National Rugby League season 2000
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| National Rugby League season 2000 | |
 |
|
| Teams | 14 |
| Premiers |  Brisbane (5th title) |
| Minor premiers | 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) |  Joel Caine (224) |
| Top try scorer(s) |  Nathan Blacklock (25) |
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] Teams
 Auckland Warriors |
 Brisbane Broncos |
 Canberra Raiders |
 Bulldogs |
 Sharks |
 Melbourne Storm |
 Newcastle Knights |
 Northern Eagles |
 North Queensland Cowboys |
 Parramatta Eels |
 Penrith Panthers |
 Sydney Roosters |
 St. George Illawarra Dragons |
 Wests Tigers |
[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 a fourteenth player for three minutes in their 26-18 win against the Parramatta Eels, due to an error in interchanging players.
[edit] 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] Records set in 2000
- Melbourne Storm club record for their biggest ever win and most points in a game : 70-10 over St. George Illawarra Dragons in round 5.
- Melbourne Storm club record for their biggest ever loss : 50-4 loss to St. George Illawarra Dragons in round 18.
- St. George Illawarra Dragons club record for their biggest ever win : 50-4 over Melbourne Storm in round 18.
- North Queensland Cowboys scored their first ever 50 points in a game: 50-10 over Northern Eagles in round 8.
[edit] Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brisbane |
26 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 696 | 388 | +308 | 38 |
| 2 |  Sydney |
26 | 16 | 0 | 10 | 601 | 520 | +81 | 32 |
| 3 |  Newcastle |
26 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 686 | 532 | +154 | 31 |
| 4 |  Canberra |
26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 506 | 479 | +27 | 30 |
| 5 |  Penrith |
26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 573 | 562 | +11 | 30 |
| 6 |  Melbourne |
26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 672 | 529 | +143 | 29 |
| 7 |  Parramatta |
26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 476 | 456 | +20 | 29 |
| 8 |  Cronulla |
26 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 570 | 463 | +107 | 26 |
| 9 | St. George Illawarra |
26 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 576 | 656 | -80 | 24 |
| 10 | Wests Tigers |
26 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 519 | 642 | -123 | 24 |
| 11 |  Canterbury |
26 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 469 | 553 | -84 | 21 |
| 12 |  Northern Eagles |
26 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 476 | 628 | -152 | 18 |
| 13 |  Auckland |
26 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 426 | 662 | -236 | 18 |
| 14 |  North Queensland |
26 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 436 | 612 | -176 | 12 |
- North Queensland were stripped of 2 competition points due to a breach of the interchange rule in one game.
[edit] Finals
The Brisbane Broncos came from 20-6 down at halftime to win 34-20 against the Cronulla Sharks in the qualifying final. The Sydney Roosters also had a comeback win when they came from 16-2 down to win 26-20 against the Newcastle Knights in the preliminary final. Both clubs became eventual Grand Finalists.
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Qualifying Finals | ||||||||
 Canberra Raiders |
34–16 |  Penrith Panthers |
4 August 2000 | Bruce Stadium | Steve Clark | 18,479 | ||
 Newcastle Knights |
30–16 |  Melbourne Storm |
5 August 2000 | Marathon Stadium | Tim Mander | 20,597 | ||
 Sydney Roosters |
8–32 |  Parramatta Eels |
5 August 2000 | Sydney Football Stadium | Bill Harrigan | 21,377 | ||
 Brisbane Broncos |
34–20 |  Cronulla Sharks |
6 August 2000 | ANZ Stadium | Paul Simpkins | 25,831 | ||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
| Parramatta Eels |
28–10 | Penrith Panthers |
12 August 2000 | Sydney Football Stadium | Bill Harrigan | 25,746 | ||
| Canberra Raiders |
10–38 | Sydney Roosters |
13 August 2000 | Sydney Football Stadium | Tim Mander | 16,441 | ||
| Preliminary Finals | ||||||||
| Newcastle Knights |
20–26 | Sydney Roosters |
19 August 2000 | Sydney Football Stadium | Bill Harrigan | 33,727 | ||
| Brisbane Broncos |
16–10 | Parramatta Eels |
20 August 2000 | Stadium Australia | Tim Mander | 31,087 | ||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| Brisbane Broncos |
14–6 | Sydney Roosters |
27 August 2000 | Stadium Australia | Bill Harrigan | 94,277 | ||
[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 |
[edit] Pre-Match
The Brisbane Broncos were favourites heading into the match with the Sydney Roosters as underdogs. The Broncos were competiton favourites for most of the season after leading the competiton every round since round 4. It was the fifth Grand Final in nine years for the Broncos while it was the first Grand Final appearance for the Roosters in twenty years.
[edit] First Half
The Sydney club 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.
Sydney were unlucky not to have an early lead only 3 minutes in when Shannon Hegarty got over the line but good cover defence by Brisbane fullback Darren Lockyer stopped them from scoring. The Broncos opened the scoring with a penalty goal to make it 2-0 at the 12th minute. Four minutes later, Lote Tuqiri scored the first try of the Grand Final which was converted to make it 8-0 in Brisbane's favour. Michael De Vere extended his side's lead out to 10-0 in the 27th minute. The Roosters opened their scoring in the 35th minute with a penaltry goal to make it 10-2 and it remained that scoreline until halftime.
[edit] Second Half
In the first minute of play after the break, Broncos five-eighth Ben Ikin got hit late with a high shot and went to the bench missing twenty minutes of the second half. Brisbane had a chance to go ten in front with a penalty goal but missed marginally. However the Broncos extended their lead to 14-2 when Wendell Sailor scored in the 55th but the try was unsuccessful. Craig Fitzgibbon got Sydney's first try of the match in the 70th minute to give the Roosters a glimmer of hope but the try was unsuccessful.
[edit] Post Match
Michael Hancock and Kevin Walters became the only two Broncos to appear in all of Brisbane's first five premiership victories.
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)
