2000 NRL season

2000 National Rugby League
Teams	14
Premiers	Brisbane (4th title)
Minor premiers	Brisbane (3rd title)
Matches played	191
Points scored	8050 (total) 42.147 (per match)
Attendance	2,959,390 (total) 15,494 (per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Joel Caine (224)
Top try scorer(s)	Nathan Blacklock (25)

The 2000 NRL season was the 93rd season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the third to be run by the National Rugby League. Fourteen teams competed from February till August for the NRL Premiership, culminating in the 2000 NRL Grand final between the Brisbane Broncos and the Sydney Roosters.

Season summary

The 2000 National Rugby League season started with a new CEO in rugby union's David Moffett who replaced Neil Whittaker in late 1999.

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.

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.

Melbourne Storm players Stephen Kearney and Marcus Bai ended the career of Wests Tigers captain Jarrod McCracken with a spear tackle. Kearney was suspended for 8 matches and Bai for 2 matches. The two men were also sued by McCraken, who won a six-figure damages bill.

The Canberra Raiders and the Wests Tigers became the first teams to play a premiership game in the snow. It occurred at Bruce Stadium on 18 May and it is the only premiership game played in these conditions.

Teams

The season saw the debut of the Wests Tigers (formed by the merging of the Balmain Tigers and Western Suburbs Magpies) and Northern Eagles (formed by the merging of the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and North Sydney Bears) in the National Rugby League. In addition, the South Sydney Rabbitohs were excluded from the competition, thereby completing the NRL's rationalisation process from 20 teams in 1998 to 14 in 2000.

For the 2000 season, the Canterbury Bulldogs changed their name once again, this time to the geographically indistinct "Bulldogs" and the Auckland Warriors were re-branded the New Zealand Warriors at the end of the season.

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".

Records and statistics

• Martin Lang ran 4,571 metres with the ball in 2000, more than any other player in the competition.
• 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.

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Brisbane (P)	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	16x16px 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.

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

	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	Brisbane	1	3	5	7	9	11	13	15	15	16	18	18	20	20	22	22	24	24	26	28	30	32	34	36	38	38
2	Sydney	2	2	4	4	6	6	8	8	10	10	12	14	16	16	16	18	18	20	22	24	26	26	26	28	30	32
3	Newcastle	0	2	4	5	5	7	9	9	9	11	11	13	13	13	15	17	19	21	21	23	23	25	25	27	29	31
4	Canberra	2	4	6	6	8	8	8	10	10	12	12	12	12	14	16	16	18	20	22	24	24	24	26	26	28	30
5	Penrith	2	4	4	6	6	8	8	8	10	10	10	10	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	22	24	24	26	26	28	30
6	Melbourne	0	0	0	0	2	4	6	6	8	9	11	13	15	15	17	18	19	19	19	21	23	25	25	27	27	29
7	Parramatta	0	0	2	2	2	4	4	5	7	9	11	11	11	13	15	15	17	19	21	21	21	23	25	27	27	29
8	Cronulla	2	4	4	4	6	8	8	10	10	10	12	12	12	14	14	16	16	18	20	22	22	22	24	24	26	26
9	St. George Illawarra	0	2	2	2	2	2	4	6	8	10	10	12	12	14	14	14	14	16	18	18	20	22	22	22	24	24
10	Wests Tigers	1	3	3	5	7	9	9	10	12	14	14	14	16	18	18	20	20	20	20	20	22	24	24	24	24	24
11	Bulldogs	0	0	2	4	6	6	6	6	8	9	11	11	13	15	15	15	17	17	17	17	17	17	19	21	21	21
12	Northern Eagles	2	2	4	6	6	6	8	8	8	8	8	10	12	12	12	12	14	14	14	14	16	18	18	18	18	18
13	Auckland	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	5	5	6	8	10	10	10	12	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	16	16	18
14	File:North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	4	4	4	6	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	10	12	12	12	12

Finals series

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 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

Chart

	Qualifying Finals					Semi Finals					Preliminary Finals					Grand Final
	1	Brisbane	34
	8	Cronulla	20
											1W	Brisbane	16
	2	Sydney	8			4W	Parramatta	28				Parramatta	10
	7	Parramatta	32			2L	Penrith	10									Brisbane	14
																	Sydney	6
	3	Newcastle	30								2W	Newcastle	20
	6	Melbourne	16			3W	Canberra	10				Sydney	26
						1L	Sydney	38
	4	Canberra	34
	5	Penrith	16

Grand final

Main article: 2000 NRL Grand final

Sunday, 27 August

Brisbane Broncos	14 -6	Sydney Roosters
2 Tries: Wendell Sailor Lote Tuqiri 3 Goals: Michael De Vere (3/5)	Report	1 Try: Craig Fitzgibbon 1 Goal Luke Phillips (1/1)

Stadium Australia, Sydney Attendance: 94,277 Referee/s: Bill Harrigan Man of the Match: Darren Lockyer

External links

• NRL official website
• NRL CEO David Moffat discusses the Tom Jones ad