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 points) Ben Walker (279 points) |
| Top try scorer(s) |  Nathan Blacklock (27 tries) |
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.
Contents |
[edit] Teams
 Brisbane Broncos |
 Canberra Raiders |
 Canterbury Bulldogs |
 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
 Melbourne Storm |
 Newcastle Knights |
 New Zealand Warriors |
 Northern Eagles |
 North Queensland Cowboys |
 Parramatta Eels |
 Penrith Panthers |
 Sydney Roosters |
 St. George Illawarra Dragons |
 Wests Tigers |
[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.
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.
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.
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.
[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.
[edit] Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parramatta |
26 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 839 | 406 | +433 | 42 |
| 2 |  Canterbury |
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 |  Sydney |
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 Eels | Position | Newcastle Knights |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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 Medalist: Andrew Johns
[edit] See also
- National Rugby League
- 2001 NRL Finals Series
- Brisbane Broncos 2001
[edit] External links
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Wallace interview B&T Magazine March2001
