 52nd seasonGround: Brookvale Oval Coach: Bob FultonCaptain: Geoff TooveyMelbourne Storm 1st seasonGround: Olympic Park Stadium Coach: Chris AndersonCaptain: Glenn LazarusNewcastle Knights 11th seasonGround: Marathon Stadium Coach: Mal ReillyCaptain: Paul HarragonNorth Qld. Cowboys 4th seasonGround: Stockland Stadium Coach: Tim SheensCaptain: Ian Roberts & John LomaxNorth Sydney Bears 91st seasonGround: North Sydney Oval Coach: Peter LouisCaptain: Jason TaylorParramatta Eels 52nd seasonGround: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Brian SmithCaptain: Dean PayPenrith Panthers 32nd seasonGround: Penrith Stadium Coach: Royce SimmonsCaptain: Steve CarterSouth Sydney Rabbitohs 91st seasonGround: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Steve Martin → Craig ColemanCaptain: Sean GarlickSt. George Dragons 78th & final seasonGround: Kogarah Oval Coach: David WaiteCaptain: Mark CoyneSydney City Roosters(East. Suburbs Roostes) 91st seasonGround: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Phil GouldCaptain: Brad FittlerWest. Suburbs Magpies 91st seasonGround: Campbelltown Stadium Coach: Tommy RaudonikisCaptain: Paul Langmack
Regular season Rounds 5 and 7: Brisbane Broncos set a new record for their biggest win, firstly 58–4 against North Queensland Cowboys, then 60–6 against North Sydney Bears, both games being played at Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre. Round 8: 1997 ARL premiers, the Newcastle Knights played the 1997 Super League premiers, the Brisbane Broncos and Brisbane won 26–6 in Newcastle before a crowd of 27,119, cementing their position at the top of the ladder. Round 12: The record for the biggest comeback in premiership history was re-set by the North Queensland Cowboys who trailed 26–0 at half-time and came back to beat the Penrith Panthers 36–28. Round 24: Ivan Cleary's tally of 284 points set a new individual record for most points scored in a season in Australian club rugby league history; it has since been beaten.
Ladder
Finals series The biggest surprise of the season was when the Melbourne Storm finished 3rd after the regular season in their first ever year, only to be knocked out by the Brisbane Broncos in the Semi-final. The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs became the lowest placed team ever to make the Grand Final, after finishing 9th after the regular season. Canterbury-Bankstown did it tough though, coming from 16 points down twice in as many weeks. They came from 16–0 down to win 28–16 against the Newcastle Knights in the Semi-final, then 18–2 down with 11 minutes to go to make it 18–18 after regulation time, then going on to win 32–20 in extra time against arch-rivals the Parramatta Eels in the preliminary final.
HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd Elimination and Preliminary Qualifying Finals Canberra Raiders17–4 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles28 August 1998Bruce StadiumBill Harrigan15,953 St. George Dragons12–20 29 August 1998Jubilee OvalSteve Clark16,833 Parramatta Eels25–12 North Sydney Bears29 August 1998Parramatta StadiumKelvin Jeffes16,033 Melbourne Storm12–26 Sydney City Roosters30 August 1998Olympic ParkPaul McBlane18,247 Elimination and Qualifying Quarter-Finals North Sydney Bears2–23 4 September 1998North Sydney OvalBill Harrigan18,718 Melbourne Storm24–10 Canberra Raiders5 September 1998Olympic ParkSteve Clark12,592 Newcastle Knights15–26 Sydney City Roosters5 September 1998Marathon StadiumKelvin Jeffes26,482 Brisbane Broncos10–15 Parramatta Eels6 September 1998ANZ StadiumPaul McBlane21,172 Semi-Finals Newcastle Knights16–28 12 September 1998Sydney Football Stadium*Steve Clark24,449 Brisbane Broncos30–6 Melbourne Storm13 September 1998Sydney Football Stadium*Bill Harrigan20,354 Grand Final Qualifiers Sydney City Roosters18–46 Brisbane Broncos19 September 1998ANZ StadiumSteve Clark28,374 Parramatta Eels20–32 20 September 1998Sydney Football StadiumBill Harrigan36,841
Grand Final
The 1998 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 1998 NRL season. It was the first grand final of the re-unified National Rugby League and featured minor premiers and the previous year's Super League premiers, the Brisbane Broncos against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, who had finished the regular season 9th (out of 20) to make a top-ten play-off grouping.
It was to be the first grand final under the National Rugby League partnership's administration and the last to be played at the Sydney Football Stadium. It was also the first time these two sides had met in a grand final. Brisbane scored first, but by half time trailed Canterbury 10–12. However, Brisbane scored 28 unanswered points in the second half, winning 12–38 and equaling the second highest score for a team in grand final history.
Chart
Player statistics The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 24.
Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField Goals268 Ivan Cleary131080229 Jason Taylor51041226 Darren Lockyer14850208 Daryl Halligan5940174 Andrew Johns7714 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayer20 Darren Smith20 Michael Buettner20 Steve Menzies19 Nathan Blacklock18 Trent Barrett
Top 5 goal scorers GoalsPlayer108 Ivan Cleary104 Jason Taylor94 Daryl Halligan85 Darren Lockyer72 Clinton Schifcofske
Postseason Brisbane's consistent dominance over other teams at this period of time contributed to the National Rugby League's plans to cut the number of teams down to 14 in order to ensure competitiveness and the long-term financial success of the game. Despite the rationalization of the league, the Broncos have continued to dominate in the modern era of the league, winning premierships in 2000, 2006 and 2025, as well as reaching another two Grand Finals in 2015 and 2023.
Despite the inclusion of "national" in the new competition's name, both the Gold Coast and Adelaide clubs folded at the end of the 1998 season. A new Gold Coast side re-entered the competition nine years later in 2007.
1998 was the last season for the seventy-eight-year-old St. George Dragons and seventeen-year-old Illawarra Steelers clubs, which merged to form the NRL's first joint-venture team at the conclusion of the season, the St. George Illawarra Dragons, for inclusion in the 1999 Premiership.
1998 Transfers
Players