National Rugby League season 2000
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| 2000 National Rugby League season | |
|---|---|
| Image:NRLlogo.gif Logo of the NRL | |
| Teams | 14 |
| Premiers | Image:Brisbane colours.png Brisbane (5th title) |
| Minor Premiers | Image:Brisbane colours.png Brisbane (4th title) |
| Matches played | 191 |
| Points scored | 8050 (average 42.147 per match) |
| Attendance | 2,902,227 (average 15,195 per match) |
| Top points scorer(s) | Image:Wests Tigers colours.png Joel Caine (224 points) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Image:St. George Illawarra colours.png Nathan Blacklock (25 tries) |
The year 2000 saw the third season of the National Rugby League competition, the 93rd season of professional rugby league football in Australia. The Brisbane Broncos claimed their fifth premiership in nine seasons, defeating the Sydney Roosters in the last grand final played during the afternoon. It was the Roosters' first grand final appearance since 1980.
Contents |
[edit] Season summary
The season began in early February to accommodate the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games which were to be held during September and required the use of Stadium Australia, the grand final venue. The grand final was scheduled for late August, the first grand final in that month since 1963. The capacity of Stadium Australia for the grand final was limited due to preparations for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, which would take place just nineteen days later.
The season saw the debut of the Wests Tigers (formerly the Balmain Tigers and Western Suburbs Magpies) and Northern Eagles (formerly Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and North Sydney Bears in the National Rugby League, thereby completing the rationalisation process from 20 teams in 1998 to 14 in 2000. The Auckland Warriors were re-branded the New Zealand Warriors at the end of the season and the South Sydney Rabbitohs were excluded from the competition.
Throughout the month of February, mandatory breaks in play at the 20th and 60th minute of the game were implemented to allow players to rehydrate themselves. Due to concerns over the summer heat, the Brisbane and North Queensland clubs played their first four games away from home.
The Cowboys were stripped of two competition points after it was later revealed that they unwittingly used an extra fourteenth player for three minutes in their 26-18 win against the Parramatta Eels, due to an error in interchanging players.
[edit] Season advertising
For the first time since farewelling Tina Turner in 1995 the NRL used a major recording star in its promotional campaign and accessed a media budget that saw the launch ad shown regularly throughout the season. Sydney advertising agency VCD in the last of their four year tenure on the NRL account shot an ad with Tom Jones performing on stage alongside hi-kicking female dancers, the 1993 Salt-N-Pepa hit Whatta Man with lyrics re-worked as "What A Game".
[edit] Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Image:Brisbane colours.png Brisbane | 26 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 696 | 388 | +308 | 38 |
| 2 | Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.png Sydney | 26 | 16 | 0 | 10 | 601 | 520 | +81 | 32 |
| 3 | Image:Newcastle colours.png Newcastle | 26 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 686 | 532 | +154 | 31 |
| 4 | Image:Canberra colours.png Canberra | 26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 506 | 479 | +27 | 30 |
| 5 | Image:Penrith colours.png Penrith | 26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 573 | 562 | +11 | 30 |
| 6 | Image:Melbourne colours.png Melbourne | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 672 | 529 | +143 | 29 |
| 7 | Image:Parramatta colours.png Parramatta | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 476 | 456 | +20 | 29 |
| 8 | Image:Cronulla colours.png Cronulla | 26 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 570 | 463 | +107 | 26 |
| 9 | Image:St. George Illawarra colours.png St George Illawarra | 26 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 576 | 656 | -80 | 24 |
| 10 | Image:Wests Tigers colours.png Wests Tigers | 26 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 519 | 642 | -123 | 24 |
| 11 | Image:Canterbury colours.png Bulldogs | 26 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 469 | 553 | -84 | 21 |
| 12 | Image:Northern Eagles colours.png Northern Eagles | 26 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 476 | 628 | -152 | 18 |
| 13 | Image:Auckland colours.png Auckland | 26 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 426 | 662 | -236 | 18 |
| 14 | Image:North Queensland colours.png North Queensland | 26 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 436 | 612 | -176 | 12 |
- North Queensland were stripped of two competition points due to a breach of the interchange rule in one game.
[edit] Finals
[edit] Grand Final
| Broncos | Position | Roosters |
|---|---|---|
| Darren Lockyer | FB | Luke Phillips |
| Lote Tuqiri | WG | Matt Sing |
| Tonie Carroll | CE | Shannon Hegarty |
| Michael De Vere | CE | Ryan Cross |
| Wendell Sailor | WG | Anthony Minichiello |
| Ben Ikin | FE | Brad Fittler (c) |
| Kevin Walters (c) | HB | Adrian Lam |
| Shane Webcke | PR | Ian Rubin |
| Luke Priddis | HK | Simon Bonetti |
| Dane Carlaw | PR | Peter Cusack |
| Gorden Tallis | SR | Bryan Fletcher |
| Brad Thorn | SR | Craig Fitzgibbon |
| Kevin Campion | LK | Luke Ricketson |
| Harvey Howard | Bench | Dallas Hood |
| Michael Hancock | Bench | David Solomona |
| Shaun Berrigan | Bench | Shane Rigon |
| Ashley Harrison | Bench | Craig Wing |
| Wayne Bennett | Coach | Graham Murray |
Under the direction of Graham Murray, the Sydney Roosters finally qualified for their first grand final in twenty seasons after many near misses under Phil Gould. Despite the Roosters scoring 28 points and keeping the Broncos scoreless in their previous encounter in the last round of the regular season, the Broncos won the last daytime Grand Final at Stadium Australia in a tight match 14-6.
The Roosters started the game with a flurry but it was an ominous sign when Shannon Hegarty lost the ball over the Broncos tryline in the third minute. Lote Tuqiri crossed first after 16 minutes to help Brisbane to a 10-2 half-time lead and then Wendell Sailor scored after the break to extend it to 14-2. Roosters back-rower Craig Fitzgibbon gave his side hope when he scored out wide nine minutes from time, but when his conversion attempt hit the crossbar, the game was Brisbane's.
Michael Hancock and Kevin Walters became the only two Broncos to appear in all five of Brisbane's premiership victories to that point.
Brisbane 14 (Tries: Tuqiri, Sailor; Goals: De Vere 3/5)
Sydney 6 (Tries: Fitzgibbon; Goals: Phillips 1/1, Fitzgibbon 0/1)
Clive Churchill Medal: Darren Lockyer (Brisbane)
