1996 ARL season

The 1996 ARL premiership (also known as the 1996 Optus Cup due to sponsorship from Optus) was the 89th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the second to be administered by the Australian Rugby League (ARL). Twenty teams contested the premiership, including five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, two from greater New South Wales, four from Queensland, and one each from New Zealand, the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia. Ultimately two Sydney clubs, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and St. George Dragons contested the grand final.

The grand finals:

• Template:Leagueicon Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles vs Template:Leagueicon St. George Dragons (Senior Grade)
• Template:Leagueicon Cronulla Sharks vs Template:Leagueicon Auckland Warriors (Reserve Grade)
• Template:Leagueicon South Queensland Crushers vs Template:Leagueicon Parramatta Eels (Under-20s Grade)

The winners in all grades were:

• Template:Leagueicon Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (Senior Grade)
• Template:Leagueicon Cronulla Sharks (Reserve Grade)
• Template:Leagueicon South Queensland Crushers (Under-20s Grade)

The test match

• Template:Leagueicon Australia vs Template:Leagueicon Fiji

The State of Origin Series

• Template:Leagueicon Queensland vs Template:Leagueicon New South Wales

The Region of Origin Series

• Template:Leagueicon City vs Template:Leagueicon Country

Teams

The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous season except for the re-branding of the Gold Coast team from the "Seagulls" to the "Chargers" as the ARL took control of the club.

Regular season

With the Super League war in full effect off the field, those clubs affiliated with the breakaway competition refused to participate in five games of Round 1, all forfeited to ARL-aligned clubs and only four of the ten scheduled games took place. Of the two games between two Super League clubs, Canterbury versus North Queensland was cancelled, whilst Auckland flew a team consisting of players from the Otahuhu Leopards and Ellerslie Eagles clubs to Brisbane and were thus declared winners over the Broncos by forfeit.

Following up on their performance in the 1995 season up to the grand final, Manly-Warringah dominated the season with their defence, which conceded only 34 tries in 25 matches, the best record of any team since the six-tackle rule was introduced in 1971. Indeed, the Sea Eagles only conceded 191 points during the minor round, an average of only 8.7 points per game, while scoring 549 points at 24.9 points per game. Their 1995 rivals Canberra were hit by injuries which wiped out the seasons of key players including captain Ricky Stuart, Bradley Clyde and Jason Croker, and suspensions to Kiwi props John Lomax and Quentin Pongia.

Super League-aligned Canterbury were also hit by the loss of key players Jim Dymock, Dean Pay, Jason Smith and Jarrod McCracken to ARL-loyal Parramatta. Sydney City started the season in good form, but fell off after winning their first ten games, whilst Brisbane (with Allan Langer putting in some strong performances) dominated early but as had become their custom, lost ground mid-season during the Origin period. North Sydney, with a powerful forward pack and skillful goal-kicking half Jason Taylor feeding a superb set of outside backs, were expected to make the Grand Final, but as had become their habit in the 1990s they lost the preliminary final, this time to St. George.

The 20-team competition in 1995 and 1996 caused frequent jackpots in FootyTAB's "Pick The Margins" and after three successive rounds without a single winner, on 8 July 1996 after a last-minute Sydney City penalty goal, one punter received an all-time record for any form of sports betting in Australia: $2,006,217.

This year Canterbury-Bankstown back Terry Lamb set new record for most first-grade premiership games at 350 before retiring at the end of the season.

North Sydney's Jason Taylor won the official player of the year award, the Rothmans Medal, while the Dally M Medal was awarded to Brisbane's Allan Langer.

At the end of the season, ARL chief executive John Quayle resigned and was replaced by Balmain president (and former hooker) Neil Whittaker.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	F1	F2	F3	GF
Auckland Warriors	BRI Forfeit	ILA +8	WES −14	NOR +4	MAN −12	ILA +10	PAR +24	ROS −12	NEW −4	CRO −4	TIG −12	PEN +10	WES +16	SOU +14	GCC +14	WRD −20	SQC +4	NQL +46	STG −29	CBY −2	CAN −24	BRI −32
Brisbane Broncos	ACK Forfeit	WES +22	ILA +50	SQC +20	NQL +44	STG +18	CBY +22	CAN +34	WRD +8	NOR −6	MAN −14	ILA −8	PAR +6	ROS −2	NEW +5	CRO +3	TIG +20	PEN +30	WES +30	SOU +2	GCC +28	ACK +32	NOR −5	CRO −6
Canberra Raiders	SQC Forfeit	PEN 0	PAR −6	NQL +56	STG −10	CBY +30	WRD +20	BRI −34	NOR +34	MAN −16	ILA +2	PAR −40	ROS +4	NEW +2	CRO −8	TIG +18	PEN +16	WES −8	SOU +30	GCC +14	ACK +24	SQC +26	STG −2
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	−	TIG −4	ROS −6	STG −20	WRD +4	CAN −30	BRI −22	NOR −8	MAN −20	ILA +12	PAR +18	ROS +12	NEW +10	CRO −10	TIG −2	PEN +2	WES −4	SOU +24	GCC +10	ACK +2	SQC +1	NQL +28
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	NEW Forfeit	STG +8	WRD −7	WRD +14	TIG +20	PEN +8	WES −8	SOU +18	GCC +8	ACK +4	SQC +24	NQL −6	STG 0	CBY +10	CAN +8	BRI −3	NOR 0	MAN +2	ILA −7	PAR +8	ROS +8	NEW +22	WES +8	BRI +6	MAN −24
Gold Coast Chargers	NOR −16	MAN −14	SOU +2	MAN −4	ILA +8	PAR +13	ROS −3	NEW −42	CRO −8	TIG +12	PEN −6	WES −32	SOU −2	WRD 0	ACK −14	SQC +48	NQL −10	STG −12	CBY −10	CAN −14	BRI −28	NOR −30
Illawarra Steelers	WES −9	ACK −8	BRI −50	SOU +42	GCC −8	ACK −10	SQC +4	NQL +16	STG +6	CBY −12	CAN −2	BRI +8	NOR −30	MAN −8	WRD −1	PAR −16	ROS −16	NEW +12	CRO +7	TIG −2	PEN +40	WES −4
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	SOU +38	GCC +14	NOR −10	GCC +4	ACK +12	SQC +8	NQL +42	STG +4	CBY +20	CAN +16	BRI +14	NOR +23	WRD −3	ILA +8	PAR +44	ROS +28	NEW +16	CRO −2	TIG +18	PEN −4	WES +30	SOU +38	ROS +2	X	CRO +24	STG +12
Newcastle Knights	CRO Forfeit	WRD +6	STG −4	TIG −12	PEN +2	WES +22	SOU +6	GCC +42	ACK +4	SQC +16	NQL −16	STG +11	CBY −10	CAN −2	BRI −5	NOR 0	MAN −16	ILA −12	PAR −2	ROS +16	WRD +4	CRO −22
North Queensland Cowboys	−	ROS −38	TIG +15	CAN −56	BRI −44	NOR −44	MAN −42	ILA −16	PAR −14	ROS −24	NEW +16	CRO +6	TIG −2	PEN −21	WES −8	SOU −2	GCC +10	ACK −46	SQC +5	WRD −26	STG +4	CBY −28
North Sydney Bears	GCC +16	SOU +16	MAN +10	ACK −4	SQC +14	NQL +44	STG +42	CBY +8	CAN −34	BRI +6	WRD +22	MAN −23	ILA +30	PAR +2	ROS −5	NEW 0	CRO 0	TIG +24	PEN +34	WES −1	SOU +42	GCC +30	BRI +5	X	STG −17
Parramatta Eels	PEN Forfeit	SQC −4	CAN +6	WES −4	SOU +28	GCC −13	ACK −24	SQC +10	NQL +14	STG +4	CBY −18	CAN +40	BRI −6	NOR −2	MAN −44	ILA +16	WRD +12	ROS 0	NEW +2	CRO −8	TIG −12	PEN −8
Penrith Panthers	PAR Forfeit	CAN 0	SQC +18	ROS −16	NEW −2	CRO −8	TIG −2	WRD +34	WES −10	SOU +8	GCC +6	ACK −10	SQC −4	NQL +21	STG −26	CBY −2	CAN −16	BRI −30	NOR −34	MAN +4	ILA −40	PAR +8
South Queensland Crushers	CAN Forfeit	PAR +4	PEN −18	BRI −20	NOR −14	MAN −8	ILA −4	PAR −10	ROS −26	NEW −16	CRO −24	TIG −10	PEN +4	WES +2	SOU −32	GCC −48	ACK −4	WRD −2	NQL −5	STG −18	CBY −1	CAN −26
South Sydney Rabbitohs	MAN −38	NOR −16	GCC −2	ILA −42	PAR −28	ROS −62	NEW −6	CRO −18	TIG +28	PEN −8	WES 0	WRD +6	GCC +2	ACK −14	SQC +32	NQL +2	STG −20	CBY −24	CAN −30	BRI −2	NOR −42	MAN −38
St. George Dragons	WRD Forfeit	CRO −8	NEW +4	CBY +20	CAN +10	BRI −18	NOR −42	MAN −4	ILA −6	PAR −4	ROS +16	NEW −11	CRO 0	TIG +11	PEN +26	WES +8	SOU +20	GCC +12	ACK +29	SQC +18	NQL −4	WRD +6	CAN +2	ROS +20	NOR +17	MAN −12
Sydney Tigers	ROS −28	CBY +4	NQL −15	NEW +12	CRO −20	WRD +4	PEN +2	WES +6	SOU −28	GCC −12	ACK +12	SQC +10	NQL +2	STG −11	CBY +2	CAN −18	BRI −20	NOR −24	MAN −18	ILA +2	PAR +12	ROS −14
Sydney City Roosters	TIG +28	NQL +38	CBY +6	PEN +16	WES +20	SOU +62	GCC +3	ACK +12	SQC +26	NQL +24	STG −16	CBY −12	CAN −4	BRI +2	NOR +5	MAN −28	ILA +16	PAR 0	WRD +12	NEW −16	CRO −8	TIG +14	MAN −2	STG −20
Western Reds	STG Forfeit	NEW −6	CRO +7	CRO −14	CBY −4	TIG −4	CAN −20	PEN −34	BRI −8	WES −14	NOR −22	SOU −6	MAN +3	GCC 0	ILA +1	ACK +20	PAR −12	SQC +2	ROS −12	NQL +26	NEW −4	STG −6
Western Suburbs Magpies	ILA +9	BRI −22	ACK +14	PAR +4	ROS −20	NEW −22	CRO +8	TIG −6	PEN +10	WRD +14	SOU 0	GCC +32	ACK −16	SQC −2	NQL +8	STG −8	CBY +4	CAN +8	BRI −30	NOR +1	MAN −30	ILA +4	CRO −8
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	F1	F2	F3	GF

Bold – Home game
X – Bye
Opponent for round listed above margin

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	File:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly (P)	22	18	0	4	549	191	+358	36
2	File:Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane	21	17	0	4	607	263	+344	34
3	File:North Sydney colours.svg North Sydney	22	15	2	5	598	325	+273	32
4	File:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney City Roosters	22	15	1	6	521	321	+200	31
5	File:Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla	21	14	2	5	399	268	+131	30
6	File:Canberra colours.svg Canberra	21	13	1	7	538	384	+154	27
7	File:St. George colours.svg St. George	21	12	1	8	443	360	+83	27
8	File:Western Suburbs colours.svg Western Suburbs	22	12	1	9	394	434	−40	25
9	File:Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle	21	10	1	10	416	388	+28	23
10	File:Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury	21	11	0	10	375	378	−3	22
11	File:Auckland colours.svg Auckland	21	10	0	11	412	427	−15	22
12	File:Balmain colours.svg Sydney Tigers	22	11	0	11	319	459	−140	22
13	File:Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta	21	9	1	11	404	415	−11	21
14	File:Illawarra colours.svg Illawarra	22	8	0	14	403	444	−41	16
15	Template:Leagueicon Penrith	21	7	1	13	363	464	−101	15
16	File:Western Reds colours.svg Western Reds	21	6	1	14	313	420	−107	13
17	File:North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland	21	6	0	15	288	643	−355	12
18	File:Gold Coast Chargers colours.svg Gold Coast	22	5	1	16	359	521	−162	11
19	File:South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney	22	5	1	16	314	634	−320	11
20	File:South Queensland colours.svg South Queensland	21	3	0	18	220	496	−276	8

Finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Qualifying Finals
File:Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla Sharks	20–12	File:Western Suburbs colours.svg Western Suburbs Magpies	6 September 1996	Parramatta Stadium	David Manson	22,433
File:Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos	16–21	File:North Sydney colours.svg North Sydney Bears	7 September 1996	Suncorp Stadium*	Eddie Ward	25,983
File:Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders	14–16	File:St. George colours.svg St. George Dragons	7 September 1996	Sydney Football Stadium	Kelvin Jeffes	28,185
File:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly Sea Eagles	16–14	File:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney City Roosters	8 September 1996	Sydney Football Stadium	Paul McBlane	31,327
Semi-finals
File:Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos	16–22	File:Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla Sharks	14 September 1996	Sydney Football Stadium	Kelvin Jeffes	27,665
Template:Leagueicon Sydney City Roosters	16–36	File:St. George colours.svg St. George Dragons	15 September 1996	Sydney Football Stadium	David Manson	37,858
Preliminary Finals
File:North Sydney colours.svg North Sydney Bears	12–29	File:St. George colours.svg St. George Dragons	21 September 1996	Sydney Football Stadium	Kelvin Jeffes	37,779
File:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly Sea Eagles	24–0	File:Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla Sharks	22 September 1996	Sydney Football Stadium	David Manson	40,525
Grand Final
File:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly Sea Eagles	20–8	File:St. George colours.svg St. George Dragons	29 September 1996	Sydney Football Stadium	David Manson	40,985

• Although Brisbane's home ground during the 1996 ARL season was ANZ Stadium this game was played at Suncorp.

Grand Final

Template:Template other This was the last Grand Final to feature two Sydney-based teams until 2003. 40,985 people were at the Sydney Football Stadium for the match, the lowest attendance since 1989. The match was refereed by Queenslander David Manson. For St. George, it was their third Grand Final appearance in the 1990s and would prove to be their last as a stand-alone club. Manly, looking for their sixth premiership, had been beaten Grand Finalists in 1995.

This would be the third and final time the two clubs would meet in a Grand Final, with St George having been victorious on both previous occasions in 1957 and 1959.

The pre-game entertainment focused on the 40th anniversary of television in Australia, as match broadcaster Channel 9 had been the first TV station in 1956. Music artists who performed in the pre-game included Glenn Shorrock, The Delltones, Ross Wilson, Christine Anu, and Kate Ceberano, who sang a video replay duet of "I Still Call Australia Home" with the late Australian entertainer Peter Allen (as Allen had died in 1992, he only appeared on the stadiums video replay screen).

Kate Ceberano also performed the Australian national anthem.

First half

In the fifth minute, Manly centre Craig Innes won the chase and scored after a grubber kick by his skipper Geoff Toovey. Matthew Ridge converted from the sideline for 6–0. The Dragons played on after being awarded a penalty in front of the posts in the eighth minute but failed to score. At the 15-minute mark, Saints' halfback Noel Goldthorpe conceded a penalty right in front of their goal posts after committing a head-high tackle on Manly's Daniel Gartner. Ridge took the kick, extending the lead to 8–0. St. George sent in forward replacements Lance Thompson and David Barnhill for Scott Gourley and Kevin Campion (head cut). For Manly, Neil Tierney came off the interchange bench to replace David Gillespie. Up until the 19th minute mark when Manly veteran five-eighth Cliff Lyons took the field, their coach Bob Fulton was using six running forwards with captain Geoff Toovey as dummy half.

The Dragons' first points came in the 37th minute when Wayne Bartrim kicked a penalty that was awarded when Manly forward Owen Cunningham stripped the ball. From the ensuing kick-off just before half-time, the game's controversial moment occurred by means of a hotly disputed try. Ridge made a spectacular short kick-off and regathered, catching the Dragons unaware. St George hooker Nathan Brown appeared to tackle Ridge, albeit one-handedly and by the collar. Ridge got up and ran when Brown was expecting him to stop and play the ball. Referee David Manson ruled that Brown did not complete the tackle. Ridge was eventually tackled just a few metres from the line. From there, dummy half Nik Kosef then passed the ball to Steve Menzies, who stormed his way through the Saints' defense of Thompson, Dean Raper, Noel Goldthorpe and Wayne Bartrim to score next to the posts, giving Ridge an easy conversion kick. The controversial ruling by referee Manson gave Manly a 14–2 half-time lead and broke the Saints' resolve. In the process of scoring, Menzies injured his groin/hamstring; and, although he returned for the second half, he was unable to run and was eventually interchanged by coach Fulton.

Second half

In the 53rd minute, Manly's Danny Moore scored a try from a Terry Hill pass after Hill drew Saints defenders Adrian Brunker and Nick Zisti. With Ridge off the field after being concussed in a tackle, Craig Innes converted from five metres off the sideline for the Sea Eagles to take a 20–2 lead. Five minutes later, Dragons' winger Zisti scored a try from a Bartrim cut-out pass. Bartrim then converted from the sideline for a final scoreline of 20–8. The final 20 minutes were scoreless, with two field goal attempts from Ridge charged down by Dragons' defenders. This ensured that the Sea Eagles secured their sixth official premiership and their only one of the 1990s.

Scoreboard

1996 ARL Optus Cup Grand Final

Sunday, 29 September 15:00 AEST (UTC+10)

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Template:Leagueicon	20 – 8	Template:Leagueicon St. George Dragons
Tries: 3 Innes Template:Try Menzies Template:Try Moore Template:Try Goals: 4 Ridge Template:Kick (3/3) Innes Template:Kick (1/1) Field goals: 0 Ridge (0/2)	1st: 14–2 2nd: 6–6	Tries: 1 Zisti Template:Try Goals: 2 Bartrim Template:Kick (2/2)

Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 40,985 Referee: David Manson Touch judges: Phil Cooley, Col White In-goal judges: Brett Matthews, Barry Ruttle Clive Churchill Medal: Geoff Toovey (Manly)

Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22.

Top 5 point scorers

Points	Player	Tries	Goals	Field Goals
225	Template:Leagueicon Jason Taylor	5	102	1
168	Template:Leagueicon Ivan Cleary	4	76	0
162	Template:Leagueicon Ryan Girdler	8	65	0
160	Template:Leagueicon Rod Wishart	14	52	0
153	Template:Leagueicon Matthew Ridge	7	62	1

Top 5 try scorers

Tries	Player
21	Template:Leagueicon Noa Nadruku
19	Template:Leagueicon Steve Renouf
16	Template:Leagueicon Steve Menzies
15	Template:Leagueicon Ben Ikin
14	Template:Leagueicon Darren Smith
14	Template:Leagueicon Brett Dallas
14	Template:Leagueicon Rod Wishart

Top 5 goal scorers

Goals	Player
102	Template:Leagueicon Jason Taylor
76	Template:Leagueicon Ivan Cleary
65	Template:Leagueicon Ryan Girdler
64	Template:Leagueicon Andrew Johns
62	Template:Leagueicon Matthew Ridge

External links

• 1996 Grand Final at NRL.com
• Grand Final replay at NRL.com
• Rugby League Tables – Season 1996
• St. George Dragons 1996 season at showroom.com.au