2008 NRL Under-20s season

Last updated

2008 National Youth Competition
Toyota Cup logo.jpg
Teams16
Premiers Canberra colours.svg Canberra (1st title)
Minor premiers Canberra colours.svg Canberra (1st title)
Matches played201
Points scored9938
Wooden spoon North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland  (1st spoon)
Player of the Year Brisbane colours.svg Ben Hunt
Top point-scorer(s) Canterbury colours.svg Ben Barba (254)
Top try-scorer(s) Canterbury colours.svg Ben Barba (28)
2009  

The 2008 NRL Under-20s season was the first season of the National Rugby League's youth competition, known as the Toyota Cup due to sponsorship from Toyota. The draw and structure of the competition mirrors that of its senior counterpart, the 2008 Telstra Premiership.

Contents

Season summary

Schedule

NYC Records

Ladder

PosTeamPldWDLBPFPAPDPts
1 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders (P)2418062744581+16340
2 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos 2415182684476+20835
3 New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand Warriors 2414372721533+18835
4 Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith Panthers 2415182692583+10935
5 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels 2414372578564+1435
6 St. George colours.svg St George Illawarra Dragons 2413292561520+4132
7 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2412392711587+12431
8 Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans 24131102686567+11931
9 Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers 24130112620623-330
10 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs 24112112618584+3428
11 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 24110132519532-1326
12 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights 2481152526630-10421
13 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 2481152512638-12621
14 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2461172394666-27217
15 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters 2460182480721-24116
16 North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys 2443172455696-24115

Ladder progression

Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.

Team1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526
1 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders 24468101214161618182022222424262830323436363840
2 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos 0024666681012141515171921212325252729313335
3 New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand Warriors 00245688101012141618202022242628303032343435
4 Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith Panthers 22468101214141618202224262628292931313131333535
5 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels 24679111313131517171719212323232325272931333435
6 St. George colours.svg St. George Illawarra Dragons 02468101214161820222325252527272929313131313232
7 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 02467779111214141618202223252527272931313131
8 Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans 22222446899111315171921232525272929292931
9 Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers 24444668101012141616161820222424262828283030
10 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs 00024468101214141416161718202020202224262628
11 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 22222246688101214141616161818202020222426
12 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights 022224666810101010121212131517171717192121
13 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 23335579111111131315151517171717171921212121
14 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 013333579999999911131313131313151517
15 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters 246666688888888810101012121212121416
16 North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys 000112222244468911111111131315151515

Finals series

Qualifying finalsSemifinalsPreliminary finalsFinal
1 Canberra Raiders 43
8 Brisbane Broncos 281W Canberra Raiders 18
4W Parramatta Eels 22 St. George Illawarra 14
2 NZ Warriors 472L St. George Illawarra 23
Canberra Raiders 28
7 Penrith Panthers 16
Brisbane Broncos 24
3 Parramatta Eels 242W Brisbane Broncos 28
6 St. George Illawarra 203W NZ Warriors 38 NZ Warriors 26
1L Penrith Panthers 4
4 Bulldogs 22
5 Gold Coast Titans 12
HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
Date and TimeVenueReferee
Qualifying Finals
Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos 28-22 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury Bulldogs 12 September 2008, 5:30pm Sydney Football Stadium Gerard Sutton
Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders 43-12 Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans 13 September 2008, 4:15pm Toyota Stadium Alan Shortall
Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith Panthers 16-24 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels 13 September 2008, 6:15pm Brookvale Oval Phillip Haines
New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand Warriors 47-20 St. George Illawarra colours.svg St. George Illawarra 14 September 2008, 1:45pm Olympic Park Chris James
Semi-finals
New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand Warriors 38-4 Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith Panthers 19 September 2008, 6:15pm Mt Smart Stadium Phillip Haines
Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels 22-23 St. George Illawarra colours.svg St. George Illawarra 20 September 2008, 5:30pm Suncorp Stadium Chris James
Preliminary Finals
Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders 18-14 St. George Illawarra colours.svg St. George Illawarra 26 September 2008, 5:30pm Sydney Football Stadium Phillip Haines
Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos 28-26 New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand Warriors 27 September 2008, 5:30pm Sydney Football Stadium Chris James
Grand Final
Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders 28-24 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos 5 October 2008, 2:15pm ANZ Stadium Shayne Hayne

Grand final

Canberra Raiders Position Brisbane Broncos
  1. Josh Dugan
FB
  1. Josh Hoffman
2. Drury Low WG 2. Mitch Rivett
3. Jarrod Croker CE 3. Will Tupou
4. Daniel Vidot CE 4. Brendon Gibb
5. Michael Brophy WG 5. Jharal Yow Yeh
6. Michael Picker FE 6. Jared Kahu
7. Matt Smith HB 7. Ben Hunt
15. Andrew Edwards PR 8. Josh McGuire
9. Travis Waddell HK 9. Andrew McCullough
10. Nick Skinner PR 10. Mitchell Dodds
11. Jarrad Kennedy SR 11. Matt Handcock
12. Zach Merritt SR 12. Troyden Watene
13. Shaun Fensom (c) LK 13. Alex Glenn (c)
14. Brock Dunn Bench14. Michael Spence
16. Justin Carney Bench15. Dunamis Lui
17. Todd Rheinberger Bench16. Guy Ford
18. Levi Freeman Bench17. Tom Butterfield
Tony Adam Coach Anthony Griffin

A Spectacular try to second-rower Jarrad Kennedy seven minutes into golden-point extra time gave Canberra a thrilling 28-24 victory over Brisbane in the U20 rugby league grand final at ANZ Stadium.

Kennedy was mobbed by jubilant Raiders teammates after collapsing over the line in exhaustion after willing himself to back up centre Jarrod Croker, who had collected a cross-field kick from halfback Matt Smith as the clock wound down.

Canberra won the hard way, though, recovering from 20-12 down early in the second half and then needing a missed conversion attempt from Broncos halfback Ben Hunt to force extra time.

Gunning for their eighth straight victory, Brisbane made a worrying start, conceding a soft try to five-eighth Michael Picker, which fullback Josh Dugan converted for a 6-0 lead after 10 minutes.

The Broncos steadied and went to the interval with a 16-12 buffer after tries to Hunt, interchange forward Michael Spence and winger Jharal Yow Yeh.

The Broncos looked set to go on with the job when centre Brendon Gibb crossed out wide in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Raiders refused to lie down.

A second try to Michael Picker and a goose-stepping four-pointer to winger Drury Low, plus Dugan's heroics, eventually set the scene for Kennedy's match-winning play. [1]

Match Summary

2008 Toyota Cup Grand Final
Sunday, 5 October
14:15pm AEDT (UTC+11)
Canberra Raiders Canberra colours.svg 28 – 24 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos
Tries:5
Picker Ru ball.svg 10', 26'
Low Ru ball.svg 53'
Dugan Ru ball.svg 66'
Kennedy Ru ball.svg 88'
Goals:4
Dugan Rugby penalty.svg 11', 27', 55', 67'(4/4)
1st: 12–16
2nd: 12–8
GP: 4–0
Tries:5
Yow Yeh Ru ball.svg 44', 68'
Hunt Ru ball.svg 17'
Spence Ru ball.svg 29'
Gibb Ru ball.svg 39'
Goals:2
Hunt Rugby penalty.svg 18', 30'(2/5)
ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Referee: Shayne Hayne
Jack Gibson Medal: Josh Dugan (Canberra)

Statistics

Top Pointscorers

PlayerTeamPTGFGPts
1 Ben Barba Canterbury colours.svg Bulldogs 2028702254
2 Kevin Locke New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand 241588-236
3 Josh Dugan Canberra colours.svg Canberra 191583-226
4 Ben Hunt Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane 261749-166
5 Lachlan Coote Penrith colours.svg Penrith 121539-138
6 Nathan Gardner Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta 161832-136
7 Jordan Kahu Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane 22552-124
8 Eddie Paea South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney 1911382122
9 Chris Sandow South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney 11647-118
10 Daly Cherry-Evans Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly 247413113

Top Tryscorers

PlayerTeamPT
1 Ben Barba Canterbury colours.svg Bulldogs 2028
2 Jharal Yow Yeh Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane 2627
3 Kevin Gordon Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast 2020
4 Nathan Gardner Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta 1618
5 Ben Hunt Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane 2617
6 Drury Low Canberra colours.svg Canberra 1616
7 Lachlan Coote Penrith colours.svg Penrith 1215
7 Coedi Towney Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers 1715
7 Simon Williams Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle 1715
7John Kennedy St. George colours.svg St George Illawarra 2315
7 Kevin Locke New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand 2415

Awards

Toyota Cup Player of the Year

The winner of the award is decided by the most votes during the year as decided by the referee of each game on a 3-2-1 basis for each game played throughout the regular season.

Winner:
Ben Hunt, Brisbane
Nominated:
Ben Barba, Bulldogs
Eddie Paea, South Sydney
Matt Mundine, St. George Illawarra

Toyota Cup team of the Year

The Toyota Cup team of the Year is voted on by the 16 Toyota Cup coaches, with the players with the highest votes in each position selected.

PositionPlayerClub
FB Lachlan Coote Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith
WG Jharal Yow Yeh Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane
CE Justin Carney Canberra colours.svg Canberra
CE Tony Williams Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta
WG Kevin Gordon Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast
FE Ben Barba Canterbury colours.svg Bulldogs
HB Chris Sandow South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney
PR Russell Packer New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand
HK Masada Iosefa Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith
PR John Kite Canterbury colours.svg Bulldogs
SR Joel Thompson Canberra colours.svg Canberra
SR Daniel Harrison Canterbury colours.svg Bulldogs
LK Shaun Fensom Canberra colours.svg Canberra
Bench Ben Hunt Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane
Bench Matt Mundine St. George colours.svg St George Illawarra
Bench Jordan Rapana Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast
Bench Ben Matulino New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand

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References

  1. "Raiders claim inaugural Toyota Cup". Fox Sports. Retrieved 5 October 2008.