National Rugby League season 2003

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National Rugby League season 2003

Teams 15
Premiers Penrith (2nd title)
Minor premiers Penrith (2nd title)
Matches played 189
Points scored 8993 (average 47.582 per match)
Attendance 2,895,740 (average 15,321 per match)
Top points scorer(s) Hazem El Masri (294 points)
Top try scorer(s) Rhys Wesser (25 tries)

The year 2003's National Rugby League (NRL) premiership was the 96th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the sixth run by the NRL. Fifteen teams competed and the Penrith Panthers defeated reigning champions, the Sydney Roosters in the grand final, claiming their first premiership since 1991. Manly rejoined the competition since their merger with North Sydney in 1999, with the license of the former Northern Eagles reverting back to the Sea Eagles. Also season 2003 brought in the new "Golden Point" Extra-Time rule, where after 80 minutes, if the game was tied, then 10 minutes of extra time was played until one team scored the winning point(s).

Contents

[edit] Teams

Brisbane Broncos

Canberra Raiders

Canterbury Bulldogs

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

Melbourne Storm

Newcastle Knights

New Zealand Warriors

North Queensland Cowboys

Parramatta Eels

Penrith Panthers

South Sydney Rabbitohs

Sydney Roosters

St. George Illawarra Dragons

Wests Tigers

[edit] Season summary

The major story this season was the resurgence of the Penrith Panthers, who defied the critics and naysayers to win just their second premiership since joining the competition in 1967. Coached by John Lang and captained by Craig Gower, the Panthers were the surprise minor premiers and would continue their outstanding form in the finals, beating the Broncos, Warriors and finally the Roosters in the grand final.

The Dally M Medal ceremony was cancelled by the NRL after negotiations with the players' union, the Rugby League Professionals Association, stalled. All votes for the award were destroyed. It was later revealed that with one round of the regular season to play, Craig Gower was leading both Brad Fittler and Clinton Schifcofske by one point in the overall points tally. However, with the ceremony officially cancelled more than a week out from the awards, no points were allocated in the final round of the season.[1]

At the end of the season, Chris Anderson would lose his job at Cronulla, while Peter Sharp was dismissed as Manly coach.

[edit] Records set in 2003

  • Nathan Brown became the youngest non-playing coach in premiership history at the age of 29[1]. Brown had retired from playing in 2001 after a neck injury in a trial game.
  • Referee Bill Harrigan's tenth grand final in 2003, the final match of his career, stands as the record for the most grand finals officiated by a referee.
  • Hazem El Masri's tally of 294 points was, at the time, an individual record for most points scored in a season in Australian club rugby league history. El Masri would beat his own record the following year.
  • On August 23rd the Parramatta Eels beat the Cronulla Sharks 74-4, at the time the third highest winning margin for a club game in Australian rugby league history.
  • Also on August 23rd, the North Queensland Cowboys beat the South Sydney Rabbitohs 60-8, the biggest win and most points in a match in Cowboys history.
  • The Brisbane Broncos set a record for their longest losing streak, from round 20 to the 4th qualifying final.
  • The Penrith Panthers became the first team to win the minor premiership and hold bottom spot on the ladder in the same season.
  • The Melbourne Storm equalled their worst defeat with a 50-4 loss to the Bulldogs in round 22.

[edit] Advertising

In 2003 the NRL sacked their advertising agency of the previous two years, Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney, and took the unusual step of coming up with their own in-house creative concept. Former Cronulla Sharks player and then current Parramatta Eels assistant coach Alan Wilson hit upon the idea of using the Hoodoo Gurus' 1987 hit "What's My Scene?" with reworked lyrics as "That's My Team".

"and another thing, I'm discovering lately, I'm a bit crazy, for my rugby league team "

Wilson is a friend of Hoodoo Gurus singer Dave Faulkner and made the necessary arrangements which included re-uniting the band to re-record the track. Faulkner is a long-time supporter of the Sharks and the original film clip of "What's My Scene?" had included shots of band members in Wests and Cronulla jumpers.

The ad focusses on the grass roots supporters at all levels of the game and in its finished version includes shots of fans from the Cessnock Goannas, a proud Bulldogs supporter and a Penrith teenager with a broken leg signed by her heroes. These images are included with the usual fare of pre-season team training images, big-hits, clever passes and post-try celebrations.[2].

To produce the ad the League returned to the agency who created and produced the Tina Turner campaigns from 1989 to 1995 - Hertz Walpole Advertising by now renamed MJW Hakuhodo.

[edit] Ladder

Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 Penrith 24 18 0 6 2 659 527 +132 40
2 Sydney 24 17 0 7 2 680 445 +235 38
3 Canterbury 24 16 0 8 2 702 419 +283 36
4 Canberra 24 16 0 8 2 620 463 +157 36
5 Melbourne 24 15 0 9 2 564 486 +78 34
6 New Zealand 24 15 0 9 2 545 510 +35 34
7 Newcastle 24 14 0 10 2 632 635 -3 32
8 Brisbane 24 12 0 12 2 497 464 +33 28
9 Parramatta 24 11 0 13 2 570 582 -12 26
10 St George Illawarra 24 11 0 13 2 548 593 -45 26
11 North Queensland 24 10 0 14 2 606 629 -23 24
12 Cronulla 24 8 0 16 2 497 704 -207 20
13 Wests Tigers 24 7 0 17 2 470 598 -128 18
14 Manly-Warringah 24 7 0 17 2 470 791 -234 18
15 South Sydney 24 3 0 21 2 457 758 -301 10

[edit] Finals

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Crowd
Qualifying Finals
Canberra Raiders 18–30 Melbourne Storm 12 September 2003 Canberra Stadium Tim Mander 14,094
Canterbury Bulldogs 22–48 New Zealand Warriors 13 September 2003 Sydney Showground Bill Harrigan 18,312
Sydney Roosters 36–8 Newcastle Knights 13 September 2003 Aussie Stadium Sean Hampstead 23,853
Penrith Panthers 28–18 Brisbane Broncos 14 September 2003 Penrith Football Stadium Steve Clark 18,534
Semi Finals
Canberra Raiders 16–17 New Zealand Warriors 20 September 2003 Aussie Stadium Tim Mander 31,616
Canterbury Bulldogs 30–0 Melbourne Storm 21 September 2003 Aussie Stadium Bill Harrigan 19,367
Preliminary Finals
Sydney Roosters 28–18 Canterbury Bulldogs 27 September 2003 Aussie Stadium Bill Harrigan 41,123
Penrith Panthers 28–20 New Zealand Warriors 28 September 2003 Telstra Stadium Tim Mander 43,174
Grand Final
Penrith Panthers 18–6 Sydney Roosters 5 October 2003 Telstra Stadium Bill Harrigan 81,166

[edit] Grand final

Penrith Panthers Position Sydney Roosters
Rhys Wesser FB Anthony Minichiello
Luke Lewis WG Todd Byrne
Ryan Girdler CE Ryan Cross
Paul Whatuira CE Shannon Hegarty
Luke Rooney WG Chris Walker
Preston Campbell FE Brad Fittler
Craig Gower (c) HB Brett Finch
Joel Clinton PR Jason Cayless
Luke Priddis HK Craig Wing
Martin Lang PR Ned Catic
Joe Galuvao SR Adrian Morley
Tony Puletua SR Craig Fitzgibbon
Scott Sattler LK Luke Ricketson
Ben Ross Interchange Michael Crocker
Trent Waterhouse Interchange Andrew Lomu
Shane Rodney Interchange Chad Robinson
Luke Swain Interchange Chris Flannery
John Lang Coach Ricky Stuart

The Panthers defied the odds and the critics to take out their second premiership with a superb 18-6 win over the Roosters. In a game of incredible quality that belied the slippery conditions, Penrith matched the Roosters tackle for tackle then laid on three superb tries to emerge victorious.

Luke Priddis scored one try and set up the other two to win the Clive Churchill Medal, while lock Scott Sattler pulled off one of the great grand final plays when he cut down runaway Roosters winger Todd Byrne to save a certain try.

Penrith Panthers 18 (Tries: Rooney 2, Priddis. Goals: Girdler 1/1, Campbell 2/2.)

Sydney Roosters 6 (Tries: Hegarty. Goals: Fitzgibbon 1/1.)

Clive Churchill Medallist: Luke Priddis

[edit] Sources and footnotes

  1. ^ Pace, Daniel. "Freddie sympathises with Gower but backs players' stance", Australian Associated Press, 2003-09-07. Retrieved on 2007-09-10. 
  2. ^ B&T magazine article 2003

[edit] External links

Clubs in the National Rugby League, 2008

Brisbane Broncos · Bulldogs · Canberra Raiders · Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
Gold Coast Titans · Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles · Melbourne Storm · Newcastle Knights
New Zealand Warriors · North Queensland Cowboys · Parramatta Eels · Penrith Panthers
St. George Illawarra Dragons · South Sydney Rabbitohs · Sydney Roosters · Wests Tigers
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