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.

January

 * 4 Auckland, New Zealand - Rising NRL star Sonny Fai is presumed dead after being swept out to sea at Bethells Beach.

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.

April

 * 6th: France – The 75th anniversary of the creation of the French Rugby League.

City vs. Country Origin
Teams: 

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
Teams:

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

 * Bridgend, Wales - The first Super League game to involve no English club is played when Celtic Crusaders play against Catalans Dragons at Brewery Field.

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:

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

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.

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

New Zealand vs. Tonga
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
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.

Super League
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
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.