The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be either a single game, a series of games, or a tournament, and may use a single-elimination system or one of several other different playoff formats. Playoff, in regard to international fixtures, is to qualify or progress to the next round of a competition or tournament.
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals series. Synonymous with a championship game in North American sports, grand finals have become a significant part of Australian culture. The earliest leagues to feature a grand final were in Australian rules football, followed soon after by rugby league. Currently the largest grand finals are in the Australian Football League (AFL) and National Rugby League (NRL). Their popularity influenced other competitions such as soccer's A-League Men and A-League Women, the National Basketball League, Suncorp Super Netball and European rugby league's Super League to adopt grand finals as well. Most grand finals involve a prestigious award for the player voted best on field.
Tony Smith is a professional rugby league coach and former player
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 and South Queensland Crushers, twenty teams competed for the premiership, which culminated in the 1998 NRL grand final between the Brisbane Broncos 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
Engage Super League XI was the official name for the year 2006's Super League season in the sport of rugby league in Europe. Bradford Bulls were looking to retain the title they won in Super League X.
The Mount Brydges Bulldogs are a Junior ice hockey team based in Mount Brydges, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League and are three-time provincial champions.
The Catalans Dragons are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. Despite being based in France the club competes in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league
The 1997 Super League season was a breakaway professional rugby league football competition in Australia and the only one to be run by the News Limited-controlled Super League organisation. Eight teams which had broken away from the existing Australian Rugby League, in addition to the newly created Adelaide Rams and Hunter Mariners, competed over eighteen weekly rounds of the regular season. The top five teams then played a series of knock-out finals which culminated in a September grand final played in Brisbane between Brisbane and Cronulla.
Northern Pride Rugby League Football Club is a semi-professional Queensland rugby league club based in Cairns. Founded in 2007 they represent Far North Queensland, and compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, QRL's Queensland Cup.
Tetley's Super League IX was the name of the 2004 Super League championship season due to sponsorship by Tetley's Bitter. This was the 110th season of top-level professional rugby league held in Britain, and the ninth championship decided by Super League. The season culminated in the grand final between Leeds Rhinos and Bradford Bulls, which Leeds won, claiming the 2004 title.
The 2003 Super League Grand Final was the 6th official Grand Final conclusive and premiership-deciding match of Super League VIII. Held on Saturday 18 October 2003 at Old Trafford, Manchester, the game was played between Bradford Bulls and Wigan Warriors. The match was refereed Karl Kirkpatrick and watched by a crowd of 65,537, with Bradford winning 25 - 12.
The 2004 Super League Grand Final was the 7th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding game of Super League IX. It was held on Saturday 16 October 2004, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was played between Leeds Rhinos, who finished top of the league after the 28 weekly rounds, and Bradford Bulls, who finished second after the weekly rounds.
The 2005 Super League Grand Final was the 8th official Grand Final and the conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League X season. Held on Saturday 15 October 2005, at Old Trafford, Manchester, the game was played between Bradford Bulls, who finished 3rd in the league after the 28 weekly rounds, and Leeds Rhinos, who finished second after the weekly rounds.
The 2007 Super League Grand Final was 10th official Grand Final and the conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XII season. Held on Saturday 13 October 2007, at Old Trafford in Manchester, the game was played between St. Helens, who finished top of the league after the 27 weekly rounds, and Leeds Rhinos, who finished second after the weekly rounds.
The 2007 Carnegie World Club Challenge was played between Super League XI champions, St. Helens and 2006 National Rugby League premiers, the Brisbane Broncos. It was a replay of the 2001 World Club Challenge, and both clubs' fifth WCC appearance. The match was played on the night of 23 February at Reebok Stadium, Bolton before a crowd of 23,207.
The year 2005 Carnegie World Club Challenge was contested by Super League IX champions Leeds Rhinos and 2004 NRL season premiers, the Bulldogs. The match was played on 4 February at Elland Road, Leeds before 37,208 spectators. Australian Sean Hampstead was the referee. The home team came out winners in the end of what was, at the time, the highest-scoring WCC match ever, with a final scoreline of 39-32.
This article details the 2006 Super League season results. Twelve teams competed in the 11th season of British Summer-era rugby league. In all, 174 matches were played over nine months, from February 2006 to October.
The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 teams playing 25 weekly rounds of matches from March until September, resulting in the top eight teams playing a series of finals matches to determine which two teams reached the 2018 NRL Grand Final.
Super League XXIII, known as the Betfred Super League XXIII for sponsor reasons, was the 23rd season of the Super League and 124th season of rugby league in Britain for 2018.
The 2021 RFL Women's Super League was the fifth season of the Rugby League Women's Super League for female players in clubs affiliated to the Rugby Football League (RFL).
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