2011 NRL season
The 2011 NRL season was the 104th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth and last run by the National Rugby League's partnership committee of the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. The NRL's main championship, called the 2011 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, was contested by sixteen teams for the fifth consecutive year. Alongside was the fourth season of the Toyota Cup taking place.
The season's Premiership title was awarded to the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles who took out their 8th title, only three years after their previous title, defeating the New Zealand Warriors in the Grand Final.
Season summary
The 2011 competition draw was announced on Thursday, 7 October 2010, with the season's first match between NRL teams to be played on Friday, 11 March. The first round of the premiership season became the highest attended round in NRL history, with 201,212 fans attending.However, the first NRL match of the year was the second annual NRL All Stars vs Indigenous All Stars game played at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast on 12 February. The annual ANZAC Test was also held at Skilled Park, on 6 May, with City vs Country Origin held on the same night at the Lavington Sports Ground in Albury. The Test match was to have been held at Christchurch in New Zealand, but was moved due to the destruction wrought on that city by the earthquake in February 2011.
Byes began on 6 May, being the day of those representative matches, and continued throughout the 2011 State of Origin series, covering in total rounds 9 to 18.
Themed rounds included the Heritage Round, Women in League Round, and Rivalry Round.
The regular 26 round season finished with the Melbourne Storm winning the J. J. Giltinan Shield for being the minor premiers. However the grand final match-up ended up between the second placed Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the sixth placed New Zealand Warriors in which the Sea Eagles sought victory and claimed their 8th premiership title.
The coveted Dally M Medal award for player of the year in 2011 was awarded to Melbourne Storm fullback Billy Slater, who becomes the second Storm player to be given the award.
Records set In 2011
- Canberra Raiders equalled their longest losing streak with 8-matches.
- Brisbane Broncos round-26 match was the biggest ever regular home game crowd for the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium with 50,859.
- South Sydney Rabbitohs winger Nathan Merritt equaled the record for the most tries in a match with 5-tries against the Parramatta Eels in Round 22.
- Manly Warringah Sea Eagles set the record for the most points scored in a half of finals football when they scored 42 unanswered points against the North Queensland Cowboys.
- Sea Eagles halves Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans became the youngest halves pairing to win a grand final since Brett Kenny and Peter Sterling in 1981
Teams
| Brisbane Broncos 24th season Ground: Suncorp Stadium Coach: Anthony Griffin Captain: Darren Lockyer | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 77th season Ground: ANZ Stadium Coach: Kevin Moore→Jim Dymock Captain: Andrew Ryan | Canberra Raiders 30th season Ground: Canberra Stadium Coach: David Furner Captain: Alan Tongue | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 45th season Ground: Toyota Stadium Coach: Shane Flanagan Captain: Paul Gallen |
| Gold Coast Titans 5th season Ground: Skilled Park Coach: John Cartwright Captain: Scott Prince | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 62nd season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Des Hasler Captain: Jamie Lyon & Jason King | Melbourne Storm 14th season Ground: AAMI Park Coach: Craig Bellamy Captain: Cameron Smith | Newcastle Knights 24th season Ground: Ausgrid Stadium Coach: Rick Stone Captain: Kurt Gidley |
| New Zealand Warriors 17th season Ground: Mt Smart Stadium Coach: Ivan Cleary Captain: Simon Mannering | North Queensland Cowboys 17th season Ground: Dairy Farmers Stadium Coach: Neil Henry Captain: Johnathan Thurston & Matt Scott | Parramatta Eels 65th season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Stephen Kearney Captain: Nathan Hindmarsh | Penrith Panthers 45th season Ground: Centrebet Stadium Coach: Matthew Elliott→Steve Georgallis Captain: Petero Civoniceva |
| South Sydney Rabbitohs 102nd season Ground: ANZ Stadium Coach: John Lang Captains: Roy Asotasi & Michael Crocker | Sydney Roosters 104th season Ground: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Brian Smith Captain: Braith Anasta | St George Illawarra Dragons 13th season Ground: Jubilee Oval & WIN Stadium Coach: Wayne Bennett Captain: Ben Hornby | Wests Tigers 12th season Grounds: Campbelltown Stadium & Leichhardt Oval Coach: Tim Sheens Captain: Robbie Farah |
Ladder
Finals series
To decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams, the NRL adopts the McIntyre Final Eight System. The 2011 finals series sees the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, Wests Tigers, St George Illawarra Dragons and the New Zealand Warriors all return from last year. The Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos both return after last year's absence whilst the North Queensland Cowboys and the Newcastle Knights appear in this year's finals for the first time since 2007 and 2009, respectively.† - Match decided in golden point extra time
Finals chart
Grand Final
Club and player records
The following statistics are correct as of the conclusion of Round 26.Top 5 point scorers
| Points | Player | Tries | Goals | Field Goals |
| 195 | Chris Sandow | 6 | 82 | 7 |
| 186 | Benji Marshall | 11 | 70 | 2 |
| 180 | James Maloney | 8 | 73 | 2 |
| 164 | Luke Burt | 10 | 62 | 0 |
| 158 | Johnathan Thurston | 10 | 59 | 0 |
Top 5 try scorers
| Tries | Player |
| 23 | Ben Barba |
| 23 | Nathan Merritt |
| 21 | Ashley Graham |
| 19 | Akuila Uate |
| 16 | David Mead |
Top 5 goal scorers
| Goals | Player |
| 82 | Chris Sandow |
| 73 | James Maloney |
| 73 | Cameron Smith |
| 70 | Benji Marshall |
| 65 | Corey Parker |
Most points in a match by an individual
| Points | Player | Tries | Goals | FG | Opponent | Score | Venue | Round |
| 20 | Luke Burt | 2 | 6/7 | 0 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 40–6 | Sydney Football Stadium | Round 11 |
| 20 | Nathan Merritt | 5 | 0 | 0 | Parramatta Eels | 56–6 | ANZ Stadium | Round 22 |
| 20 | Chris Sandow | 1 | 8/10 | 0 | Parramatta Eels | 56–6 | ANZ Stadium | Round 22 |
| 20 | Johnathan Thurston | 2 | 6/7 | 0 | Parramatta Eels | 40–26 | Dairy Farmers Stadium | Round 10 |
Most tries in a match by an individual
| Tries | Player | Opponent | Score | Venue | Round |
| 5 | Nathan Merritt | Parramatta Eels | 56–6 | ANZ Stadium | Round 22 |
| 4 | Ben Barba | Canberra Raiders | 36–22 | ANZ Stadium | Round 26 |
| 4 | Akuila Uate | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 40–24 | Ausgrid Stadium | Round 26 |
Paul Gallen ran 3,670 metres with the ball in 2011, more than any other player in the competition.
Attendances
The regular season attendances for the 2011 season aggregated to a total of 3,123,055, becoming the second highest attended NRL season.The highest twenty regular season match attendances:
| Crowd | Venue | Home Team | Opponent | Round |
| 50,859 | Suncorp Stadium | Brisbane Broncos | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | Round 26 |
| 45,119 | Suncorp Stadium | Brisbane Broncos | North Queensland Cowboys | Round 1 |
| 40,094 | Suncorp Stadium | Brisbane Broncos | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Round 25 |
| 38,412 | Eden Park | New Zealand Warriors | Parramatta Eels | Round 1 |
| 37,173 | Suncorp Stadium | Brisbane Broncos | New Zealand Warriors | Round 22 |
| 34,976 | Sydney Football Stadium | Sydney Roosters | St George Illawarra Dragons | Round 7 |
| 34,322 | ANZ Stadium | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | St George Illawarra Dragons | Round 10 |
| 34,185 | Suncorp Stadium | Brisbane Broncos | St George Illawarra Dragons | Round 15 |
| 34,175 | Suncorp Stadium | Brisbane Broncos | Melbourne Storm | Round 9 |
| 32,283 | Suncorp Stadium | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Brisbane Broncos Gold Coast Titans | Round 12 |
| 31,122 | Sydney Cricket Ground | St George Illawarra Dragons | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Round 5 |
| 31,035 | Suncorp Stadium | Brisbane Broncos | Gold Coast Titans | Round 19 |
| 30,729 | Ausgrid Stadium | Newcastle Knights | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Round 26 |
| 30,687 | ANZ Stadium | Parramatta Eels | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Round 6 |
| 30,127 | Suncorp Stadium | Brisbane Broncos | Wests Tigers | Round 17 |
| 30,538 | Suncorp Stadium | Brisbane Broncos | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Round 8 |
| 28,703 | Sydney Football Stadium | Sydney Roosters | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Round 1 |
| 27,687 | Sydney Football Stadium | Wests Tigers | St George Illawarra Dragons | Round 22 |
| 26,737 | ANZ Stadium | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Wests Tigers | Round 1 |
| 26,463 | Dairy Farmers Stadium | North Queensland Cowboys | Brisbane Broncos | Round 23 |
| 25,623 | Suncorp Stadium | Brisbane Broncos | Penrith Panthers | Round 4 |
2011 Transfers
Players
| Player | 2010 Club | 2011 Club |
| Israel Folau | Brisbane Broncos | Greater Western Sydney Giants |
| Lagi Setu | Brisbane Broncos | Hiatus |
| Ashton Sims | Brisbane Broncos | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Antonio Winterstein | Brisbane Broncos | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Scott Logan | Canberra Raiders | Retirement |
| Adam Mogg | Canberra Raiders | Retirement |
| Joel Monaghan | Canberra Raiders | Super League: Warrington Wolves |
| Troy Thompson | Canberra Raiders | Melbourne Storm |
| Yileen Gordon | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Penrith Panthers |
| Ben Hannant | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Brisbane Broncos |
| Jarrad Hickey | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Super League: Wakefield Trinity Wildcats |
| Brett Kimmorley | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Retirement |
| Luke Patten | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Super League: Salford City Reds |
| Trent Barrett | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Retirement |
| Luke Covell | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Retirement |
| Adam Cuthbertson | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Blake Ferguson | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Canberra Raiders |
| Grant Millington | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Jordan Atkins | Gold Coast Titans | Parramatta Eels |
| Aaron Cannings | Gold Coast Titans | Retirement |
| Josh Graham | Gold Coast Titans | Retirement |
| Chris Bailey | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Super League: Harlequins RL |
| Matthew Cross | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Retirement |
| Ben Farrar | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Super League: Catalans Dragons |
| Trent Hodkinson | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Josh Perry | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Super League: St. Helens |
| Brett Finch | Melbourne Storm | Super League: Wigan Warriors |
| Ryan Hoffman | Melbourne Storm | Super League: Wigan Warriors |
| Greg Inglis | Melbourne Storm | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Jeff Lima | Melbourne Storm | Super League: Wigan Warriors |
| Aiden Tolman | Melbourne Storm | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Brett White | Melbourne Storm | Canberra Raiders |
| Ben Cross | Newcastle Knights | Super League: Leeds Rhinos |
| Scott Dureau | Newcastle Knights | Super League: Catalans Dragons |
| Steve Simpson | Newcastle Knights | Retirement |
| Cooper Vuna | Newcastle Knights | Melbourne Rebels |
| Patrick Ah Van | New Zealand Warriors | Super League: Bradford Bulls |
| Ian Henderson | New Zealand Warriors | Super League: Catalans Dragons |
| Jesse Royal | New Zealand Warriors | Retirement |
| Brent Tate | New Zealand Warriors | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Ben Harris | North Queensland Cowboys | Retirement |
| Manase Manuokafoa | North Queensland Cowboys | Parramatta Eels |
| Willie Mason | North Queensland Cowboys | Super League: Hull Kingston Rovers |
| Luke O'Donnell | North Queensland Cowboys | Super League: Huddersfield Giants |
| Steve Rapira | North Queensland Cowboys | New Zealand Warriors |
| Grant Rovelli | North Queensland Cowboys | Mackay Cutters |
| Steve Southern | North Queensland Cowboys | Newcastle Knights |
| Anthony Watts | North Queensland Cowboys | N/A |
| Carl Webb | North Queensland Cowboys | Parramatta Eels |
| John Williams | North Queensland Cowboys | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Ty Williams | North Queensland Cowboys | Retirement |
| Nathan Cayless | Parramatta Eels | Retirement |
| Eric Grothe Jr. | Parramatta Eels | Retirement |
| Krisnan Inu | Parramatta Eels | New Zealand Warriors |
| Kris Keating | Parramatta Eels | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Feleti Mateo | Parramatta Eels | New Zealand Warriors |
| Timana Tahu | Parramatta Eels | Penrith Panthers |
| Maurice Blair | Penrith Panthers | Melbourne Storm |
| Gavin Cooper | Penrith Panthers | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Shane Elford | Penrith Panthers | Retirement |
| Wade Graham | Penrith Panthers | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Frank Pritchard | Penrith Panthers | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Frank Puletua | Penrith Panthers | Retirement |
| Colin Best | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Luke Capewell | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Gold Coast Titans |
| Beau Champion | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Melbourne Storm |
| Garret Crossman | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Retirement |
| Jaiman Lowe | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Melbourne Storm |
| Jamie Simpson | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Super League: Huddersfield Giants |
| Craig Stapleton | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Retirement |
| Jarrod Saffy | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Melbourne Rebels |
| Neville Costigan | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Newcastle Knights |
| Luke Priddis | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Retirement |
| Jeremy Smith | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| James Aubusson | Sydney Roosters | Retirement |
| Ben Jones | Sydney Roosters | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Nick Kouparitsas | Sydney Roosters | Super League: Harlequins RL |
| Lopini Paea | Sydney Roosters | Super League: Catalans Dragons |
| Jason Cayless | Wests Tigers | Retirement |
| Daniel Fitzhenry | Wests Tigers | Retirement |
| Glenn Hall | Super League: Bradford Bulls | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Matt Orford | Super League: Bradford Bulls | Canberra Raiders |
| Dane Carlaw | Super League: Catalans Dragons | Brisbane Broncos |
| Dallas Johnson | Super League: Catalans Dragons | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Casey McGuire | Super League: Catalans Dragons | Parramatta Eels |
| Chris Walker | Super League: Catalans Dragons | Parramatta Eels |
| Paul Whatuira | Super League: Huddersfield Giants | Parramatta Eels |
| Shaun Berrigan | Super League: Hull F.C. | New Zealand Warriors |
| Greg Eastwood | Super League: Leeds Rhinos | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Chris Hicks | Super League: Warrington Wolves | Parramatta Eels |
| Mark Riddell | Super League: Wigan Warriors | Sydney Roosters |
| Chris Houston | N/A | Newcastle Knights |
| Reni Maitua | N/A | Parramatta Eels |
| Reece Simmonds | N/A | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Matt Utai | N/A | Wests Tigers |
| Dayne Weston | N/A | Penrith Panthers |
| Adam Woolnough | N/A | Melbourne Storm |