2001 NRL season

2001 National Rugby League
Teams	14
Premiers	Newcastle (2nd title)
Minor premiers	Parramatta (4th title)
Matches played	191
Points scored	9,333
Attendance	2,682,210
Top points scorer(s)	Andrew Johns (279) ; Ben Walker (279)
Player of the year	Preston Campbell (Dally M Medal)
Top try-scorer(s)	Nathan Blacklock (27)

The 2001 NRL season was the 94th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fourth run by the National Rugby League. Also called the 2001 Telstra Premiership (due to sponsorship from Telstra Corporation) it was contested by thirteen Australian-based clubs plus one New Zealand-based club. The Newcastle Knights claimed their second premiership in five seasons, defeating minor premiers Parramatta Eels in the NRL's first ever night-time grand final.

Season summary

Early in the season NRL matches involving the Bulldogs were marred by off-field violence from the club's supporters.^[1]

The Parramatta Eels looked set to break their fifteen-year premiership drought as they compiled one of the most dominant season records in rugby league history, losing just four of their 26 regular season games with the League's best attack and defensive record. In 2001 they established the standing record for most points by a club in a season with 943, blitzing the Brisbane Broncos' previous record tally of 871 set in 1998. The Eels tally was significantly contributed to by Jason Taylor, who that year surpassed Daryl Halligan's mark of 2,034 to become the greatest point-scorer in the history of club competition in Australia.^[2]

The Warriors made the finals for the first time in their seven-year history under rookie coach Daniel Anderson, but were hammered 56-12 by the aforementioned minor premiers.

After Warren Ryan retired in 2000, the Newcastle Knights appointed former player Michael Hagan to the coaching position. Hagan proceeded to become the first coach since Phil Gould in 1988 to win a premiership in his first season as coach. Ricky Stuart would follow suit with the Roosters the following season. Tim Sheens was sacked as the coach of the North Queensland Cowboys during the season and was replaced by Murray Hurst. Mal Meninga resigned as Canberra coach following the club's disappointing season and in turn was replaced by Matthew Elliott.

Preston Campbell was a deserved winner of the Dally M medal after being an instrumental player in the Sharks' rise to fourth position on the table. Newcastle's Andrew Johns would have been clear winner but was not in contention due to missing two matches through suspension. Brian Smith was recognised as Coach of the Year whilst Braith Anasta won Rookie of the Year.

It was during the 2001 finals series that the new NRL Telstra Premiership logo was used, first seen on the field in the first qualifying final between the Sharks and the Broncos. That logo was to be used until the end of the 2006 season. Coincidentally, the Brisbane Broncos were also involved in the last match to use that logo, albeit in a modified finals version seen on the ground in the 2006 NRL Grand Final.

At the end of the season a squad of players from the NRL premiership went on the 2001 Kangaroo tour.

Every team except Penrith played at least one drawn match during the course of the season. The Bulldogs had three drawn matches, the most of any team during the season.

Teams

Auckland were renamed the New Zealand Warriors for the 2001 season.


Brisbane Broncos 14th season Ground: QSAC Coach: Wayne Bennett Captain: Gorden Tallis	Bulldogs RLFC 67th season Ground: Sydney Showground Coach: Steve Folkes Captain: Darren Britt	Canberra Raiders 20th season Ground: Canberra Stadium Coach: Mal Meninga Captain: Simon Woolford	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 37th season Ground: Shark Park Coach: John Lang Captain: Jason Stevens
Melbourne Storm 4th season Ground Docklands Stadium Coach: Chris Anderson → Mark Murray Captain: Robbie Kearns & Rodney Howe	New Zealand Warriors 9th season Ground: Ericsson Stadium Coach: Daniel Anderson Captain: Stacey Jones & Kevin Campion	Newcastle Knights 14th season Ground: EnergyAustralia Stadium Coach: Michael Hagan Captain: Andrew Johns	North Queensland Cowboys 7th season Ground: Dairy Farmers Stadium Coach: Tim Sheens → Murray Hurst Captain: Paul Bowman
Northern Eagles 2nd season Ground: Brookvale Oval & Grahame Park Coach: Peter Sharp Captain: Geoff Toovey	Parramatta Eels 55th season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Brian Smith Captain: Nathan Cayless	Penrith Panthers 35th season Ground: CUA Stadium Coach: Royce Simmons Captain: Craig Gower	Sydney Roosters 94th season Ground: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Graham Murray Captain: Brad Fittler
	St. George Illawarra Dragons 3rd season Ground: Kogarah Oval & WIN Stadium Coach: Andrew Farrar Captain: Craig Smith	Wests Tigers 2nd season Ground: Campbelltown Stadium & Leichhardt Oval Coach: Terry Lamb Captain: Darren Senter

Advertising

With a new CEO in David Moffat from 2000 the NRL late that year moved their account to a new advertising agency in Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney.

There was no umbrella campaign in 2001, no season launch gala ad. NRL Marketing Director, Mark Wallace insisted that the League's marketing budget remained the same as in prior years but that the focus was to be on promoting individual games and complementing the clubs' own marketing activities.^[3]

An ad was produced to promote certain key games. The scene is a deserted, eerie CBD street. The sound of a squeaky wheel gets louder until a clown rides into the middle of shot on a tricycle and turns to camera pouting and frowning. The voice over comes up: "This Easter long weekend the Dragons v Roosters at Sydney Football Stadium. You'd be a clown to miss it".

Regular season

Records and statistics

Parramatta Eels scored the most points in a season by any club in history scoring 943 points in total.
Wendell Sailor ran 4,452 metres with the ball in 2001, more than any other player in the competition.^[4]
On July 5, the Melbourne Storm beat the Wests Tigers 64-0, which is the Storm's biggest ever win and Tigers biggest ever loss. The very next day the Newcastle Knights beat the Brisbane Broncos 44-0, which was set at the time, the Broncos biggest ever loss at the time.
In round 23, Wests Tigers recorded their biggest comeback when they came from a 24-0 down after 30 minutes of play to win 36-32 against the Newcastle Knights which is the Knights worst collapse. Also equalled the second biggest ever comeback.

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Parramatta Eels	26	20	2	4	943	406	+433	42
2	Bulldogs	26	17	3	6	617	538	+79	37
3	Newcastle Knights (P)	26	16	1	9	782	639	+143	33
4	Sharks	26	15	2	9	594	513	+81	32
5	Brisbane Broncos	26	14	1	11	696	511	+185	29
6	Sydney Roosters	26	13	1	12	647	589	+58	27
7	St. George Illawarra Dragons	26	12	2	12	661	573	+88	26
8	New Zealand Warriors	26	12	2	12	638	629	+9	26
9	Melbourne Storm	26	11	1	14	704	725	-21	23
10	Northern Eagles	26	11	1	14	603	750	-149	23
11	Canberra Raiders	26	9	1	16	600	623	-23	19
12	Wests Tigers	26	9	1	16	474	746	-272	19
13	North Queensland Cowboys	26	6	2	18	514	771	-257	14
14	Penrith Panthers	26	7	0	19	521	847	-326	14

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	Parramatta	2	2	4	4	6	6	8	9	11	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	26	28	30	32	34	36	38	40	42
2	Bulldogs	2	4	5	7	9	9	9	10	12	13	15	17	17	19	18	21	23	25	27	29	29	31	31	33	35	37
3	Newcastle	0	2	3	5	5	7	9	11	13	15	17	19	21	21	21	21	21	23	25	27	29	29	29	29	31	33
4	Sharks	0	2	4	4	6	8	10	10	10	12	12	12	13	14	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	28	28	30	30	32
5	Brisbane	2	4	4	6	8	8	10	12	12	14	16	17	19	21	23	23	25	25	27	27	27	27	27	27	27	29
6	Sydney Roosters	2	2	4	6	6	8	8	10	12	14	14	15	15	17	19	21	21	21	21	21	21	23	25	25	27	27
7	St. George Illawarra	2	2	2	2	2	4	6	8	8	8	8	9	11	12	14	14	16	18	20	20	22	22	24	26	26	26
8	New Zealand	0	2	2	4	4	6	6	7	9	9	11	11	11	13	15	15	15	17	17	17	19	21	23	25	26	26
9	Melbourne	0	0	2	4	4	4	4	4	6	6	8	10	12	12	14	16	16	18	18	18	20	20	20	22	23	23
10	Northern Eagles	2	2	4	4	6	6	6	8	8	10	12	12	12	14	14	16	16	18	18	18	18	20	21	23	23	23
11	Canberra	2	2	2	2	4	6	6	6	8	8	8	9	9	9	11	11	13	13	13	13	13	15	15	15	17	19
12	Wests Tigers	0	2	4	4	6	6	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	11	11	11	13	15	17	17	19	19	19	19
13	North Queensland	0	2	2	2	2	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	7	7	7	7	9	9	9	11	11	11	12	12	12	14
14	Penrith	0	0	0	2	2	2	4	4	4	6	6	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	10	12	12	14	14

Finals series

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

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
Home	Score	Away	Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Qualifying Finals
Cronulla Sharks	22 – 6	Brisbane Broncos	7 September 2001	Shark Park	Steve Clark	15,508
Newcastle Knights	40 – 6	Sydney Roosters	8 September 2001	Marathon Stadium	Bill Harrigan	22,061
Canterbury Bulldogs	22 – 23	St. George Illawarra Dragons	8 September 2001	Sydney Showground	Paul Simpkins	17,975
Parramatta Eels	56 – 12	New Zealand Warriors	9 September 2001	Parramatta Stadium	Tim Mander	17,336
Semi Finals
Brisbane Broncos	44 – 28	St. George Illawarra Dragons	15 September 2001	Sydney Football Stadium	Paul Simpkins	19,259
Canterbury Bulldogs	10 – 52	Cronulla Sharks	16 September 2001	Sydney Football Stadium	Bill Harrigan	21,507
Preliminary Finals
Newcastle Knights	18 – 10	Cronulla Sharks	22 September 2001	Sydney Football Stadium	Paul Simpkins	31,438
Parramatta Eels	24 – 16	Brisbane Broncos	23 September 2001	Stadium Australia	Bill Harrigan	34,184

Chart

Qualifying Finals			Semi Finals			Preliminary Finals			Grand Final

1	Parramatta	56
8	New Zealand	12
						1W	Parramatta	24
2	Canterbury	22	4W	St. George Illawarra	28		Brisbane	16
7	St. George Illawarra	23	2L	Brisbane	44					Parramatta	24
										Newcastle	30
3	Newcastle	40				2W	Newcastle	18
6	Sydney	6	3W	Cronulla	52		Cronulla	10
			1L	Canterbury	10
4	Cronulla	22
5	Brisbane	6

Grand Final

Sunday, 30 September
20:10

Parramatta Eels	24 - 30	Newcastle Knights
Tries: Brett Hodgson (2) Jamie Lyon (2) Goals: Luke Burt (4/4)	Report	Tries: Bill Peden (2) Ben Kennedy Steve Simpson Timana Tahu Goals: Andrew Johns (5/7)

Telstra Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 90,414
Referee: Bill Harrigan
Man of the Match: Andrew Johns^[5]

Footnotes

↑ Mercer, Phil (2001-04-25). "Australia's game of shame". BBC News. UK: BBC. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
↑ Aubrey, Jane (10 October 2001). "2001: Bennett's Coup - 'Operation Alfie'". wwos.ninemsn.com.au. Archived from the original on 2014-03-07. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
↑ Wallace interview B&T Magazine March2001
↑ Proszenko, Adrian (6 May 2012). "Gallen set to smash record". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
↑ D'Souza, Miguel. "Grand Final History". wwos.ninemsn.com.au. AAP. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2013.

External links

2001 NRL Grand Final at sportsphotography.net

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Mercer, Phil (2001-04-25). "Australia's game of shame". BBC News. UK: BBC. Retrieved 2010-01-01.

[2] Aubrey, Jane (10 October 2001). "2001: Bennett's Coup - 'Operation Alfie'". wwos.ninemsn.com.au. Archived from the original on 2014-03-07. Retrieved 7 March 2014.

[3] Wallace interview B&T Magazine March2001

[4] Proszenko, Adrian (6 May 2012). "Gallen set to smash record". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 May 2012.

[5] D'Souza, Miguel. "Grand Final History". wwos.ninemsn.com.au. AAP. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2013.

Newcastle Knights
Est. 1988 in Newcastle, New South Wales
The Club	History Records Honours Players Coaches
Home grounds	McDonald Jones Stadium
Important figures	Danny Buderus Paul Harragon Michael Hagan Johns brothers Gidley brothers MacDougall brothers Mal Reilly Mark Sargent
League	NSWRL ARL NRL
Premierships (2)	1997 2001
Seasons (29)	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Other competitions	Present National Youth Competition NRL Auckland Nines New South Wales Cup S. G. Ball Cup Harold Matthews Cup Past Amco Cup Jersey Flegg Cup
Affiliations	Current (as of 2012) Newcastle Rugby League New York Knights Past/Minor Central Coast Centurions The Entrance Tigers

NRL seasons
NSWRL era	1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999
ARL / SL war	1995 1996 1997 (ARL / SL) ....
NRL era	1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019