The
2007 NRL season consisted of 25 weekly regular season rounds, starting from 16 March and ending on 2 September, followed by four weeks of play-offs that culminated in a
grand final on 30 September.
Bulldogs' forward
Sonny Bill Williams was sent off in the fourth minute of his 2007 season in the match against
Newcastle, having made a hit on Newcastle captain
Andrew Johns which was deemed to be a reckless high tackle. Williams pleaded guilty at the judiciary, and received a two-week suspension.
Penrith were held scoreless for the first time since Round 18, 1999.
A total 185,051 people witnessed these eight matches, making this the round with the highest total attendance in the history of the competition (previous record was 171,526 for Round 22,
1995).
South Sydney recorded two victories to open the season – the first time they have done so since being reinstated into the competition earlier in the decade.
The New Zealand Warriors defeated the premiers from season 2006, Brisbane. This victory marks the first time in the club's history that the Warriors have won the first two games of a season.
The Gold Coast Titans recorded their maiden victory, defeating the Cronulla Sharks.
Both Friday night games went into golden point extra time, with
Penrith winning by one point and
Parramatta winning by two points. It was just the 2nd time there were 2 Golden Point games on the same day, the other occasion was Round 19 2004 on the Sunday afternoon.
The
Roosters lost their third match in as many rounds, marking the club's worst start to a season since 1994.
Broncos player,
Justin Hodges, found himself in the rare situation of scoring 4 tries (equal club record) for a losing side.
The Broncos also recorded their worst start to a season since 1999, and the worst start to a season by a defending premier since
2000.
Contrastingly,
Souths continued with their third straight win, the Rabbitohs' best start to a season since 1972.
The Canberra Raiders, who were listed as wooden spoon favourites by numerous betting organisations, pulled out a 30-point trashing of Newcastle with young
back,
William Zillman scoring a hat-trick of tries.
Australia's Channel 9's televised game of
South Sydney vs
Bulldogs was the first time Souths had a prime-time televised Friday night match since
2002. The 34,315 crowd was a record at
Telstra Stadium, and the highest for a regular season game in Sydney since Round 1, 2002 (when South Sydney were readmitted into the competition).
Cronulla's winning margin of 36 over the
St George Illawarra was Cronulla's highest against that club or its predecessors.
South Sydney co-captain and
kiwi international
David Kidwell tore ligaments in his knee during the weekend at a family barbecue, an injury which ended Kidwell's season.
A penalty try was awarded to the
Cronulla Sharks in the club's golden-point loss to the
Wests Tigers, the first time a penalty try had been awarded since Round 26 in the
2005 season.
Newcastle held special farewell celebrations for
Andrew Johns in the home game against Brisbane, renaming the East grandstand of
EnergyAustralia Stadium the "Andrew Johns Stand". In addition, in a first for the NRL, his number 7 jersey was retired for the match with half back Jarred Mullen wearing number 18.
After their worst start to a season since
1994 the
Sydney Roosters became the last team to win a game in the 2007 season, beating the
St George Illawarra Dragons on the traditional
ANZAC day match on Wednesday. It was the 1,000th win in the club's history, the first club to achieve the milestone.
In a re-match between the two teams of the
2006 grand final, the
Melbourne Storm defeated the
Brisbane Broncos, leaving the Storm as the only remaining undefeated team in 2007.
Two
South Sydney players reached significant career milestones:
David Peachey played his 250th first grade game, and captain
Peter Cusack played his 150th game.
After losing their first four matches of the season the
Wests Tigers defeated the
New Zealand Warriors in an unbeaten run of five wins.
Eels fullback Luke Burt scored a personal tally of 24 points against the Cowboys to notch up his 900th career point, and a record of 500 points at Parramatta Stadium, the first player to reach this milestone.
The
Brisbane Broncos recorded their highest score and largest win in their history, defeating the
Newcastle Knights 71–6. This match was Newcastle's biggest loss and set a club record for the most points conceded. Brisbane had been sitting last on the ladder on the day of the match.
Heavy storms across areas of
New South Wales affected games and attendances throughout the round. The Friday night match at
Telstra Stadium was played in a constant, heavy shower of rain. The match played in
Newcastle was under threat of cancellation for much of Sunday morning after 300mm of rain had fallen in the area within four days. Many lower grade
NSWRL matches were postponed to preserve grounds for first grade matches.
In the
New Zealand Warriors' 300th game, the Warriors suffered their sixth straight loss, losing 4–2 against competition leaders the
Melbourne Storm. The scoreline was 2–0 to New Zealand until the 72nd minute, when a decisive try sealed the match for Melbourne. It was the lowest aggregate score (six points total) since
1993.
The
New Zealand Warriors won their first match since round seven, ending a six-game losing run by beating the
Cronulla Sharks 2–12 on a rainy night at Toyota Park.
Parramatta second rower
Nathan Hindmarsh played his 200th first grade game for the
Parramatta Eels and was given a guard of honour at the end of the match.
Manly lost its first match at home after a 10-match winning streak.
The Melbourne Storm celebrated its 10-year anniversary with a 28–6 victory over the Dragons. The Storm's weekend long celebrations started with the naming of its team of the decade.
Brisbane Broncos five-eighth
Darren Lockyer suffered a knee injury, requiring a reconstruction which saw him miss nine months. Bulldogs forward
Willie Mason also suffered a season ending wrist injury.
The
Gold Coast Titans suffered their worst ever loss, going down to Canberra 56–10.
There was an argument between Parramatta coach
Michael Hagan and South Sydney coach
Jason Taylor after their teams' match. It is alleged Taylor said "
Brian Smith (former Eels coach) fixed up what Hagan at
Newcastle." Taylor also said that Hagan had ruined what had been put in place at the Eels.
This round was the first instance in the 100 years of the competition where two separate matches were sold out. For the first time in its history,
Mt Smart Stadium held a sold-out game, and
Leichhardt Oval was also sold out.
The
Melbourne Storm captured the Minor Premiership for the second consecutive season (although the title was
later stripped).
The
Warriors made the Finals Series for the first time since 2003.
The NRL scrapped Monday Night Football and moved the
Melbourne Storm vs
Gold Coast Titans match to the Sunday night before, to ensure that the teams would not have a short turnaround before a finals match.
The Newcastle Knights win against the Wests Tigers saw the Knights move out of last place, giving Penrith the wooden spoon; and, it saw the Brisbane Broncos replace the Wests Tigers in the final eight.
The South Sydney Rabbitohs clinched a finals appearance for the first time since 1989.
The Brisbane Broncos conceded 68 points against Parramatta, the most in club history.
The 2007 Finals Series was based on the McIntyre format. For the first time, teams based outside of Sydney were permitted to host finals matches in weeks two and three in their own cities; previously, all matches after the first week were played at either the
SFS or Telstra Stadium. The 2007 Grand Final was played at
Telstra Stadium.
All rounds in the finals series were shown live in Australia on Channel 9, with the exception of the Warriors v Parramatta qualifying final in week one, which was shown as a delayed telecast due to the time difference between New Zealand and eastern Australia.