National Rugby League season 2001 3889853 221068070 2008-06-22T22:35:45Z 202.63.38.202 /* Records set in 2001 */ {{Infobox rugby league season | year = 2001 | competition = National Rugby League | image = National Rugby League 2001.jpg | imagesize = 100px | caption = | teams = 14 | premiers = [[Image:Newcastle colours.svg|16x16px]] [[Newcastle Knights|Newcastle]] | count = 2nd | minor premiers = [[Image:Parramatta colours.svg|16x16px]] [[Parramatta Eels|Parramatta]] | mpcount = 4th | matches = 191 | points = 9333 | attendance = 2682210 | top points scorer = [[Image:Newcastle colours.svg|16x16px]] [[Andrew Johns]] (279) <br /> [[Image:Northern Eagles colours.svg|16x16px]] [[Ben Walker]] (279) | top try scorer = [[Image:St. George Illawarra colours.svg|16x16px]] [[Nathan Blacklock]] (27) }} The year [[2001]] saw the fourth season of the [[National Rugby League]] premiership, the 94th season of professional [[rugby league football]] in Australia. The [[Newcastle Knights]] claimed their second premiership in five seasons, defeating the [[Parramatta Eels]] in the first ever night-time grand final. == Season summary == 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 [[National Rugby League season 1998|1998]]. The Eels tally was significantly contributed to by [[Jason Taylor (rugby league)|Jason Taylor]], who that year surpassed [[Daryl Halligan]] as the greatest point-scorer in the history of club competition in Australia with a tally of 2,107 points. 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 [[NSWRL season 1988|1988]] to win a premiership in his first season as coach. [[New Zealand Warriors|Auckland]] were renamed the New Zealand Warriors and subsequently made the finals for the first time in their seven-year history under rookie coach [[Daniel Anderson (rugby league)|Daniel Anderson]]. [[Tim Sheens]] was sacked as the coach of the [[North Queensland Cowboys]] during the season and was replaced by [[Murray Hurst]]. [[Preston Campbell]] was a deserved winner of the [[Dally M medal]] after being an instrumental player in the [[Cronulla Sharks|Sharks']] rise to fourth position on the table. [[Brian Smith (rugby league)|Brian Smith]] was recognised as Coach of the Year whilst [[Braith Anasta]] won Rookie of the Year. ===Teams=== <gallery perrow="4"> Image:Brisbane Broncos home jersey 1999.svg|Brisbane Broncos Image:Canberra Raiders home jersey 2000.svg|Canberra Raiders Image:Canterbury Bulldogs home jersey 1997.svg|Canterbury Bulldogs Image:Cronulla home jersey 2001.svg|Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Image:Melbourne Storm home jersey 1999.svg|Melbourne Storm Image:Newcastle Knights home jersey 2001.svg|Newcastle Knights Image:New Zealand home jersey 2001.svg|New Zealand Warriors Image:Northern Eagles home jersey 2000.svg|Northern Eagles Image:North Queensland Cowboys home jersey 1999.svg|North Queensland Cowboys Image:Parramatta Eels home jersey 2001.svg|Parramatta Eels Image:Penrith Panthers home jersey 2001.svg|Penrith Panthers Image:Eastern Suburbs home jersey 1953.svg|Sydney Roosters Image:St. George Illawarra Dragons home jersey 1999.svg|St. George Illawarra Dragons Image:Wests Tigers home jersey 2000.svg|Wests Tigers </gallery> ===Advertising=== With a new CEO in [[David Moffat]] from 2000 the [[National Rugby League|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.<ref>Wallace interview B&T Magazine March2001</ref>. 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 Rooosters at Sydney Football Stadium. You'd be a clown to miss it". ===Records set in 2001=== *[[Parramatta Eels]] scored the most points in a season by any club in history scoring 943 points in total. *[[Melbourne Storm]] club record biggest win: 64-nil over [[Wests Tigers]] ===Ladder=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |- !width=20 abbr="Position" | !width=175 |Team !width=20 abbr="Played" |Pld !width=20 abbr="Won" |W !width=20 abbr="Drawn" |D !width=20 abbr="Lost" |L !width=20 abbr="Points for" |PF !width=20 abbr="Points against" |PA !width=20 abbr="Points difference" |PD !width=20 abbr="Points" |Pts |- style="background: #ccffcc;" |1||style="text-align:left;"|[[Image:Parramatta colours.svg|16x16px]] [[Parramatta Eels|Parramatta]] |26||20||2||4||839||406||+433||'''42''' |- style="background: #ccffcc;" |2||style="text-align:left;"|[[Image:Canterbury colours.svg|16x16px]] [[Bulldogs (rugby league team)|Canterbury]] |26||17||3||6||617||538||+49||'''37''' |- style="background: #ccffcc;" |3||style="text-align:left;"|[[Image:Newcastle colours.svg|16x16px]] [[Newcastle Knights|Newcastle]] |26||16||1||9||782||639||+143||'''33''' |- style="background: #ccffcc;" |4||style="text-align:left;"|[[Image:Cronulla colours.svg|16x16px]] [[Cronulla Sharks|Cronulla]] |26||15||2||9||594||513||+81||'''32''' |- style="background: #ccffcc;" |5||style="text-align:left;"|[[Image:Brisbane colours.svg|16x16px]] [[Brisbane Broncos|Brisbane]] |26||14||1||11||696||511||+185||'''29''' |- style="background: #ccffcc;" |6||style="text-align:left;"|[[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg|16x16px]] [[Sydney Roosters|Sydney]] |26||13||1||12||647||589||+58||'''27''' |- style="background: #ccffcc;" |7||style="text-align:left;"|[[Image:St. George Illawarra colours.svg|16x16px]] [[St George Illawarra Dragons|St. George Illawarra]] |26||12||2||12||661||573||+88||'''26''' |- style="background: #ccffcc;" |8||style="text-align:left;"|[[Image:New Zealand colours.svg|16x16px]] [[New Zealand Warriors|New Zealand]] |26||12||2||12||638||629||+9||'''26''' |- |9||style="text-align:left;"|[[Image:Melbourne colours.svg|16x16px]] [[Melbourne Storm|Melbourne]] |26||11||1||14||704||725||-21||'''23''' |- |10||style="text-align:left;"|[[Image:Northern Eagles colours.svg|16x16px]] [[Northern Eagles]] |26||11||1||14||603||750||-149||'''23''' |- |11||style="text-align:left;"|[[Image:Canberra colours.svg|16x16px]] [[Canberra Raiders|Canberra]] |26||9||1||16||600||623||-23||'''19''' |- |12||style="text-align:left;"|[[Image:Wests Tigers colours.svg|16x16px]] [[Wests Tigers]] |26||9||1||16||474||746||-272||'''19''' |- |13||style="text-align:left;"|[[Image:North Queensland colours.svg|16x16px]] [[North Queensland Cowboys|North Queensland]] |26||6||2||18||514||771||-257||'''14''' |- |14||style="text-align:left;"|[[Image:Penrith colours.svg|16x16px]] [[Penrith Panthers|Penrith]] |26||7||0||19||521||847||-326||'''14''' |- |} ==Finals== {| border=1 style="border-collapse:collapse; font-size:90%; text-align:center;" cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0 width=100% |- bgcolor=#C1D8FF !rowspan=2 width=21%|Home !rowspan=2 width=6%|Score !rowspan=2 width=21%|Away !colspan=6|Match Information |- bgcolor=#EFEFEF !width=17%|Date and Time !width=17%|Venue !width=11%|Referee !width=7%|Crowd |- bgcolor="#D0E7FF" | colspan=7 | '''Qualifying Finals''' |- bgcolor=#F5FAFF |align=left | [[Image:Cronulla colours.svg|23x23px]] [[Cronulla Sharks]] |32-20 |align=left | [[Image:Brisbane colours.svg|23x23px]] [[Brisbane Broncos]] |7 September 2001 |[[Toyota Park (Cronulla)|Shark Park]] |Steve Clark |15,508 |- bgcolor=#F5FAFF |align=left | [[Image:Newcastle colours.svg|23x23px]] [[Newcastle Knights]] |40-6 |align=left | {{leagueicon|Sydney|size=23}} <!-- Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:eastern Suburbs colours.png|23x23px]] --> [[Sydney Roosters]] |8 September 2001 |[[EnergyAustralia Stadium|Marathon Stadium]] |Bill Harrigan |22,061 |- bgcolor=#F5FAFF |align=left | [[Image:Canterbury colours.svg|23x23px]] [[Bulldogs (rugby league team)|Canterbury Bulldogs]] |22-23 |align=left | [[Image:St. George Illawarra colours.svg|23x23px]] [[St George Illawarra Dragons]] |8 September 2001 |[[Sydney Showground (Homebush)|Sydney Showground]] |[[Paul Simpkins]] |17,975 |- bgcolor=#F5FAFF |align=left | [[Image:Parramatta colours.svg|23x23px]] [[Parramatta Eels]] |56-12 |align=left | [[Image:New Zealand colours.svg|23x23px]] [[New Zealand Warriors]] |9 September 2001 |[[Parramatta Stadium]] |[[Tim Mander]] |17,336 |- bgcolor="#D0E7FF" | colspan=7 | '''Semi Finals''' |- bgcolor=#F5FAFF |align=left | [[Image:Brisbane colours.svg|23x23px]] [[Brisbane Broncos]] |44-28 |align=left | [[Image:St. George Illawarra colours.svg|23x23px]] [[St George Illawarra Dragons]] |15 September 2001 |[[Aussie Stadium|Sydney Football Stadium]] |[[Paul Simpkins]] |19,259 |- bgcolor=#F5FAFF |align=left | [[Image:Canterbury colours.svg|23x23px]] [[Bulldogs (rugby league team)|Canterbury Bulldogs]] |10-52 |align=left | [[Image:Cronulla colours.svg|23x23px]] [[Cronulla Sharks]] |16 September 2001 |[[Aussie Stadium|Sydney Football Stadium]] |Bill Harrigan |21,507 |- bgcolor="#D0E7FF" | colspan=7 | '''Preliminary Final''' |- bgcolor=#F5FAFF |align=left | [[Image:Newcastle colours.svg|23x23px]] [[Newcastle Knights]] |18-10 |align=left | [[Image:Cronulla colours.svg|23x23px]] [[Cronulla Sharks]] |22 September 2001 |[[Aussie Stadium|Sydney Football Stadium]] |[[Paul Simpkins]] |31,438 |- bgcolor=#F5FAFF |align=left | [[Image:Parramatta colours.svg|23x23px]] [[Parramatta Eels]] |24-16 |align=left | [[Image:Brisbane colours.svg|23x23px]] [[Brisbane Broncos]] |23 September 2001 |[[Telstra Stadium|Stadium Australia]] |Bill Harrigan |34,184 |- bgcolor="#D0E7FF" | colspan=7 | '''Grand Final''' |- bgcolor=#F5FAFF |align=left | [[Image:Parramatta colours.svg|23x23px]] [[Parramatta Eels]] |24-30 |align=left | [[Image:Newcastle colours.svg|23x23px]] [[Newcastle Knights]] |30 September 2001 |[[Telstra Stadium|Stadium Australia]] |Bill Harrigan |90,414 |} ===Grand Final=== {| align="right" class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center; margin-left:1em" |- bgcolor="#FF0033" ! width="130"| Parramatta Eels ! width="40"|Position ! width="130"| Newcastle Knights |- | [[Brett Hodgson]] || [[Rugby League positions#Fullback|FB]] || [[Robbie O'Davis]] |- | [[Luke Burt]] || [[Rugby League positions#Wing|WG]]|| [[Timana Tahu]] |- | [[Jamie Lyon]] || [[Rugby League positions#Centre|CE]] || [[Matthew Gidley]] |- | [[David Vaealiki]] || [[Rugby League positions#Centre|CE]]|| [[Mark Hughes (rugby league)|Mark Hughes]] |- | [[Jason Moodie]] || [[Rugby League positions#Wing|WG]] || [[Adam MacDougall]] |- | [[Michael Buettner]] ||[[Rugby League positions#Stand-off|FE]] || [[Sean Rudder]] |- | [[Jason Taylor (rugby league)|Jason Taylor]] || [[Rugby League positions#Scrum-half|HB]]|| [[Andrew Johns]] (c) |- | [[Nathan Cayless]] (c) || [[Rugby League positions#Prop forward|PR]] || [[Josh Perry]] |- | [[Brad Drew]] || [[Rugby League positions#Hooker|HK]] || [[Danny Buderus]] |- | [[Michael Vella]] || [[Rugby League positions#Prop forward|PR]] || [[Matt Parsons]] |- | [[Nathan Hindmarsh]] || [[Rugby League positions#Second-row forward|SR]]|| [[Steve Simpson (rugby league)|Steve Simpson]] |- | [[Ian Hindmarsh]] ||[[Rugby League positions#Second-row forward|SR]] || [[Ben Kennedy]] |- | [[Daniel Wagon]] || [[Rugby League positions#Loose forward|LK]] || [[Bill Peden]] |- | [[PJ Marsh]] || Interchange || [[Clinton O'Brien]] |- | [[Andrew Ryan]] || Interchange || [[Paul Marquet]] |- | [[Alex Chan]] || Interchange || [[Glen Grief]] |- | [[David Solomona]] || Interchange || [[Daniel Abraham (rugby league)|Daniel Abraham]] |- | [[Brian Smith (rugby league)|Brian Smith]] || Coach || [[Michael Hagan]] |- |} The Eels went into the decider hot favourites after losing just once in 22 matches. However Newcastle produced a near perfect first half scoring four converted tries to lead 24-0 at half-time in the game's first night grand final . The blitzkrieg stunned the 90,000 plus fans and shattered the Eels in their first grand final appearance in fifteen years. Parramatta launched a late fightback but by then [[Andrew Johns]] had stamped his class over the proceedings, leading the Knights to their second title in five years. '''Newcastle Knights 30''' (Tries: Peden 2, Simpson, Kennedy, Tahu. Goals: Johns 5.) '''Parramatta Eels 24''' (Tries: Hodgson 2, Lyon 2. Goals: Burt 4.) [[Clive Churchill Medal]]ist: [[Andrew Johns]] <br style="clear:both;" /> == See also == * [[National Rugby League]] * [[2001 NRL Finals Series]] * [[Brisbane Broncos 2001]] ==External links== * [http://www.sportsphotography.net/rugbyleague/2001/gf/index.html 2001 NRL Grand Final at sportsphotography.net] ==Footnotes== <!--This article uses the Cite.php citation mechanism. If you would like more information on how to add references to this article, please see [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cite/Cite.php] --> {{reflist|2}} {{National Rugby League}} [[Category:National Rugby League|2001]] [[Category:2001 in rugby league]] [[Category:2001 in Australia]] [[Category:2001 in New Zealand]]