2003 NRL season

2003 National Rugby League
Teams	15
Premiers	Penrith (2nd title)
Minor premiers	Penrith (2nd title)
Matches played	189
Points scored	8993
Attendance	2965141
Top points scorer(s)	Hazem El Masri (294)
Top try-scorer(s)	Rhys Wesser (25)

The 2003 NRL premiership was the 96th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the sixth run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen teams competed, with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles returning in place of their failed joint-venture club, the Northern Eagles. Ultimately, the Penrith Panthers defeated reigning champions, the Sydney Roosters in the 2003 NRL grand final, claiming their first premiership since 1991.

Season summary

Season 2003 brought in the new "golden point" extra time rule, where after 80 minutes, if the game was drawn, then 10 minutes of extra time was played until one team scored the winning point(s). The salary cap for the 2003 season was A$3.25 million per club for their 25 highest-paid players.[1]

The first round of the Premiership improved on the previous year's in terms of attendance and television ratings.[2] The major story this season was the resurgence of the Penrith Panthers, who defied the critics and naysayers to win their second premiership in their illustrious history since joining the competition in 1967. Coached by John Lang and captained by Craig Gower, the Panthers were the surprise minor premiers, dominating the competition despite consistent disparagement from many sources, and would continue their outstanding form in the finals, beating the Broncos, Warriors and finally the Roosters in the grand final.

The Dally M Medal ceremony was cancelled by the NRL after negotiations with the players' union, the Rugby League Professionals Association, stalled. All votes for the award were destroyed. It was later revealed that with one round of the regular season to play, Craig Gower was leading both Brad Fittler and Clinton Schifcofske by one point in the overall points tally. However, with the ceremony officially cancelled more than a week out from the awards, no points were allocated in the final round of the season.[3]

At the end of the season, Chris Anderson would lose his job at Cronulla-Sutherland, while Peter Sharp was dismissed as the Sea Eagles coach.

Also at the end of the season, a squad of players from the NRL premiership went on the 2003 Kangaroo tour.

A major flaw of the fixture was that the previous season's Grand Finalists, the New Zealand Warriors and Sydney Roosters, did not meet until the penultimate round of the regular season.[4]

Teams

The lineup of fifteen teams for the 2003 premiership remained unchanged from the previous season, except that the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles rejoined the competition since their merger with North Sydney Bears in 1999, taking the place of the failed Northern Eagles. This ended North Sydney's representation in the League.


Brisbane Broncos 16th season Ground: Suncorp Stadium Coach: Wayne Bennett Captain: Gorden Tallis	Bulldogs 69th season Ground: Sydney Showground & Telstra Stadium Coach: Steve Folkes Captain: Steve Price		Canberra Raiders 22nd season Ground: Canberra Stadium Coach: Matthew Elliott Captain: Simon Woolford		Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 37th season Ground: Toyota Stadium Coach: Chris Anderson Captain: Brett Kimmorley
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 54th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Peter Sharp Captain: Steve Menzies	Melbourne Storm 6th season Ground Olympic Park Stadium Coach: Craig Bellamy Captain: Stephen Kearney		Newcastle Knights 16th season Ground: EnergyAustralia Stadium Coach: Michael Hagan Captain: Andrew Johns		New Zealand Warriors 9th season Ground: Ericsson Stadium Coach: Daniel Anderson Captain: Stacey Jones
North Queensland Cowboys 9th season Ground: Dairy Farmers Stadium Coach: Graham Murray Captain: Paul Bowman	Parramatta Eels 57th season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Brian Smith Captain: Nathan Cayless		Penrith Panthers 37th season Ground: CUA Stadium Coach: John Lang Captain: Craig Gower		South Sydney Rabbitohs 94th season Ground: Aussie Stadium Coach: Paul Langmack Captain: Bryan Fletcher
Sydney Roosters 96th season Ground: Aussie Stadium Coach: Ricky Stuart Captain: Brad Fittler		St. George Illawarra Dragons 5th season Ground: Kogarah Oval & WIN Stadium Coach: Nathan Brown Captain: Trent Barrett		Wests Tigers 4th season Ground: Campbelltown Stadium & Leichhardt Oval Coach: Tim Sheens Captain: Darren Senter

Records and statistics

Anthony Minichiello ran 4,571 metres with the ball in 2003, more than any other player in the competition.[5]
Nathan Brown became the youngest non-playing coach in premiership history at the age of 29.[6] Brown had retired from playing in 2001 after a neck injury in a trial game.
Referee Bill Harrigan's tenth grand final in 2003, the final match of his career, stands as the record for the most grand finals officiated by a referee.
On 23 August the Parramatta Eels beat the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 74–4, at the time the third highest winning margin for a club game in Australian rugby league history.
Also on 23 August, the North Queensland Cowboys beat the South Sydney Rabbitohs 60–8, the biggest win and most points in a match in Cowboys history.
The Brisbane Broncos set a record for their longest losing streak, from round 20 to the 4th qualifying final.
The Penrith Panthers became the first team to win the minor premiership and hold bottom spot on the ladder in the same season.
The Penrith Panthers won 8 matches in a row from 19 April - 7 June, most wins in a row in the club's history.
The Bulldogs equalled their worst defeat with a 50–4 loss to the Melbourne Storm in round 22.
The Brisbane Broncos suffered their worst ever defeat at Suncorp Stadium, losing to the Bulldogs 40–4 in round 18. This was later eclipsed by a 56–18 loss to the New Zealand Warriors in Round 12 of season 2013. They also only recorded one victory at the Stadium in season 2003, which came two weeks earlier with a 10–8 win over the Sydney Roosters (who, at that time had not won at Suncorp since 1991, however this drought ended in 2005).

Advertising

In 2003 the NRL sacked their advertising agency of the previous two years, Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney, and took the unusual step of coming up with their own in-house creative concept. Former Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks player and then current Parramatta Eels assistant coach Alan Wilson hit upon the idea of using the Hoodoo Gurus' 1987 hit "What's My Scene?" with reworked lyrics as "That's My Team".

"and another thing, I'm discovering lately, I'm a bit crazy, for my rugby league team "

Wilson is a friend of Hoodoo Gurus singer Dave Faulkner and made the necessary arrangements which included re-uniting the band to re-record the track. Faulkner is a long-time supporter of the Sharks and the original film clip of "What's My Scene?" had included shots of band members in Wests and Cronulla-Sutherland jumpers.

The ad focuses on the grass roots supporters at all levels of the game and in its finished version includes shots of fans from the Cessnock Goannas, a proud Bulldogs supporter and a Penrith teenager with a broken leg signed by her heroes. These images are included with the usual fare of pre-season team training images, big-hits, clever passes and post-try celebrations.[7]

To produce the ad the League returned to the agency who created and produced the Tina Turner campaigns from 1989 to 1995 - Hertz Walpole Advertising by now renamed MJW Hakuhodo.

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Penrith Panthers (P)	24	18	6	2	659	527	+132	40
2	Sydney Roosters	24	17	7	2	680	445	+235	38
3	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	16	8	2	702	419	+283	36
4	Canberra Raiders	24	16	8	2	620	463	+157	36
5	Melbourne Storm	24	15	9	2	564	486	+78	34
6	New Zealand Warriors	24	15	9	2	545	510	+35	34
7	Newcastle Knights	24	14	10	2	632	635	-3	32
8	Brisbane Broncos	24	12	12	2	497	464	+33	28
9	Parramatta Eels	24	11	13	2	570	582	-12	26
10	St George Illawarra Dragons	24	11	13	2	548	593	-45	26
11	North Queensland Cowboys	24	10	14	2	606	629	-23	24
12	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	8	16	2	497	704	-207	20
13	Wests Tigers	24	7	17	2	470	598	-128	18
14	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	24	7	17	2	470	791	-321	18
15	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	3	21	2	457	758	-301	10

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	Penrith	0	0	2	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	20	22	24	26	28	30	30	30	32	34	36	38	40
2	Sydney	2	4	4	6	8	10	10	12	12	14	16	18	18	20	20	20	22	24	26	28	30	32	34	36	36	38
3	Bulldogs	2	4	4	6	6	6	6	8	10	12	12	12	14	16	18	18	20	22	24	26	28	30	32	34	34	36
4	Canberra	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	16	16	18	20	22	22	22	24	24	26	28	30	30	32	32	34	36	36
5	Melbourne	2	4	6	6	8	8	8	10	12	12	14	14	14	16	16	18	20	22	22	24	26	26	28	30	32	34
6	New Zealand	0	2	4	6	8	10	10	10	12	14	14	14	16	16	18	20	20	22	24	26	26	28	28	30	32	34
7	Newcastle	2	2	2	4	6	8	10	10	12	12	12	14	16	18	18	20	20	22	22	22	24	26	28	28	30	32
8	Brisbane	2	4	6	8	8	8	10	12	14	16	18	18	20	22	24	26	26	26	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28
9	Parramatta	0	0	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	6	8	10	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	22	24	26	26
10	St. George Illawarra	0	2	2	4	4	6	8	10	10	10	12	12	14	14	16	18	20	20	22	22	24	24	24	24	24	26
11	North Queensland	0	2	4	4	4	4	6	8	8	10	12	14	14	14	14	14	16	16	16	16	18	18	20	22	24	24
12	Cronulla-Sutherland	0	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	6	8	10	10	10	12	12	14	14	14	14	14	16	16	18	18	20	20
13	Wests	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	8	8	8	10	10	12	14	14	16	16	16	18	18	18	18
14	Manly-Warringah	2	2	2	2	4	6	8	8	8	10	10	12	14	14	16	16	16	16	16	18	18	18	18	18	18	18
15	South Sydney	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	8	8	8	8	10

Finals series

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
Home	Score	Away	Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Qualifying Finals
Canberra Raiders	18 – 30	Melbourne Storm	12 September 2003	Canberra Stadium	Tim Mander	14,094
Bulldogs	22 – 48	New Zealand Warriors	13 September 2003	Sydney Showground	Bill Harrigan	18,312
Sydney Roosters	36 – 8	Newcastle Knights	13 September 2003	Aussie Stadium	Sean Hampstead	23,853
Penrith Panthers	28 – 18	Brisbane Broncos	14 September 2003	Penrith Football Stadium	Steve Clark	18,534
Semi-finals
New Zealand Warriors	17 – 16	Canberra Raiders	20 September 2003	Aussie Stadium	Tim Mander	31,616
Bulldogs	30 – 0	Melbourne Storm	21 September 2003	Aussie Stadium	Bill Harrigan	19,367
Preliminary Finals
Sydney Roosters	28 – 18	Bulldogs	27 September 2003	Aussie Stadium	Bill Harrigan	41,123
Penrith Panthers	28 – 20	New Zealand Warriors	28 September 2003	Telstra Stadium	Tim Mander	43,174

Finals Chart

Qualifying Finals			Semi Finals			Preliminary Finals			Grand Final

1	Penrith	28
8	Brisbane	18
						1W	Penrith	28
2	Sydney	36	4W	New Zealand	17		New Zealand	20
7	Newcastle	8	2L	Canberra	16					Penrith	18
										Sydney	6
3	Bulldogs	22				2W	Sydney	28
6	New Zealand	48	3W	Melbourne	0		Bulldogs	18
			1L	Bulldogs	30
4	Canberra	18
5	Melbourne	30

Grand Final

Sunday, 5 October
7:05pm (AEST)

Penrith Panthers	18 – 6	Sydney Roosters
Tries: Luke Rooney (31', 73') 2 Luke Priddis (66') 1 Goals: Preston Campbell 2/2 (66', 74') Ryan Girdler 1/1 (32') Field Goals: Craig Gower 0/1	1st: 6 - 0 2nd: 12 - 6 Report	Tries: Shannon Hegarty (48') 1 Goals: Craig Fitzgibbon 1/1 (50')

Telstra Stadium
Attendance: 81,166[8]
Clive Churchill Medal: Luke Priddis
Referee: Bill Harrigan

Sources and footnotes

"NRL salary cap guide | | ONE SPORT". tvnz.co.nz. 22 February 2006. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
Masters, Roy (17 March 2003). "The circus is back in town". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Digital. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
Pace, Daniel (7 September 2003). "Freddie sympathises with Gower but backs players' stance". Australian Associated Press. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
"Dogs on top but grand final rematch is way down track". Sydney Morning Herald. 22 November 2002. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
Proszenko, Adrian (6 May 2012). "Gallen set to smash record". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
Henderson, Philip; Fitzgibbon, Liam (1 April 2008). "Bennett, Furner set for new Roles". The Age. Archived from the original on 2 April 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
B&T magazine article 2003 Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
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

NRL official website
2003 NRL "That's My Team" Season Advertisement
2003 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] "NRL salary cap guide | | ONE SPORT". tvnz.co.nz. 22 February 2006. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.

[2] Masters, Roy (17 March 2003). "The circus is back in town". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Digital. Retrieved 12 December 2009.

[3] Pace, Daniel (7 September 2003). "Freddie sympathises with Gower but backs players' stance". Australian Associated Press. Retrieved 10 September 2007.

[4] "Dogs on top but grand final rematch is way down track". Sydney Morning Herald. 22 November 2002. Retrieved 29 April 2019.

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

[6] Henderson, Philip; Fitzgibbon, Liam (1 April 2008). "Bennett, Furner set for new Roles". The Age. Archived from the original on 2 April 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2010.

[7] B&T magazine article 2003 Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine

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

Penrith Panthers
Est. 1967 in Penrith, New South Wales
The Club	History Records Players Coaches Honours Representatives
Home ground	Panthers Stadium Carrington Park
Culture	Western Sydney Derby
Important figures	Phil Gould Royce Simmons Izzard brothers Tim Sheens Alexander brothers Mark Geyer Steve Carter Ryan Girdler Craig Gower John Cartwright Grahame Moran Tony Puletua Rhys Wesser
League	NSWRL ARL SL NRL
Premierships (2)	1991 2003
Seasons (51)	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 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Other competitions	Current New South Wales Cup Jersey Flegg Cup NSWRL Women's Premiership S. G. Ball Cup Harold Matthews Cup Tarsha Gale Cup Past Amco Cup National Youth Competition
Affiliations	Penrith District Rugby League St Marys Saints Windsor Wolves

NRL seasons
NSWRL era	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 2020