2000 NRL season

2000 NRL season
Teams	14
Premiers	Brisbane (5th title)
Minor premiers	Brisbane (4th title)
Matches played	191
Points scored	8050 (total) 42.147 (per match)
Attendance	2,959,390 (total) 15,494 (per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Joel Caine (224)
Top try scorer(s)	Nathan Blacklock (25)

The 2000 NRL season was the 93rd season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the third to be run by the National Rugby League. Fourteen teams competed from February till August for the NRL Premiership, culminating in a grand final between the Brisbane Broncos and the Sydney Roosters.

Season summary

The 2000 National Rugby League season started with a new CEO in rugby union's David Moffett who replaced Neil Whittaker in late 1999.^[1]

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.

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.

Melbourne Storm players Stephen Kearney and Marcus Bai ended the career of West Tigers captain Jarrod McCracken with a spear tackle. Kearney was suspended for 8 matches and Bai for 2 matches. The two men were also sued by McCraken, who won a six-figure damages bill.

The Canberra Raiders and the West Tigers became the first teams to play a premiership game in the snow. It occurred at Bruce Stadium on the 18th May and it is the only premiership game played in these conditions.

Teams

The season saw the debut of the Wests Tigers (formed by the merging of the Balmain Tigers and Western Suburbs Magpies) and Northern Eagles (formed by the merging of the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and North Sydney Bears) in the National Rugby League. In addition, the South Sydney Rabbitohs were excluded from the competition, thereby completing the NRL's rationalisation process from 20 teams in 1998 to 14 in 2000.

For the 2000 season, the Canterbury Bulldogs changed their name once again, this time to the geographically indistinct "Bulldogs" and the Auckland Warriors were re-branded the New Zealand Warriors at the end of the season.

Auckland Warriors 6th season Ground: Ericsson Stadium Coach: Mark Graham Captain: John Simon	Brisbane Broncos 13th season Ground: ANZ Stadium Coach: Wayne Bennett Captain: Kevin Walters	Bulldogs 66th season Ground: Stadium Australia Coach: Steve Folkes Captain: Darren Britt	Canberra Raiders 19th season Ground: Bruce Stadium Coach: Mal Meninga Captain: Laurie Daley
Cronulla Sharks 34th season Ground: Shark Park Coach: John Lang Captain: Andrew Ettinghausen	Melbourne Storm 3rd season Ground: Olympic Park Stadium & Melbourne Cricket Ground Coach: Chris Anderson Captain: Robbie Kearns	Newcastle Knights 13th season Ground: Marathon Stadium Coach: Warren Ryan Captain: Tony Butterfield	North Queensland Cowboys 6th season Ground: Dairy Farmers Stadium Coach: Tim Sheens Captain: Noel Goldthorpe / Tim Brasher
Northern Eagles 1st season Ground: Brookvale Oval & NorthPower Stadium Coach: Peter Sharp Captain: Geoff Toovey	Parramatta Eels 54th season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Brian Smith Captain: Nathan Cayless	Penrith Panthers 34th season Ground: Penrith Stadium Coach: Royce Simmons Captain: Steve Carter	Sydney Roosters 93rd season Ground: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Graham Murray Captain: Brad Fittler
	St. George Illawarra Dragons 2nd season Ground: WIN Stadium & Sydney Football Stadium Coach: David Waite & Andrew Farrar Captain: Craig Smith	Wests Tigers 1st season Ground: Campbelltown Stadium & Leichhardt Oval Coach: Wayne Pearce Captain: Jarrod McCracken

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,^[2] the 1993 Salt-N-Pepa hit Whatta Man with lyrics re-worked as "What A Game".

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.

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Brisbane	26	18	2	6	696	388	+308	38
2	Sydney Roosters	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	Bulldogs	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.

Ladder progression

• Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.
• Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
• Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round

	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
1	Brisbane	1	3	5	7	9	11	13	15	15	16	18	18	20	20	22	22	24	24	26	28	30	32	34	36	38	38
2	Sydney Roosters	2	2	4	4	6	6	8	8	10	10	12	14	16	16	16	18	18	20	22	24	26	26	26	28	30	32
3	Newcastle	0	2	4	5	5	7	9	9	9	11	11	13	13	13	15	17	19	21	21	23	23	25	25	27	29	31
4	Canberra	2	4	6	6	8	8	8	10	10	12	12	12	12	14	16	16	18	20	22	24	24	24	26	26	28	30
5	Penrith	2	4	4	6	6	8	8	8	10	10	10	10	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	22	24	24	26	26	28	30
6	Melbourne	0	0	0	0	2	4	6	6	8	9	11	13	15	15	17	18	19	19	19	21	23	25	25	27	27	29
7	Parramatta	0	0	2	2	2	4	4	5	7	9	11	11	11	13	15	15	17	19	21	21	21	23	25	27	27	29
8	Cronulla	2	4	4	4	6	8	8	10	10	10	12	12	12	14	14	16	16	18	20	22	22	22	24	24	26	26
9	St. George Illawarra	0	2	2	2	2	2	4	6	8	10	10	12	12	14	14	14	14	16	18	18	20	22	22	22	24	24
10	Wests Tigers	1	3	3	5	7	9	9	10	12	14	14	14	16	18	18	20	20	20	20	20	22	24	24	24	24	24
11	Bulldogs	0	0	2	4	6	6	6	6	8	9	11	11	13	15	15	15	17	17	17	17	17	17	19	21	21	21
12	Northern Eagles	2	2	4	6	6	6	8	8	8	8	8	10	12	12	12	12	14	14	14	14	16	18	18	18	18	18
13	Auckland	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	5	5	6	8	10	10	10	12	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	16	16	18
14	North Queensland	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	4	4	4	6	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	10	12	12	12	12

Finals

The biggest upset of the 2000 Finals series was in the 3rd Qualifying Final when 7th placed Parramatta Eels beat 2nd placed Sydney Roosters 32-8 at the SFS. It was nearly a similar story for Minor Premiers' the Brisbane Broncos when they came from 20-6 down at halftime to win 34-20 against 8th placed Cronulla Sharks in the 4th Qualifying Final at QSAC. Sydney also made a famous comeback when they came from 16-2 down at halftime to win 26-20 against the Newcastle Knights in the 1st Preliminary Final at the SFS to earn a spot in the Grand Final against Brisbane.

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

Grand Final

Brisbane	Position	Sydney
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
Shaun Berrigan	Bench	Craig Wing
Ashley Harrison	Bench	Shane Rigon
Michael Hancock	Bench	Dallas Hood
Harvey Howard	Bench	David Solomona
Wayne Bennett	Coach	Graham Murray

The Brisbane Broncos were favourites heading into the match with the Sydney Roosters as underdogs. Brisbane were premiership favourites for most of the season after leading the competition every round since Round 4. It was their fifth Grand Final in nine years, while it was the first Grand Final appearance for the Roosters in twenty years.

Shane Webcke went into the match with a broken arm.^[3]

First Half

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 Michael De Vere 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 by Michael De Vere 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 penalty goal to Luke Phillips to make it 10-2 and it remained that scoreline until halftime.

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 conversion was unsuccessful by Michael De Vere. Craig Fitzgibbon got Sydney's first try of the match in the 70th minute to give the Roosters a glimmer of hope but the conversion was unsuccessful making the score 14-6.

14	Brisbane Broncos
Tries	Tuqiri, Sailor
Goals	De Vere 3/5
Field Goals
6	Sydney Roosters
Tries	Fitzgibbon
Goals	Phillips 1/1, Fitzgibbon 0/1
Field Goals

Clive Churchill Medal: Darren Lockyer (Brisbane)

When They Scored

12th Minute: Brisbane 2-0 (De Vere goal)
16th Minute: Brisbane 8-0 (Tuqiri try; De Vere goal)
27th Minute: Brisbane 10-0 (De Vere goal)
35th Minute: Brisbane 10-2 (Phillips goal)
53rd Minute: Brisbane 14-2 (Sailor try)
71st Minute: Brisbane 14-6 (Fitzgibbon try)

References & External links

1. ^ Hadfield, Dave (30 November 1999). "Moffett insists conversion is no miracle". The Independent (UK: Independent News and Media Limited). http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby-league-moffett-insists-conversion-is-no-miracle-1129853.html. Retrieved 2009-12-24. 
2. ^ Mealey, Rachel (2000-01-29). "Tom Jones the new voice of NRL". abc.net.au. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s96345.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-03. 
3. ^ Stevens, Jason (2009-09-27). "Tales of bravery sure to have you gritting your teeth". LeagueHQ. Fairfax Digital. http://www.smh.com.au/news/lhqnews/tales-of-bravery-sure-to-have-you-gritting-your-teeth/2009/09/26/1253813653024.html. Retrieved 2009-10-06. 

• NRL official website
• NRL CEO David Moffat discusses the Tom Jones ad