The 2008 New Zealand rugby league season was the 101st season of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

that had been played in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The main feature of the year was the inaugural season of the

Bartercard Premiership The NZRL Bartercard Premiership was a six-team rugby league competition that ran in 2008 in sports, 2008 and 2009 in sports, 2009. It replaced the now-defunct Bartercard Cup competition as the highest level of rugby league in New Zealand. Matches h ...

competition that was run by the

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league, rugby league football in New Zealand.#SPARC-2009, SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a 1910 Great Britain Lions tour o ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

won the title by defeating the Canterbury Bulls 38–18 in the Grand Final.

International competitions

The

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team () has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the Kiwi (bird), native bird of that name. The team' ...

played two matches in New Zealand in 2008 as build up to the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

. As the All Golds they played a match against the New Zealand Māori in New Plymouth. They also defeated

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

in a test match in Auckland. The Kiwis went on to win the World Cup for the first time, defeating

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

34 - 20 in the Final. Coached by

Stephen Kearney Stephen Peter Kearney (born 11 June 1972) is a New Zealand professional rugby league football coach who until 2020 was the head coach of the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL and a former player. A New Zealand national captain and second-row for ...

the World Cup squad was captain

Nathan Cayless Nathan Frederick Cayless (born 28 March 1978) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, and has Coach (sport), coached in the 2010s. He played at representative level for New Zealand ...

Adam Blair Adam Ngawati Blair (born 20 March 1986) is a New Zealand rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer who played as a forward and in the National Rugby League (NRL), and the New Zealand national rugby league team, New Z ...

, Greg Eastwood,

David Fa'alogo David Fa'alogo (born 9 September 1980) is a former professional rugby league footballer played as a and in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Newcastle Knights in the NRL, the Huddersfield Giants in the Super Le ...

Nathan Fien Nathan Fien (born 1 August 1979), also known by the nickname of "Fieny", is a professional rugby league assistant coach with the Dolphins since their inaugural 2023 season in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. Fien is also a former N ...

, Dene Halatau,

Bronson Harrison Bronson Harrison (born 10 October 1985) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played as a forward in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for the Wests Tigers, Canberra Raiders and the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the ...

Lance Hohaia Lance Koro Hohaia (born 1 April 1983), also known by the nickname of "The Huntly Hurricane", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand international representative utility back, he played in the NRL for the Ne ...

Krisnan Inu Krisnan Nevada Inu (born 17 March 1987) is a former professional rugby league footballer who is currently Assistant Coach at Salford Red Devils. He has played for both New Zealand and Samoa at international level. He has previously played the ...

David Kidwell David Kidwell (born 23 April 1977) is a New Zealand professional rugby football, rugby coach (sport), coach and former rugby league player who is the defence coach for the Highlanders (rugby union), Highlanders in Super Rugby. As a player, he r ...

Thomas Leuluai Thomas James Leuluai (born 22 June 1985) is a New Zealand professional rugby league coach who is the assistant coach of the Wigan Warriors in the Super League and a former professional rugby league footballer who played for New Zealand national ...

Issac Luke Issac Luke (born 29 May 1987) is a former New Zealand professional rugby league footballer He previously played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, New Zealand Warriors, St. George Illawarra Dragons, and the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugb ...

Simon Mannering Simon Alexander Mannering (born 28 August 1986) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL. A New Zealand international second row forward, ...

, Sika Manu,

Benji Marshall Benjamin Quentin Marshall (born 25 February 1985) is a New Zealand professional rugby league coach and former player who is the head coach of the Wests Tigers in the NRL. He played at or for the Wests Tigers in two separate spells, St. G ...

Steve Matai Stephen Matai (born 5 August 1984) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the National Rugby League (NRL )from 2005 to 2016. A New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand national representative centr ...

, Jason Nightingale,

Sam Perrett Sam Perrett (born 14 May 1985), also known by the nickname of "Pez"' or "Sammy", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer. A representative for New Zealand at international level, he was a versatile back who was capable of p ...

, Sam Rapira,

Jerome Ropati Jerome Ropati (born 23 November 1984) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played his entire career for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League (NRL). Ropati also represented New Zealand, and was a memb ...

, Setaimata Sa, Jeremy Smith, Evarn Tuimavave and

Manu Vatuvei Manu Mapuhola Mafi-Vatuvei (born 4 March 1986), also known by the nickname "The Beast", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who was both a Tonga and New Zealand international representative er. He previously played for t ...

. ---- Earlier in the year New Zealand had lost 12-28 to Australia. Roy Asotasi, Iosia Soliola,

Sonny Bill Williams Sonny William Williams (born 3 August 1985) is a New Zealand heavyweight boxer, and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player. He is only the second person to represent New Zealand in rugby union after first playing for the cou ...

Frank Pritchard Frank Semu Pritchard (born 3 November 1983), also known by the nicknames "Cranky" and "Frank the Tank", is a former professional rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand and Samoa national rug ...

and

Brent Webb Brent Douglas Webb (born 8 November 1980) is a former New Zealand international rugby league footballer who played as a . He previously played for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL, before moving the Leeds Rhinos and the Catalans Dragons in ...

played in this match but were not included in the World Cup squad. As part of the

Festival of World Cups The Festival of World Cups is a collection of rugby league world cups usually held as a support series alongside the centrepiece Men's, Women's, and Wheelchair tournaments. First held in 2008, as part of the Centenary of Rugby League in Austra ...

New Zealand sent teams to the University Rugby League World Cup, International Police Rugby League World Cup,

Women's Rugby League World Cup The Women's Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league tournament, contested by the women's national teams of the International Rugby League (IRL). The competition has been held since 2000 and was incorporated into the Festival of ...

and Defence Forces World Cup. New Zealand, coached by

Frank Endacott Frank Morris Endacott , also known by the nickname of "Happy Frank", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, and Coach (sport), coach. Background His son, Shane Endacott, Shane, also played rugby league. Playing career En ...

, won the Women's World Cup while the New Zealand Police lost the final of the Police World Cup. The New Zealand Māori side were coached by Luke Goodwin with

Richie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English lead guitarist. He was a founding member and the guitarist of Deep Purple, one of the pioneering bands of hard rock. After leaving Deep Purple in 1975, Blackmore formed the band Rainbow ...

and Chris Anderson providing assistance. The squad to face the All Golds was Kevin Locke,

Jordan Rapana Jordan Rapana (born 15 August 1989) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a Fullback and/or er for Hull F.C. in the Super League. He has played for the New Zealand Māori, New Zealand and the Cook Islands at international lev ...

Shaun Kenny-Dowall Shaun Kenny-Dowall (born 23 January 1988) is a New Zealand international former rugby league footballer who last played as a and er for Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League. He was also the club captain. He previously played for the Syd ...

Wairangi Koopu Dane Wairangi Manuera Koopu (born 2 April 1980) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played for the New Zealand Warriors and the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League. Koopu primarily played in the , and as a ...

, Jason Nightingale, Arana Taumata,

Rangi Chase Moutoa Lance "Rangi" Chase (born 11 April 1986) is a rugby league footballer who last played for the Rochdale Hornets in RFL League 1. He played at representative level for the New Zealand Māori rugby league team, New Zealand Māori before m ...

, Sam McKendry, Ben Ellis, Weller Hauraki,

, Anthony Cherrington, Lee Te Maari, Jared Kahu,

Joseph Cahill John Joseph Cahill (21 January 189122 October 1959), also known as Joe Cahill or J. J. Cahill, was a long-serving New South Wales politician, railway worker, trade unionist and New South Wales Labor Party, Labor Party Premier of New South Wale ...

, Chance Bunce, James Tamou and Kevin Proctor.

Bronx Goodwin Bronx Goodwin (born 5 November 1984) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a er or . He was head coach of the St. George Illawarra Dragons NSW Cup team for 2023. Background He is the son of Australian former Internat ...

Chase Stanley Chase Stanley (born 31 May 1989) is a New Zealand former international rugby league footballer who plays as a or er for the Toronto Wolfpack in the Super League. He previously played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in two separate spell ...

, Craig Smith, Charlie Herekotukutuku and Karl Johnson were added to the team for the World Cup opening match against the Indigenous Dreamtime Team.

National competitions

Rugby League Cup

The

ruled that the

Rugby League Cup The Rugby League Cup is a New Zealand rugby league trophy that is contested between districts on a challenge basis. The trophy used to be known as the Northern Union Challenge Cup. It is the oldest rugby league competition in New Zealand. Hist ...

would be defended in all Bartercard Premiership matches, home and away. The Cup changed hands in the Final, when

defeated the holders,

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

, 38–18.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009'', 2009. , p.p.350-357.

Bartercard Premiership

The 2008 season was the inaugural

. It replaced the

Bartercard Cup The Bartercard Cup (successor of the Lion Red Cup) was the top level rugby league club competition in New Zealand from 2000 until 2007. For the entire life of the tournament it was sponsored by Bartercard. The cup was administered by the New Ze ...

as the top division of rugby league in New Zealand.

Teams

Canterbury were co-coached by Brent Stuart and Dave Perkins with Phil Prescott as the director of coaching.

Mike Dorreen Michael Thomas Dorreen (born 19 January 1967) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played at representative level for New Zealand and Canterbury, and at club level for Addington (of ...

and

Logan Edwards Samuel Logan Edwards (born 18 November 1968) is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer. Domestic career Edwards played for the dominating Canterbury provincial side of the early 1990s alongside such talent as Quentin Pongia, Mike Dorreen ...

were the co-coached of the age group side. Auckland were coached by

Sam Panapa Samuel Lameko Panapa is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He represented three countries in his career: Tokelau, New Zealand and Western Samoa. Panapa played his club football in Aucklan ...

and included Pita Godinet,

Jeremiah Pai Jeremiah Pai is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Hibiscus Coast Raiders in the Sharman Cup (2024). Early years He was first noticed when playing for the Eastern Tornadoes in the Bartercard Cup before ...

and Wayne McDade. Bay of Plenty were coached by

Graham Lowe Sir Graham Michael Lowe is the owner of the Bradford Bulls together with fellow New Zealander Andrew Chalmers. He is a New Zealand former rugby league football coach and administrator. He previously coached in Australia and England and was the ...

Season standings

Fixtures and results

= Round 1

= Round 2

= Round 3

= Round 4

= Round 5

= Grand final

Australian competitions

The

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

competed in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

competition. They finished 8th out of 16 teams before winning in the Qualifying and Semi finals before losing to eventual premiers Manly. The Junior Warriors finished third in the Toyota Cup, making the finals before losing to the Brisbane Broncos in a Preliminary Final. The

Auckland Vulcans The Auckland Vulcans were an Auckland based rugby league club that participated in the New South Wales Cup. They were administered by the Rugby League Development Foundation. The team was selected from the Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial C ...

also competed in the

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

Club competitions

Auckland

The

Mt Albert Lions The Mount Albert Lions are a rugby league club based in Mount Albert, New Zealand. The Lions home ground is at Fowlds Park. Their patron is the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark. In 2008 and 2009 Auckland Rugby League season, 2009 ...

won the Fox Memorial, defeating Otahuhu 24–22 in the final. The

Otahuhu Leopards The Otahuhu Leopards are a rugby league club based in Ōtāhuhu, Auckland. Founded in 1911 Auckland Rugby League season, 1911, the club has produced 49 New Zealand national rugby league team players. The club competes in the Fox Memorial compet ...

won the Rukutai Shield (minor premiership) while

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

won the Stormont Shield.

also won the Sharman Cup (second division) while the New Lynn Stags won the Pheland Shield (third division). Mt Albert were coached by Brent Gemmell and included Steve Buckingham, Sala Fa'alogo,

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

and David Fisiiahi,

Anthony Swann Anthony Gilbert Swann (born 27 March 1975) is a former professional rugby league footballer who represented both New Zealand and Samoa in international rugby league. Background He was educated at Liston College, Henderson. Playing career Swa ...

and

Matthew Sturm Matthew Sturm (born 13 December 1972) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in New Zealand and in the Super League. Since 2007 he has been part of the Mount Albert Lions, as a player till 2012 and now part of the coaching ...

Wellington

The Porirua Vikings won the

Wellington Rugby League Wellington Rugby League is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of Rugby league in the Wellington Region, Greater Wellington region. It is responsible for the local competition of the same name, as well as its representative ...

title.

Canterbury

Linwood won the

Canterbury Rugby League Canterbury Rugby League is the regional body that administers rugby league in Canterbury, New Zealand. CRL manages local competitions from senior level down to age group competitions. Canterbury Rugby League also manages the Canterbury rugby le ...

title.

Other Competitions

The Taniwharau Rugby League Club defeated Hamilton City Tigers to win the

Waikato Rugby League Waikato Rugby League is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of rugby league in the Waikato region of New Zealand. The WRL are represented by the Waikato rugby league team. They are currently part of the Upper Central Zone al ...

competition. Taniwharau defeated Otumotai to win the WaiCoa Bay championship. Pacific won the Baywide premier competition. This was a joint competition run by the

Coastline A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

and

Bay of Plenty Rugby League Bay of Plenty Rugby League is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of Rugby league in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. Following the restructuring of the New Zealand Rugby League they are part of the Upper Central Zone ...

's.First game back close for centre
''The Daily Post'', 2 June 2008

References

External links

NZRL Website

Bartercard Premiership Website

{{BartercardPremiership