1996 Australian Rugby League
Duration	22 March – 29 September 1996
Teams	20
Premiers	Manly-Warringah (6th title)
Minor premiers	Manly-Warringah (8th title)
Matches played	223
Points scored	8547
Average attendance	12,303
Attendance	2,743,516
Top points scorer(s)	Jason Taylor (238)
Player of the year	Jason Taylor (Rothmans Medal)
Top try-scorer(s)	Noa Nadruku (21)
← 1995 1997 (ARL) 1997 (SL) →

The 1996 ARL premiership (also known as the 1996 Optus Cup due to sponsorship from Optus) was the 89th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the second to be administered by the Australian Rugby League (ARL). Twenty teams contested the premiership, including five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, two from greater New South Wales, four from Queensland, and one each from New Zealand, the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia. Ultimately two Sydney clubs, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and St. George Dragons contested the grand final.

Teams

The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous season except for the re-branding of the Gold Coast team from the "Seagulls" to the "Chargers" as the ARL took control of the club.^[1]

Auckland Warriors 2nd season Ground: Ericsson Stadium Coach: John Monie Captain: Greg Alexander	Brisbane Broncos 9th season Ground: ANZ Stadium Coach: Wayne Bennett Captain: Allan Langer	Canberra Raiders 15th season Ground: Bruce Stadium Coach: Tim Sheens Captain: Ricky Stuart → Laurie Daley	Canterbury Bulldogs 62nd season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Chris Anderson Captain: Simon Gillies	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 30th season Ground: Endeavour Park Coach: John Lang Captain: Andrew Ettingshausen
Gold Coast Chargers 9th season Ground: Seagulls Stadium Coach: Phil Economidis Captain: Dave Watson	Illawarra Steelers 15th season Ground: Wollongong Stadium Coach: Allan McMahon Captain: John Cross → Paul McGregor	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 50th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Bob Fulton Captain: Geoff Toovey	Newcastle Knights 9th season Ground: Marathon Stadium Coach: Malcolm Reilly Captain: Paul Harragon	North Queensland Cowboys 2nd season Ground: Stockland Stadium Coach: Graham Lowe Captain: Dean Schifilliti
North Sydney Bears 89th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Peter Louis Captain: Jason Taylor	Parramatta Eels 50th season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Ron Hilditch Captain: Gary Freeman → Jarrod McCracken	Penrith Panthers 30th season Ground: Penrith Stadium Coach: Royce Simmons Captain: Steve Carter	South Queensland Crushers 2nd season Ground: Suncorp Stadium Coach: Bob Lindner Captain: Trevor Gillmeister	South Sydney Rabbitohs 89th season Ground: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Ken Shine Captain: Craig Field → Craig Salvatori
St. George Dragons 76th season Ground: Kogarah Oval Coach: David Waite Captain: Mark Coyne	Sydney City Roosters 89th season Ground: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Phil Gould Captain: Sean Garlick	Sydney Tigers 89th season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Wayne Pearce Captain: Paul Sironen	Western Reds 2nd season Ground: WACA Ground Coach: Peter Mulholland Captain: Mark Geyer	Western Suburbs Magpies 89th season Ground: Campbelltown Stadium Coach: Tommy Raudonikis Captain: Paul Langmack

Regular season

With the Super League war in full effect off the field, those clubs affiliated with the breakaway competition refused to participate in five games of Round 1, all forfeited to ARL-aligned clubs and only four of the ten scheduled games took place. Of the two games between two Super League clubs, Canterbury versus North Queensland was cancelled, whilst Auckland flew a team consisting of players from the Otahuhu Leopards and Ellerslie Eagles clubs to Brisbane and were thus declared winners over the Broncos by forfeit.^[2]

Following up on their performance in the 1995 season up to the grand final, Manly-Warringah dominated the season with their defence, which conceded only 34 tries in 25 matches, the best record of any team since the six-tackle rule was introduced in 1971. Indeed, the Sea Eagles only conceded 191 points during the minor round, an average of only 8.7 points per game, while scoring 549 points at 24.9 points per game. Their 1995 rivals Canberra were hit by injuries which wiped out the seasons of key players including captain Ricky Stuart, Bradley Clyde and Jason Croker, and suspensions to Kiwi props John Lomax and Quentin Pongia.

Super League-aligned Canterbury were also hit by the loss of key players Jim Dymock, Dean Pay, Jason Smith and Jarrod McCracken to ARL-loyal Parramatta. Sydney City started the season in good form, but fell off after winning their first ten games, whilst Brisbane (with Allan Langer putting in some strong performances) dominated early but as had become their custom, lost ground mid-season during the Origin period. North Sydney, with a powerful forward pack and skillful goal-kicking half Jason Taylor feeding a superb set of outside backs, were expected to make the Grand Final, but as had become their habit in the 1990s they lost the preliminary final, this time to St. George.

The 20-team competition in 1995 and 1996 caused frequent jackpots in FootyTAB's "Pick The Margins" and after three successive rounds without a single winner, on 8 July 1996 after a last-minute Sydney City penalty goal, one punter received an all-time record for any form of sports betting in Australia: $2,006,217.

This year Canterbury-Bankstown back Terry Lamb set new record for most first-grade premiership games at 350 before retiring at the end of the season.

North Sydney's Jason Taylor won the official player of the year award, the Rothmans Medal, while the Dally M Medal was awarded to Brisbane's Allan Langer.

At the end of the season, ARL chief executive John Quayle resigned and was replaced by Balmain president (and former hooker) Neil Whittaker.^[3]