2002 NRL season

2002 NRL season
Teams	15
Premiers	Sydney (12th title)
Minor premiers	New Zealand (1st title)
Matches played	189
Points scored	9083 (total) 48.058 (per match)
Attendance	2,656,198 (total) 14,054 (per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Hazem El Masri (254)
Top try scorer(s)	Nigel Vagana (23)

The 2002 NRL season was the 95th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fifth to be run by the National Rugby League. The New Zealand Warriors won their first minor premiership and made it to the grand final for the first time, playing against foundation club the Sydney Roosters who won the match and collected their first premiership in 27 years.

Season summary

Pre-season

In February, 2002, the National Rugby League's Director of Legal and Business Affairs, David Gallop, was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the NRL, succeeding David Moffett.

The legendary Broncos and Maroons halfback, Allan Langer, returned from England to play his final season of professional football with the Brisbane club. In doing so he became the NRL's oldest player for the 2002 season at 36 years and 60 days.^[1]

The return of South Sydney

See also: South Sydney Rabbitohs history#The troubled 1990s and exclusion

Following the club's departure from the NRL after the 1999 season, there was a continuing push from both fans and the wider rugby league community to reinstate the South Sydney Rabbitohs into the NRL competition. After two unsuccessful years of lobbying, South Sydney finally received a court ruling in their favour in 2001. On 15 March 2002, the Rabbitohs opened the NRL season with a home match against long-time rivals, the Sydney Roosters, losing badly, 40-6.

It turned out to be a tough year for the Rabbitohs, winning only 5 matches from 24 played.

Teams

Brisbane Broncos 15th season Ground: Suncorp Stadium Coach: Wayne Bennett Captain: Gorden Tallis			Bulldogs RLFC 68th season Ground: Sydney Showground Coach: Steve Folkes Captain: Steve Price			Canberra Raiders 21st season Ground: Canberra Stadium Coach: Matthew Elliott Captain: Simon Woolford			Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 38th season Ground: Shark Park Coach: Chris Anderson Captain: Jason Stevens
Melbourne Storm 5th season Ground Olympic Park Stadium Coach: Mark Murray Captain: Rodney Howe			Newcastle Knights 15th season Ground: EnergyAustralia Stadium Coach: Michael Hagan Captain: Andrew Johns			New Zealand Warriors 8th season Ground: Ericsson Stadium Coach: Daniel Anderson Captain: Stacey Jones & Kevin Campion			North Queensland Cowboys 8th season Ground: Dairy Farmers Stadium Coach: Murray Hurst → Graham Murray Captain: Paul Bowman
Northern Eagles 3rd season Ground: Brookvale Oval & NorthPower Stadium Coach: Peter Sharp Captain: Steve Menzies			Parramatta Eels 56th season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Brian Smith Captain: Nathan Cayless			Penrith Panthers 36th season Ground: Penrith Stadium Coach: John Lang Captain: Craig Gower			South Sydney Rabbitohs 93rd season Ground: Aussie Stadium Coach: Craig Coleman Captain: Adam Muir
Sydney Roosters 95th season Ground: Aussie Stadium Coach: Ricky Stuart Captain: Brad Fittler				St. George Illawarra Dragons 4th season Ground: Kogarah Oval & WIN Stadium Coach: Andrew Farrar Captain: Trent Barrett				Wests Tigers 3rd season Ground: Campbelltown Stadium & Leichhardt Oval Coach: Terry Lamb Captain: Darren Senter

The salary cap breach

See also: Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs salary cap breach

In mid-2002, the Bulldogs were found guilty of serious and systemic breaches of the salary cap. NRL Chief Executive David Gallop described the violation as "exceptional in both its size and its deliberate and ongoing nature". The club received a $500,000 fine, and was stripped of 37 of its 41 competition points accumulated up to Round 23.^[2] The latter action was particularly harmful, as the club were poised to take the Minor Premiership and had won 17 consecutive matches (the second highest in Australian club rugby league history at the time). The deduction of the 37 competition points made it impossible for the Bulldogs to finish any higher than 15th place, as the South Sydney Rabbitohs had already accumulated 12 competition points by the end of Round 24.

The stripping of the Bulldogs' points also enabled the Canberra Raiders to make the finals with a points differential of -170, the poorest such record of any finalist in the competition's history. As well as this, the Raiders only won one game outside of Canberra for the entire season. It also enabled the New Zealand Warriors to secure their very first minor premiership in the club's history.

Advertising

In 2002, as in 2001, the NRL's advertising was handled by Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney.

As in the previous season, there was no big budget season launch advertising campaign. The NRL focussed on stretching its marketing spending throughout the season with newspaper ads promoting individual rounds and clubs, and with simple TV ads to promote key games.

Records set in 2002

• Canterbury Bulldogs won 17 games in a row and had an unbeaten run of 18 games, the most in the club's history.
• Canterbury Bulldogs were deducted 37 premiership points for a gross salary cap breaches, the most points deducted in premiership history. That left the club with just four competition points attained from the two byes earlier in the season. Four more competition points followed since the salary cap scandal, all from wins in the last two rounds of the season.
• New Zealand Warriors won the club's first Minor Premiership in its 8-year history and also made it to their first Grand Final. It must be noted that, the Warriors were not in first place almost during the entire season, only taking top spot on the ladder at the conclusion of Round 26.

Ladder

The Warriors received A$100,000 prize money for finishing the regular season as minor premiers.^[3]

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	New Zealand	24	17	0	7	2	688	454	+234	38
2	Newcastle	24	17	0	7	2	724	498	+226	38
3	Brisbane	24	16	1	7	2	672	425	+247	37
4	Sydney Roosters	24	15	1	8	2	621	405	+216	35
5	Cronulla-Sutherland	24	15	0	9	2	653	597	+56	34
6	Parramatta	24	10	2	12	2	531	440	+91	26
7	St George Illawarra	24	9	3	12	2	632	546	+86	25
8	Canberra	24	10	1	13	2	471	641	-170	25
9	Northern Eagles	24	10	0	14	2	503	740	-237	24
10	Melbourne	24	9	1	14	2	556	586	-30	23
11	North Queensland	24	8	0	16	2	496	803	-307	20
12	Penrith	24	7	0	17	2	546	654	-108	18
13	Wests Tigers	24	7	0	17	2	498	642	-144	18
14	South Sydney	24	5	0	19	2	385	817	-432	14
15	Bulldogs	24	20	1	3	2	707	435	+272	81

¹Canterbury were deducted 37 premiership points due to gross salary cap breaches.

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
• Underlined numbers indicate that the team had a bye during 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	New Zealand	2	4	4	6	8	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	24	26	26	28	30	30	32	34	36	36	36	38
2	Newcastle	2	4	6	8	10	12	12	14	16	16	18	20	22	24	24	26	28	28	30	30	32	32	34	36	38	38
3	Brisbane	2	3	5	7	9	11	13	15	17	19	19	21	21	23	25	25	27	29	31	33	35	35	35	35	37	37
4	Sydney Roosters	2	2	2	2	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	14	16	18	19	21	23	23	23	25	25	27	29	31	33	35
5	Cronulla-Sutherland	2	4	6	6	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	28	30	32	34	34
6	Parramatta	2	2	4	4	5	7	9	11	13	15	15	17	19	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	22	22	24	26	26
7	St. George Illawarra	0	2	2	4	5	5	5	5	6	8	10	10	10	11	13	15	15	15	17	19	19	19	21	23	23	25
8	Canberra	0	0	2	2	2	2	2	4	5	5	7	9	11	11	11	13	13	15	15	17	19	21	21	23	23	25
9	Northern Eagles	0	2	2	4	4	6	6	8	8	10	10	10	12	12	14	16	16	18	18	18	20	22	22	22	24	24
10	Melbourne	2	2	4	6	6	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	11	13	13	15	17	19	19	19	21	23	23	23	23
11	North Queensland	0	0	0	0	2	2	4	4	6	6	6	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	12	14	14	14	16	16	18	20
12	Penrith	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	2	2	4	6	8	8	10	10	10	10	10	10	12	12	14	14	16	16	18
13	Wests Tigers	2	4	4	6	6	8	10	10	10	10	12	12	12	12	14	14	14	14	14	14	16	16	16	18	18	18
14	South Sydney	0	2	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	14
15	Bulldogs	0	1	3	5	7	9	11	13	17	17	19	21	23	25	27	29	31	33	35	37	39	39	41	4	6	8

Finals series

To decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams, the NRL adopts the McIntyre Final Eight System.

Coincidentally, the finalists for 2002 were almost the same as the previous season, with the exception of the Bulldogs being replaced by Canberra. Had the Bulldogs not been deducted competition points, they would have become the minor premiers and completed the replication, with Canberra moving down to 9th.

	Qualifying Finals					Semi Finals					Preliminary Finals					Grand Final
	1	NZ Warriors	36
	8	Canberra Raiders	20
											1W	NZ Warriors	16
	2	Newcastle Knights	22			4W	St. George-Illawarra	24				Cronulla Sharks	10
	7	St. George-Illawarra	26			2L	Cronulla Sharks	40									NZ Warriors	8
																	Sydney Roosters	30
	3	Brisbane Broncos	24								2W	Brisbane Broncos	12
	6	Parramatta Eels	14			3W	Sydney Roosters	38				Sydney Roosters	16
						1L	Newcastle Knights	12
	4	Sydney Roosters	32
	5	Cronulla Sharks	20

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Qualifying Finals
Sydney Roosters	32 – 20	Cronulla Sharks	13 September 2002	Sydney Football Stadium	Paul Simpkins	25,366
Brisbane Broncos	24 – 14	Parramatta Eels	14 September 2002	ANZ Stadium	Sean Hampstead	19,115
Newcastle Knights	22 – 26	St George Illawarra Dragons	14 September 2002	EnergyAustralia Stadium	Bill Harrigan	21,051
New Zealand Warriors	36 – 20	Canberra Raiders	15 September 2002	Ericsson Stadium	Tim Mander	25,800
Semi Finals
St George Illawarra Dragons	24 – 40	Cronulla Sharks	21 September 2002	Sydney Football Stadium	Bill Harrigan	31,783
Sydney Roosters	38 – 12	Newcastle Knights	22 September 2002	Sydney Football Stadium	Sean Hampstead	23,816
Preliminary Finals
Brisbane Broncos	12 – 16	Sydney Roosters	28 September 2002	Sydney Football Stadium	Bill Harrigan	28,251
New Zealand Warriors	16 – 10	Cronulla Sharks	29 September 2002	Telstra Stadium	Tim Mander	45,782
Grand Final
New Zealand Warriors	8 – 30	Sydney Roosters	6 October 2002	Telstra Stadium	Bill Harrigan	80,130

Grand final

Main article: 2002 NRL grand final

Sydney Roosters	Position	New Zealand Warriors
Luke Phillips	FB	Ivan Cleary
Brett Mullins	WG	Justin Murphy
Shannon Hegarty	CE	John Carlaw
Justin Hodges	CE	Clinton Toopi
Anthony Minichiello	WG	Francis Meli
Brad Fittler (C)	FE	Motu Tony
Craig Wing	HB	Stacey Jones (C)
Jason Cayless	PR	Jerry Seu Seu
Simon Bonetti	HK	PJ Marsh
Peter Cusack	PR	Mark Tookey
Adrian Morley	SR	Ali Lauiti'iti
Craig Fitzgibbon	SR	Awen Guttenbeil
Luke Ricketson	LK	Kevin Campion
Chris Flannery	Bench	Lance Hohaia
Bryan Fletcher	Bench	Logan Swann
Michael Crocker	Bench	Wairangi Koopu
Andrew Lomu	Bench	Richard Villasanti
Ricky Stuart	Coach	Daniel Anderson

A pre-match performance by Billy Idol was cancelled due to power outage.^[4]

First Half

In the 23rd minute, Sydney opened the scoring with a try to Shannon Hegarty with Craig Fitzgibbon converting taking Sydney to a 6-0 lead. Not long after, Ivan Cleary got New Zealand on the board with a penalty goal making the score 6-2, which remained that scoreline until halftime.

Second Half

In the 46th minute, New Zealand took the lead for the first time through a Stacey Jones try and a Ivan Cleary conversion taking the scoreline to 8-6. Approaching the 60th minute, Sydney regained the lead with Craig Wing scoring the try and Craig Fitgibbon converting another to make the score 12-8 after a spectacular 40/20 kick from Sydney captain Brad Fittler. In the last 15 minutes Craig Fitzgibbon, Chris Flannery and Bryan Fletcher scored tries for Sydney with Craig Fizgibbon converting all three to take Sydney to a 30-8 win. By winning the grand final the Roosters also received $400,000 in prize money.

30	Sydney Roosters
Tries	1 Hegarty 1 Wing 1 Fitzgibbon 1 Flannery 1 Fletcher
Goals	5/5 Fitzgibbon
Field Goals
8	New Zealand Warriors
Tries	1 Jones
Goals	2/2 Cleary
Field Goals

Half Time: 6 – 2

Clive Churchill Medalist: Craig Fitzgibbon

Referee: Bill Harrigan

Venue: Telstra Stadium, Sydney

Attendance: 80,130

Scoring timeline

23rd Minute: Sydney 6-0 (Hegarty try; Fitzgibbon goal)
29th Minute: Sydney 6-2 (Cleary goal)
46th Minute: New Zealand 8-6 (Jones try; Cleary goal)
58th Minute: Sydney 12-8 (Wing try; Fitzgibbon goal)
65th Minute: Sydney 18-8 (Fitzgibbon try; Fitzgibbon goal)
71st Minute: Sydney 24-8 (Flannery try; Fitzgibbon goal)
75th Minute: Sydney 30-8 (Fletcher try; Fitzgibbon goal)

References

1. ^ Toohey, Barry (2 February 2011). "Still some bite in old Mad Dog". The Daily Telegraph (Australia: News Limited). http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/still-some-bite-in-old-mad-dog/story-e6frfgbo-1225998290314. Retrieved 2 February 2011. 
2. ^ Tunnah, Helen (2002-08-24). "Rugby League: 37 nails in Bulldogs' kennel". The New Zealand Herald. APN Holdings NZ Limited. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nrl/news/article.cfm?c_id=270&objectid=2351052. Retrieved 2009-10-06. 
3. ^ NZPA (2002-10-05). "Sorry guys, the cheque's not in the mail". nzherald.co.nz (APN Holdings NZ Limited). http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nrl/news/article.cfm?c_id=270&objectid=2997717. Retrieved 2009-12-04. 
4. ^ AAP (7 October 2002). "Idol cancelled due to NRL power shortage". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/06/1033538848105.html. Retrieved 30 August 2011. 

Further reading

• Middleton, David (2002). National Rugby League 2002. HarperSports. ISBN 0732274664, 9780732274665. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=EEIZHQAACAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s. 

External links

• NRL official website
• RLeague.com 2002 NRL Draw and Results
• Blood, guts and Rooster glory - Sydney Morning Herald match report
• 2002 NRL Grand Final at sportsphotography.net