National Rugby League season 2001
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| National Rugby League season 2001 | |
 |
|
| Teams | 14 |
| Premiers |  Newcastle (2nd title) |
| Minor premiers |  Parramatta (4th title) |
| Matches played | 191 |
| Points scored | 9333 (average 48.864 per match) |
| Attendance | 2,682,210 (average 14,043 per match) |
| Top points scorer(s) | Andrew Johns (279) Ben Walker (279) |
| Top try scorer(s) |  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 minor premiers Parramatta Eels in the first ever night-time grand final.
Contents |
[edit] 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 1998. The Eels tally was significantly contributed to by 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. The Warriors made the finals for the first time in their seven-year history under rookie coach Daniel Anderson.
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. 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 Sharks' rise to fourth position on the table. 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.
[edit] Teams
Auckland were renamed the New Zealand Warriors for the 2001 season.
[edit] 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.[1].
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".
[edit] Records set in 2001
- Parramatta Eels scored the most points in a season by any club in history scoring 943 points in total.
- On July 5, the Melbourne Storm beat the Wests Tigers 64-0, which is the Storm's biggest ever win and Tigers biggest ever lose. The very next day the Newcastle Knights beat the Brisbane Broncos 44-0, which was set at the time, the Broncos biggest ever loss.
- 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.
[edit] Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parramatta |
26 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 839 | 406 | +433 | 42 |
| 2 |  Bulldogs |
26 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 617 | 538 | +49 | 37 |
| 3 | Newcastle |
26 | 16 | 1 | 9 | 782 | 639 | +143 | 33 |
| 4 |  Cronulla |
26 | 15 | 2 | 9 | 594 | 513 | +81 | 32 |
| 5 |  Brisbane |
26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 696 | 511 | +185 | 29 |
| 6 |  Roosters |
26 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 647 | 589 | +58 | 27 |
| 7 | St. George Illawarra |
26 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 661 | 573 | +88 | 26 |
| 8 |  New Zealand |
26 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 638 | 629 | +9 | 26 |
| 9 |  Melbourne |
26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 704 | 725 | -21 | 23 |
| 10 | Northern Eagles |
26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 603 | 750 | -149 | 23 |
| 11 |  Canberra |
26 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 600 | 623 | -23 | 19 |
| 12 |  Wests Tigers |
26 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 474 | 746 | -272 | 19 |
| 13 |  North Queensland |
26 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 514 | 771 | -257 | 14 |
| 14 |  Penrith |
26 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 521 | 847 | -326 | 14 |
[edit] Finals
[edit] Grand Final
| Parramatta | Position | Newcastle |
|---|---|---|
| Brett Hodgson | FB | Robbie O'Davis |
| Luke Burt | WG | Timana Tahu |
| Jamie Lyon | CE | Matthew Gidley |
| David Vaealiki | CE | Mark Hughes |
| Jason Moodie | WG | Adam MacDougall |
| Michael Buettner | FE | Sean Rudder |
| Jason Taylor | HB | Andrew Johns (c) |
| Nathan Cayless (c) | PR | Josh Perry |
| Brad Drew | HK | Danny Buderus |
| Michael Vella | PR | Matt Parsons |
| Nathan Hindmarsh | SR | Steve Simpson |
| Ian Hindmarsh | SR | Ben Kennedy |
| Daniel Wagon | LK | Bill Peden |
| PJ Marsh | Interchange | Clinton O'Brien |
| Andrew Ryan | Interchange | Paul Marquet |
| Alex Chan | Interchange | Glen Grief |
| David Solomona | Interchange | Daniel Abraham |
| Brian Smith | Coach | Michael Hagan |
First Half
The Knights were first to score with a try to Billy Peden in the 3rd minute with Andrew Johns converting to take the Knights out to a 6-0 lead. Four minutes later, the Knights scored again through Steve Simpson with Andrew Johns converting, taking the score to 12-0. By the 24th minute it was already to a 18-0 lead to the Knights with another try to Billy Peden and another conversion to Andrew Johns. Not long after, the Eels had their best chance of the first half with Andrew Ryan getting over the line but he was held up by Steve Simpson and failed to score. In the 32nd minute, Ben Kennedy scored for the Knights with Andrew Johns converting to make it 24-0 to the Knights and it remained that scoreline until half-time.
Second Half
The Eels were the first to score in the second half to make the score 24-6. In the 64th minute, the Knights wrapped up the 2001 Premiership when Timana Tahu scored a try to make it 28-6. Two minutes later, Jamie Lyon scored to make it 28-12. Three Minutes later, the Knights made it three converted try making it 30-12 from a penalty goal to Johns. One more try to both Lyon and Hogdson in the final ten minutes got it back to a converted try (30-24) but just wasn't enough for the Eels set a remarkable Grand Final comeback as the Knights clinch the 2001 Premiership.
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 Medalist: Andrew Johns
When They Scored
3rd Minute: Newcastle 6-0 (Peden try; Johns goal)
7th Minute: Newcastle 12-0 (Simpson try; Johns goal)
24th Minute: Newcastle 18-0 (Peden try; Johns goal)
31st Minute: Newcastle 24-0 (Kennedy try; Johns goal)
57th Minute: Newcastle 24-6 (Hodgson try; Hodgson goal)
63rd Minute: Newcastle 28-6 (Tahu try)
65th Minute: Newcastle 28-12 (Lyon try; Hodgson goal)
68th Minute: Newcastle 30-12 (Johns goal)
73rd Minute: Newcastle 30-18 (Lyon try; Hogdson goal)
79th Minute: Newcastle 30-24 (Hodgeson try; Hodgson goal)
[edit] External links
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Wallace interview B&T Magazine March2001
