2003 NRL Grand Final

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2003 (2003) NRL Grand Final  ()
Telstra Stadium (493858708).jpg Telstra Stadium, where the match was played
Panthers colours.svg
Penrith
Panthers		 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg
Sydney
Roosters
18 6
12 Total
PEN Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2017 colours.svg 612 18
SYD Eastern Suburbs colours.svg 06 6
Date5 October 2003
StadiumTelstra Stadium
LocationSydney, Australia
Clive Churchill MedalLuke Priddis, (PEN)
National anthemTroy Cassar-Daley
RefereesBill Harrigan
Attendance81,166
Broadcast partners
Broadcasters
Commentators
← 2002
2004 →

The 2003 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the 2003 NRL season. In what was a contest of Sydney's east versus west, defending premiers the Sydney Roosters played against minor premiers the Penrith Panthers.[1][2] The first grand final since 1996 to feature two Sydney-based teams was played on the night of Sunday, 5 October at Stadium Australia in the inner western suburb of Sydney Olympic Park. Domestically, live free-to-air television coverage was provided by Nine's Wide World of Sports. The match was also broadcast live in the United States by Fox Soccer.[3]

Background

See also: 2003 NRL season

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

See also: 2003 Penrith Panthers season

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

See also: 2003 Sydney Roosters season

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.

Match details

The Roosters were seen as favourites. Of all the Penrith players, only Luke Priddis had grand final experience, having defeated the Roosters with 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
1 Rhys Wesser FB 1 Anthony Minichiello
2 Luke Lewis WG 2 Todd Byrne
3 Ryan Girdler CE 3 Ryan Cross
4 Paul Whatuira CE 4 Shannon Hegarty
5 Luke Rooney WG 5 Chris Walker
6 Preston Campbell 5/8th 6 Brad Fittler (c)
7 Craig Gower (c) HB 9 Craig Wing
8 Joel Clinton PR 8 Jason Cayless
9 Luke Priddis HK 14 Michael Crocker
10 Martin Lang PR 10 Ned Catic
11 Joe Galuvao SR 11 Adrian Morley
12 Tony Puletua SR 12 Craig Fitzgibbon
13 Scott Sattler LF 13 Luke Ricketson
14 Ben Ross Int. 7 Brett Finch
15 Trent Waterhouse Int. 15 Andrew Lomu
16 Shane Rodney Int. 16 Chad Robinson
17 Luke Swain Int. 17 Chris Flannery
John Lang Coach Ricky Stuart

81,166 spectators turned out at Telstra Stadium for the game.[4] Pre-match entertainment featured performances by Meat Loaf, the Hoodoo Gurus and American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson.[5] 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.[6][7] Ryan Girdler kicked the conversion so the Penrith side were leading 6–0.[8] 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 sets of six had brought the Sydney Roosters close to Penrith's try-line, forward Jason Cayless crossed it beneath the uprights, but the ball was held up by the defence. On the very next play, the ball went through the hands out to Shannon Hegarty to score on the left hand side of the field. Craig Fitzgibbon's conversion, which bounced through off an upright,[9] evened the scores at 6–6. Eight minutes later Sydney winger Todd Byrne received the ball on his own forty-metre line and ran into open space along the left edge of the field. Penrith lock forward Scott Sattler was chasing and twenty metres from the try-line tackled Byrne, pulling him out of the field in what would become one of the most famous plays in grand final history.[10][11][12] In the sixty-sixth minute the Penrith side had made their way up to within five metres of the Roosters' try line where Luke Priddis again ran from dummy half and scored, stretching out of the tackle to touch down beside the uprights.[13] Preston Campbell kicked the extra two points so Penrith were now leading 12–6. In the seventy-third minute, Penrith halfback Craig Gower attempted a field goal but it was charged down. Penrith re-gathered the ball and continued towards the Sydney Roosters line and four tackles later had reached perfect field-goal kicking position. Priddis, at dummy half again, instead decided to dummy and run left, throwing a long cut-out pass to Rooney on the wing to score untouched in the corner.[14] Campbell converted the try[15] and Penrith lead 18–6 with six minutes left to play, but no further points ensued so this remained the score at full-time.

Penrith Panthers 18 Sydney Roosters 6
3 Tries:
Luke Rooney (2)
Luke Priddis 		1 Try:
Shannon Hegarty
2nd try-scorer
3 Goals:
Preston Campbell (2/2)
Ryan Girdler (1/1) 		1 Goal:
Craig Fitzgibbon
2nd goal-scorer

Luke Priddis was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal as man-of-the-match[16] 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.[17] The grand final attracted a bigger audience in Melbourne than the AFL grand final did in Sydney the previous weekend.[18]

Aftermath

Four members of Penrith's premiership winning team subsequently went on to play in other premiership teams – Paul Whatuira was part of the Wests Tigers team that triumphed just two years later in 2005, Joe Galuvao and Shane Rodney won a second premiership together as part of the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles team that won in 2011, and Luke Lewis was part of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks team that won their first premiership in 2016, winning the Clive Churchill Medal as the best-on-ground.

World Club Challenge

Main article: 2004 World Club Challenge

Having won the premiership, the Penrith Panthers were to travel to England the following February to play the winners of the upcoming 2003 Super League Grand Final in the World Club Challenge.

References

  1. ^ Solly, Ross (3 October 2003). "Battlers vs silvertails: NRL Grand Final". abc.com.au. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  2. ^ AAP (2 October 2003). "Coaches' verdicts". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  3. ^ "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]
  4. ^ "NRL Grand Final: Syd v Pen". Events. austadiums.com. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Sutton, Christopher (29 September 2009). "Penrith v Sydney Roosters, 2003". Fox Sports. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  7. ^ Halloran, Jessica (6 October 2003). "Mates can't believe the ending". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  8. ^ "NRL Grand Final as it happened". BBC Sport. 5 October 2003. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  9. ^ Masters, Roy (6 October 2003). "Once upon a time ..." The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ "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.
  13. ^ Gould, Phil (6 October 2003). "And they're only going to get better". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  14. ^ Mascord, Steve (6 October 2003). "Panthers climb their mountain". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  15. ^ Mascord, Steve (6 October 2003). "Fairytale win for Panthers". The Age. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  16. ^ Massoud, Josh (2 September 2010). "St George Illawarra hooker Luke Priddis to retire at end of season". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  17. ^ AAP (6 October 2003). "Penrith fans celebrate all night". The Age. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  18. ^ Evans, Chris (7 October 2003). "Rugby League rates in AFL state". The Age. The Age Company. Retrieved 21 August 2014.

External links

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