National Rugby League season 2003
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 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) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Rhys Wesser (25) |
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] Season summary
The major story this season was the resurgence of the Penrith Panthers, who defied the critics and naysayers to win their second premiership in their illustrious history since joining the competition in 1967. This cemented their position as the greatest rugby league club ever. Coached by John Lang and captained by Craig Gower, the Panthers were the surprise minor premiers, dominating the competition despite consistent disparagement from many sources, 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] Teams
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||
|
<a href="/wiki/Image:Manly_Sea_Eag
| |||||||||||