2003 NRL Grand Final
2003 | NRL Grand Final|||||||||||||
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![]() Telstra Stadium, where the match was played | |||||||||||||
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Date | 5 October 2003 | ||||||||||||
Stadium | Telstra Stadium | ||||||||||||
Location | Sydney, Australia | ||||||||||||
Clive Churchill Medal | Luke Priddis (PEN) | ||||||||||||
Australian National anthem | Troy Cassar-Daley | ||||||||||||
Referee | Bill Harrigan | ||||||||||||
Attendance | 81,166 | ||||||||||||
Broadcast partners | |||||||||||||
Broadcasters | |||||||||||||
Commentators |
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The 2003 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the
Background
The 2003 NRL season was the 96th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the sixth run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen teams (14 from Australia and 1 from New Zealand) competed for the Telstra Premiership, with the top eight teams entering a play-off finals series to determine the grand finalists.
Penrith Panthers
The 2003 Penrith Panthers season was the 37th in the club's history. Coached by John Lang and captained by Craig Gower, they finished the regular season in 1st place.
Sydney Roosters
The 2003 Sydney Roosters season was the 96th in the club's history. Coached by Ricky Stuart and captained by Brad Fittler, they finished the regular season in 2nd place.
Teams
Of all the Penrith players, only Luke Priddis had grand final experience, having played for the Brisbane Broncos in the 2000 NRL season's decider. It was Scott Sattler's last game with Penrith, having signed with the Wests Tigers for the following season.
Penrith Panthers | Position | Sydney Roosters | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Number | Number | Name | |
Rhys Wesser | 1 | Fullback | 1 | Anthony Minichiello |
Luke Lewis | 2 | Wing |
2 | Todd Byrne |
Ryan Girdler | 3 | Centre |
3 | Ryan Cross |
Paul Whatuira | 4 | Centre |
4 | Shannon Hegarty |
Luke Rooney | 5 | Wing |
5 | Chris Walker |
Preston Campbell | 6 | Five eighth | 6 | Brad Fittler (c) |
Craig Gower (c) | 7 | Half back |
9 | Craig Wing |
Joel Clinton | 8 | Prop forward |
8 | Jason Cayless |
Luke Priddis | 9 | Hooker | 14 | Michael Crocker |
Martin Lang | 10 | Prop forward |
10 | Ned Catic |
Joe Galuvao | 11 | Second row |
11 | Adrian Morley |
Tony Puletua | 12 | Second row |
12 | Craig Fitzgibbon |
Scott Sattler | 13 | Lock forward |
13 | Luke Ricketson |
Ben Ross | 14 | Interchange |
7 | Brett Finch |
Trent Waterhouse | 15 | Interchange |
15 | Andrew Lomu |
Shane Rodney | 16 | Interchange |
16 | Chad Robinson |
Luke Swain | 17 | Interchange |
17 | Chris Flannery |
John Lang | Coach | Ricky Stuart | ||
RLP[4] |
Match details
The Roosters were seen as favourites. 81,166 spectators turned out at Telstra Stadium for the game.[5] Pre-match entertainment featured performances by Meat Loaf, the Hoodoo Gurus and American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson.[6] Troy Cassar-Daley then sang the Australian national anthem just before Bill Harrigan, refereeing his 7th consecutive grand final and 10th overall, blew time-on and the Roosters kicked off.
First half
Rain started falling only a few minutes into the match and continued throughout. After thirty minutes of play, the Roosters' defence was the first to give when Penrith hooker Luke Priddis, still within his team's side of the field, ran from dummy half and into open space, finally passing to winger Luke Rooney coming through in support to cross untouched on the left for the opening try.[7][8] Ryan Girdler kicked the conversion so the Penrith side were leading 6–0.[9] No more points were scored for the rest of the half so this remained the score at the break.
Second half
In the eighth minute, and after repeat
Luke Priddis was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal as man-of-the-match[17] before the Prime Minister of Australia John Howard presented Panthers captain Craig Gower with the premiership trophy. At the Penrith Leagues club approximately 10,000 people celebrated the victory with the Panthers.[18] The grand final attracted a bigger audience in Melbourne than the AFL grand final did in Sydney the previous weekend.[19]
Match summary
Sunday, 5 October
19:05 UTC+10 ) |
Penrith Panthers ![]() |
18 – 6 | ![]() |
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Tries: 3 Rooney ![]() Priddis ![]() Goals: 3 Campbell ![]() Girdler ![]() Field goals: Gower (0/1) |
1st: 6–0 2nd: 12–6 Report[4] |
Tries: 1 Hegarty ![]() Goals: 1 Fitzgibbon ![]() |
Telstra Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 81,166[20] Referee: Bill Harrigan Touch judges: Steve Carrall, Glyn Henderson Clive Churchill Medal: Luke Priddis (Penrith) |
Aftermath
Four members of Penrith's premiership winning team subsequently went on to play in other premiership teams –
World Club Challenge
Having won the premiership, the Penrith Panthers travelled to England the following February to play the Bradford Bulls, winners of the 2003 Super League Grand Final in the World Club Challenge. The Bradford Bulls won 22 to 4.
References
- ^ Solly, Ross (3 October 2003). "Battlers vs silvertails: NRL Grand Final". abc.com.au. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ AAP (2 October 2003). "Coaches' verdicts". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ "National Rugby League Grand Final, Live on Fox Sports World This Sunday". Business Wire. Los Angeles: Gale Group. 3 October 2003. Retrieved 5 October 2009.[permanent dead link][dead link]
- ^ ISBN 978-0734407252.
- ^ "NRL Grand Final: Syd v Pen". Events. austadiums.com. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ Alex Brown, Malcolm Brown and Jacqueline Maley (6 October 2003). "Fairytale of the year: Panthers pluck Roosters". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ Sutton, Christopher (29 September 2009). "Penrith v Sydney Roosters, 2003". Fox Sports. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ Halloran, Jessica (6 October 2003). "Mates can't believe the ending". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ "NRL Grand Final as it happened". BBC Sport. 5 October 2003. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ Masters, Roy (6 October 2003). "Once upon a time ..." The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ The Grill Team (28 September 2010). "5 Greatest NRL Grand Final Moments". triplem.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ Jane, Aubrey (10 November 2003). "2003: Sattler's tackle of the decade". wwos.ninemsn.com.au. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ "Top 5 ANZ Stadium Moments – The Run, Our Flame, One Kick, The Farewell & That Tackle". anzstadium.com.au. ANZ Stadium. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ Gould, Phil (6 October 2003). "And they're only going to get better". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ Mascord, Steve (6 October 2003). "Panthers climb their mountain". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ Mascord, Steve (6 October 2003). "Fairytale win for Panthers". The Age. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ Massoud, Josh (2 September 2010). "St George Illawarra hooker Luke Priddis to retire at end of season". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ AAP (6 October 2003). "Penrith fans celebrate all night". The Age. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ Evans, Chris (7 October 2003). "Rugby League rates in AFL state". The Age. The Age Company. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
- ^ "2003 NRL Grand Final". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
External links
- 2003 NRL Grand Final at NRL.com
- Match replay at NRL.com
- NRL 2003 – Grand Final Archived 30 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine at sportsphotography.net
- NRL 2003 – Grand Final at rugbyleagueproject.org