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.
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[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] Teams
For the 2000 season, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs changed their name once again, this time to the geographically indistinct "Bulldogs".
[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 |  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.
[edit] 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-Sutherland 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
The Brisbane Broncos were favourites heading into the match with the Sydney Roosters as underdogs. The Broncos were competition favourites for most of the season after leading the competition 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.
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 penaltry 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.
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)
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)
