The 2008 NRL Under-20s season was the first season of the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

's youth competition, known as the Toyota Cup due to sponsorship from

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

. The draw and structure of the competition mirrors that of its senior counterpart, the 2008 Telstra Premiership.

Season summary

Schedule

NYC Records

Ladder

Ladder progression

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

Finals series

Grand final

A Spectacular try to second-rower

Jarrad Kennedy Jarrad Kennedy (born 27 February 1989) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Mount Pritchard Mounties in the Intrust Super Premiership. He plays at , but can also fill in at . He previously played for the Canbe ...

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 Jarrod Keith Croker (born 11 September 1990) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who is the captain and goal-kicking for the Canberra Raiders in the NRL. He has played his entire career to date with Canberra, with whom he b ...

, who had collected a cross-field kick from halfback

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as the Eleventh Doctor, eleventh incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the BBC series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Daemon Targarye ...

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 Joshua Dugan (born 10 May 1990) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a and for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL and Australia at international level. He previously played for the Canberra R ...

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 Jharal Yow Yeh (born 22 December 1989) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative or , he also played ...

. The Broncos looked set to go on with the job when centre

Brendon Gibb Brendon Gibb (born 9 October 1988) is an Australian former professional Rugby league footballer who played for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL. Background Gibb played at the Gladstone brothers as his junior club and found his favoured positio ...

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 Drury Low (born 2 April 1990) is a Cook Islands international rugby league footballer who plays for the Narellan Jets in the Group 6 Rugby League and previously with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby L ...

, plus Dugan's heroics, eventually set the scene for Kennedy's match-winning play.

Match Summary

Statistics

Top Pointscorers

Top Tryscorers

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 Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

:''Nominated:'' ::

Ben Barba Ben Barba (born 13 June 1989) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for St Helens in the Super League. He primarily played as a or . He was banned by both the NRL and Rugby Football League in February ...

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Eddie Paea Edmond "Eddie" Paea (born 8 February 1988) is a dual-code rugby international rugby footballer for Tonga. Beginning his professional career playing rugby league with the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League, Paea made his debut f ...

, 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.

References

{{2008 in rugby league NRL Under-20s season