2009 in rugby league

This article contains information on rugby league events played in 2009. The season commenced with a friendly match between Super League clubs Leeds Rhinos and Salford City Reds in the United States in January, and concluded with the Scottish tour of South Africa in December.

List of years in rugby league

January

February

March
  • 1st: Leeds, England – The 2009 World Club Challenge is won by Australia's Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles who defeated England's Leeds Rhinos.
  • 13th: Australia – The 2009 NRL season begins with the first games of Round 1 being played.
  • 13th: England – The 2009 Super League XIV begins with the first games of Round 1 being played.
  • 22nd: Maesteg, South Wales – 20-year-old forward Leon Walker collapses and dies on the field in a reserve match between Wakefield Wildcats and Celtic Crusaders.[2]

April
  • 6th: France – The 75th anniversary of the creation of the French Rugby League.[3]

May

8th

City vs. Country Origin
Further information: City vs Country Origin
Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referees Crowd
Country Origin 18 – 40 City Origin 8 May 2009, 7:35pm Wade Park, Orange Gavin Badger
Shayne Hayne		 8,226

Teams:[4]

COUNTRY:
1. Luke Patten (1 try), 2. James McManus, 3. Beau Scott, 4. Jamie Lyon (1 try, 3 goals), 5. Joel Monaghan, 6. Terry Campese, 7. Jarrod Mullen
8. Josh Perry, 9. Michael Ennis, 10. Michael Weyman, 11. Andrew Ryan (c), 12. Ben Creagh, 13. Alan Tongue (1 try). Subs: 14. Justin Poore, 15. Chris Heighington, 16. Anthony Tupou, 17. Jamie Soward

CITY:
1. Wade McKinnon, 2. Jarryd Hayne (1 try), 3. Michael Jennings (1 try), 4. Ben Pomeroy, 5. David Williams (1 try), 6. John Sutton, 7. Peter Wallace (1 try, 6 goals)
8. Keith Galloway, 9. Robbie Farah (c), 10. Luke Stuart, 11. Trent Waterhouse, 12. Mark Minichiello (2 tries), 13. Luke O'Donnell. Subs: 14. Craig Wing (1 try), 15. Shane Shackleton, 16. Mark O'Meley, 17. Ryan Hoffman

ANZAC Test
Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Crowd
Australia Kangaroos 38 – 10 New Zealand Kiwis 8 May 2009, 7:45pm Suncorp Stadium Richard Silverwood 37,152
Captain Lockyer kicking off for the Australian side

Teams:[5]

AUSTRALIA:
Billy Slater (Melbourne Storm), Israel Folau (Brisbane Broncos), Greg Inglis (Melbourne Storm), Justin Hodges (Brisbane Broncos), Darius Boyd (St George Illawarra Dragons), Darren Lockyer (captain – Brisbane Broncos), Johnathan Thurston (North Qld Cowboys)
Petero Civoniceva (Penrith Panthers), Cameron Smith (Melbourne Storm), Steve Price (NZ Warriors) Anthony Laffranchi (Gold Coast Titans), Paul Gallen (Cronulla Sharks), Glenn Stewart (Manly Sea Eagles)
Replacements: Kurt Gidley (Newcastle Knights), Brent Kite (Manly Sea Eagles), Luke Bailey (Gold Coast Titans), Anthony Watmough (Manly Sea Eagles)
Coach: Tim Sheens

NEW ZEALAND:
Lance Hohaia (New Zealand Warriors); Sam Perrett (Sydney Roosters), Iosia Soliola (Roosters), Jerome Ropati (Warriors), Manu Vatuvei (Warriors); Nathan Fien (Warriors), Benji Marshall (captain – Wests Tigers)
Roy Asotasi (South Sydney), Dene Halatau (Wests Tigers), Adam Blair (Melbourne Storm); David Fa'alogo (South Sydney), Bronson Harrison (Canberra Raiders); Simon Mannering (Warriors)
Replacements: Greg Eastwood (Canterbury Bulldogs), Jeff Lima (Storm), Jason Nightingale (St George Illawarra), Sika Manu (Storm)
Coach: Stephen Kearney

22
  • Wrexham, Wales - The first Super League game to involve no English club is played when Celtic Crusaders play against Catalans Dragons at Brewery Field.[6]

June

England vs France

On 13 June England played the first rugby league international since the 2008 World Cup against France in Paris' Stade Jean-Bouin.

Teams:[7]

France:
Constant Villegas (Toulouse); Vincent Duport (Catalans Dragons), Sébastien Planas (Toulouse), Jean-Philippe Baile (Catalans Dragons), Frédéric Vaccari (Catalans Dragons); Mickaël Murcia (Limoux), Thomas Bosc (Catalans Dragons); Rémi Casty (Catalans Dragons), Bentley (Catalans Dragons), Jérôme Guisset (Catalans Dragons, capt), Cyril Gossard (Catalans Dragons), Grégory Mounis (Catalans Dragons), Éric Anselme (Toulouse).

Replacements: Sébastien Martins (Pia), Romain Gagliazzo (Carcassonne), William Barthau (Catalans Dragons), Mathieu Griffi (Toulouse).

Coach: Bobbie Goulding

England:
Shaun Briscoe (Hull KR); Peter Fox (Hull KR), Michael Shenton (Castleford), Ryan Atkins (Wakefield), Ryan Hall (Leeds); Danny McGuire (Leeds), Richard Myler (Salford); Adrian Morley (Warrington), Scott Moore (Huddersfield), Jamie Peacock (Leeds, capt), Gareth Hock (Wigan), Ben Westwood (Warrington), Sam Burgess (Bradford).

Replacements: James Roby (St Helens), James Graham (St Helens), Tony Clubb (Harlequins), Eorl Crabtree (Huddersfield).

Coach: Tony Smith

July

August

September
  • 23rd – Sydney, Australia: The 11th annual Tom Brock Lecture, entitled The Lost Tribes of League – the fate of axed and merged clubs and their fans is delivered by Terry Williams.[8]

October

4- Melbourne Storm defeat Parramatta Eels 23-16 to win the NRL Premiership

New Zealand vs. Tonga
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
New Zealand  40–24  Tonga
Tries: Benji Marshall (2)
Bryson Goodwin (2)
Junior Sa'u
Sam Perrett
Nathan Fien
Steve Matai
Goals: Issac Luke (3)
Benji Marshall		 Report Tries: Etuate Uaisele (2)
Feleti Mateo
Sam Huihahau
Viliami Mataka
Goals: Eddie Paea (2)
Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua, New Zealand
Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Leon Williamson (NZL)

New Zealand led 24–8 at half-time before Tonga fought back to level the scores at 24–24. New Zealand scored 16 points in a row to win the match 40–24. Four New Zealand players, Bryson Goodwin, Junior Sa'u, Frank-Paul Nuuausala and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, made their débuts.

England vs. Wales
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Wales  12–48  England
Tries: Craig Kopczak
Ian Watson
Goals: Lloyd White (2)		 Report
Report		 Tries: Sam Tomkins (3)
Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook
Sam Burgess
Tom Briscoe (2)
Sean O'Loughlin
Adrian Morley
Goals: Paul Sykes (6)
Brewery Field, Bridgend, Wales
Attendance: 3,249
Referee: Thierry Alibert (FRA)
Man of the Match: Sam Tomkins (ENG)

The last time these two sides met, England won 74–0. Wales took an early lead in the match but England were too strong. England's Sam Tomkins scored a hat-trick of tries on his début. England defeated Wales away from home, 48–12.

November
  • 14th: Leeds, England – The 2009 Four Nations tournament culminates in a final between Australia and England at Elland Road.

December

In Australia in 2009, rugby league's popularity was confirmed as it had the highest television ratings of any football code.[9]

Super League
Main article: Super League XIV

The English Super League will continue in 2009 with two more teams than in previous seasons. There used to be a relegation system whereby the lowest team in a season was relegated to National League 1 but this has now been abolished. Leeds Rhinos are the back-to-back defending champions after beating St Helens R.F.C. for the last two seasons.

National Rugby League

The National Rugby League (NRL), contested between 16 teams from Australia and New Zealand, will hold its 102nd season in 2009. The Melbourne Storm won this competition in 2009, winning the final 23-16 against the Parramatta Eels. This title was later stripped from the Storm due to salary cap breaches exposed by the NRL in 2010.

Four Nations
Main article: 2009 Rugby League Four Nations

Later in the year, New Zealand, Australia, England and France will compete in a new 4 Nations competition. It replaces the previous Rugby League Tri-Nations, with France making its debut this year. All four teams have been playing regularly for a few years. However due to France's poor performances at the 2008 Rugby League World Cup they may have to qualify to make this tournament.

Bartercard Premiership

In August this competition will kick off. It started last year and features 6 teams all over New Zealand.

gollark: Stuff you want?
gollark: I got a CB xenowyrm for one a few days ago.
gollark: People are willing to overpay massively for them, still, I think.
gollark: *truffluminae
gollark: *just 400

References
  1. Koch, Dan (6 January 2009). "Rising NRL star Sonny Fai feared drowned". The Australian. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  2. Wardrop, Murray (23 March 2009). "Rugby league player dies during match". telegraph.co.uk. UK: Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  3. Lyle, Beaton (7 April 2009). "75 Years of French Rugby League". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 January 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Australia 38–10 New Zealand". BBC News. 8 May 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  6. superleague.co.uk (22 May 2009). "Super League's first ever international (with no English)". rleague.com. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  7. "France 12–66 England". BBC Sport. news.bbc.co.uk. 13 June 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
  8. http://www.tombrock.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/tb09williamsA5.pdf
  9. Newstalk ZB (21 December 2009). "League becomes Australia's top sport". TVNZ. New Zealand: Television New Zealand Limited. Retrieved 24 December 2009.
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