2001 NRL season
The 2001 NRL season was the 94th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fourth run by the National Rugby League. Also called the 2001 Telstra Premiership it was contested by thirteen Australian-based clubs plus one New Zealand-based club. The Newcastle Knights claimed their second premiership in five seasons, defeating minor premiers Parramatta Eels in the NRL's first ever night-time grand final.
Season summary
Early in the season NRL matches involving the Bulldogs were marred by off-field violence from the club's supporters.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's mark of 2,034 to become the greatest point-scorer in the history of club competition in Australia.
The Warriors made the finals for the first time in their seven-year history under rookie coach Daniel Anderson, but were hammered 56-12 by the aforementioned minor premiers.
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. Ricky Stuart would follow suit with the Roosters the following season. Tim Sheens was sacked as the coach of the North Queensland Cowboys during the season and was replaced by Murray Hurst. Mal Meninga resigned as Canberra coach following the club's disappointing season and in turn was replaced by Matthew Elliott.
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. Newcastle's Andrew Johns would have been clear winner but was not in contention due to missing two matches through suspension. 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. Coincidentally, the Brisbane Broncos were also involved in the last match to use that logo, albeit in a modified finals version seen on the ground in the 2006 NRL Grand Final.
At the end of the season a squad of players from the NRL premiership went on the 2001 Kangaroo tour.
Every team except Penrith played at least one drawn match during the course of the season. The Bulldogs had three drawn matches, the most of any team during the season.
Teams
were renamed the New Zealand Warriors for the 2001 season.| Brisbane Broncos 14th season Ground: QSAC Coach: Wayne Bennett Captain: Gorden Tallis | Bulldogs RLFC 67th season Ground: Sydney Showground Coach: Steve Folkes Captain: Darren Britt | Canberra Raiders 20th season Ground: Canberra Stadium Coach: Mal Meninga Captain: Simon Woolford | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 37th season Ground: Shark Park Coach: John Lang Captain: Jason Stevens |
| Melbourne Storm 4th season Ground Docklands Stadium Coach: Chris Anderson → Mark Murray Captain: Robbie Kearns & Rodney Howe | New Zealand Warriors 9th season Ground: Ericsson Stadium Coach: Daniel Anderson Captain: Stacey Jones & Kevin Campion | Newcastle Knights 14th season Ground: EnergyAustralia Stadium Coach: Michael Hagan Captain: Andrew Johns | North Queensland Cowboys 7th season Ground: Dairy Farmers Stadium Coach: Tim Sheens → Murray Hurst Captain: Paul Bowman |
| Northern Eagles 2nd season Ground: Brookvale Oval & Grahame Park Coach: Peter Sharp Captain: Geoff Toovey | Parramatta Eels 55th season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Brian Smith Captain: Nathan Cayless | Penrith Panthers 35th season Ground: CUA Stadium Coach: Royce Simmons Captain: Craig Gower | Sydney Roosters 94th season Ground: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Graham Murray Captain: Brad Fittler |
| St. George Illawarra Dragons 3rd season Ground: Kogarah Oval & WIN Stadium Coach: Andrew Farrar Captain: Craig Smith | Wests Tigers 2nd season Ground: Campbelltown Stadium & Leichhardt Oval Coach: Terry Lamb Captain: Darren Senter |
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.
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 Roosters at Sydney Football Stadium. You'd be a clown to miss it".
Regular season
Records and statistics
- Parramatta Eels scored the most points in a season by any club in history scoring 943 points in total.
- Wendell Sailor ran 4,452 metres with the ball in 2001, more than any other player in the competition.
- On July 5, the Melbourne Storm beat the Wests Tigers 64-0, which is the Storm's biggest ever win and Tigers biggest ever loss. The very next day the Newcastle Knights beat the Brisbane Broncos 44-0, which was set at the time, the Broncos biggest ever loss at the time.
- 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.
Ladder
Finals series
To decide the grand finalists from the top eight finishing teams, the NRL adopted the McIntyre Final Eight System.Chart
Grand Final
2001 Transfers
Players
| Player | 2000 Club | 2001 Club |
| Jason Bell | Auckland Warriors | Retirement |
| Terry Hermansson | Auckland Warriors | Retirement |
| Odell Manuel | Auckland Warriors | Canberra Raiders |
| Robert Mears | Auckland Warriors | Super League: Leeds Rhinos |
| Lee Oudenryn | Auckland Warriors | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Scott Pethybridge | Auckland Warriors | Northern Eagles |
| John Simon | Auckland Warriors | Wests Tigers |
| Tony Tuimavave | Auckland Warriors | Retirement |
| Joe Vagana | Auckland Warriors | Super League: Bradford Bulls |
| Nigel Vagana | Auckland Warriors | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Kevin Campion | Brisbane Broncos | New Zealand Warriors |
| Tonie Carroll | Brisbane Broncos | Super League: Leeds Rhinos |
| Michael Hancock | Brisbane Broncos | Super League: Salford City Reds |
| Harvey Howard | Brisbane Broncos | Super League: Wigan Warriors |
| Brad Thorn | Brisbane Broncos | Canterbury |
| Ben Walker | Brisbane Broncos | Northern Eagles |
| Kerrod Walters | Brisbane Broncos | Retirement |
| Nathan Barnes | Canberra Raiders | Retirement |
| Mark Corvo | Canberra Raiders | Brisbane Broncos |
| Brandon Costin | Canberra Raiders | Super League: Huddersfield Giants |
| Laurie Daley | Canberra Raiders | Retirement |
| David Furner | Canberra Raiders | Super League: Wigan Warriors |
| Justin Morgan | Canberra Raiders | New Zealand Warriors |
| Brett Mullins | Canberra Raiders | Super League: Leeds Rhinos |
| Bradley Clyde | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Super League: Leeds Rhinos |
| Daryl Halligan | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Retirement |
| Jason Hetherington | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Super League: London Broncos |
| Ricky Stuart | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Retirement |
| Andrew Ettingshausen | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Retirement |
| Mitch Healey | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Super League: Castleford Tigers |
| Brett Howland | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Tim Maddison | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Wayne Evans | Melbourne Storm | Northern Eagles |
| Brett Kimmorley | Melbourne Storm | Northern Eagles |
| Paul Marquet | Melbourne Storm | Newcastle Knights |
| Tony Martin | Melbourne Storm | Super League: London Broncos |
| Lenny Beckett | Newcastle Knights | Northern Eagles |
| Tony Butterfield | Newcastle Knights | Retirement |
| David Fairleigh | Newcastle Knights | Super League: St. Helens |
| Matthew Johns | Newcastle Knights | Super League: Wigan Warriors |
| Jason Temu | Newcastle Knights | New Zealand Warriors |
| Greg Bourke | North Queensland Cowboys | Burleigh Bears |
| Noel Goldthorpe | North Queensland Cowboys | Retirement |
| Paul Green | North Queensland Cowboys | Sydney Roosters |
| Shane Kenward | North Queensland Cowboys | Retirement |
| Scott Prince | North Queensland Cowboys | Brisbane Broncos |
| Michael Buettner | Northern Eagles | Parramatta Eels |
| Owen Cunningham | Northern Eagles | Retirement |
| Damian Driscoll | Northern Eagles | Super League: Salford City Reds |
| Daniel Gartner | Northern Eagles | Super League: Bradford Bulls |
| Nigel Roy | Northern Eagles | Super League: London Broncos |
| Jason Taylor | Northern Eagles | Parramatta Eels |
| Jim Dymock | Parramatta Eels | Super League: London Broncos |
| Stuart Kelly | Parramatta Eels | Brisbane Broncos |
| David Kidwell | Parramatta Eels | Super League: Warrington Wolves |
| Ben Kusto | Parramatta Eels | Super League: Huddersfield Giants |
| Gary Larson | Parramatta Eels | Retirement |
| Clinton Schifcofske | Parramatta Eels | Canberra Raiders |
| Dean Schifilliti | Parramatta Eels | Retirement |
| Brad Drew | Penrith Panthers | Parramatta Eels |
| Nigel Gaffey | Penrith Panthers | Retirement |
| Mark Geyer | Penrith Panthers | Retirement |
| Nathan Brown | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Retirement |
| Anthony Mundine | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Retirement |
| Lee Murphy | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Wests Tigers |
| Luke Patten | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Wes Patten | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Retirement |
| Corey Pearson | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Wests Tigers |
| Julian Bailey | Sydney Roosters | Newcastle Knights |
| Richie Barnett | Sydney Roosters | Super League: London Broncos |
| Darren Burns | Sydney Roosters | Brisbane Broncos |
| Jack Elsegood | Sydney Roosters | Retirement |
| Adrian Lam | Sydney Roosters | Super League: Wigan Warriors |
| Robert Miles | Sydney Roosters | Northern Eagles |
| Shane Rigon | Sydney Roosters | Super League: Bradford Bulls |
| Nathan Wood | Sydney Roosters | New Zealand Warriors |
| Ben Duckworth | Wests Tigers | Parramatta Eels |
| Shayne Dunley | Wests Tigers | Northern Eagles |
| Steve Georgallis | Wests Tigers | Super League: Warrington Wolves |
| Jarrod McCracken | Wests Tigers | Retirement |
| Adam Nable | Wests Tigers | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Karl Lovell | Super League: Huddersfield-Sheffield Giants | Northern Eagles |
| Matt Daylight | Super League: Hull F.C. | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Ben Sammut | Super League: Hull F.C. | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Richie Blackmore | Super League: Leeds Rhinos | New Zealand Warriors |
| Adrian Morley | Super League: Leeds Rhinos | Sydney Roosters |
| Danny Moore | Super League: London Broncos | North Queensland Cowboys |
| Darrell Trindall | Super League: St. Helens | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
| Willie Peters | Super League: Wigan Warriors | St. George Illawarra Dragons |