2000 NRL Grand Final

Result

Attendance: 94,277

NRL 2000 — full season ladder & finals series

Qualified for the finals series — top 8 (McIntyre final eight system) that season.

Finals series

Qualifying Final

Semi-Final

Preliminary Final

Grand Final

Permalink to this season's ladder page →

Match officials

Scorers

Teams

Clive Churchill Medal

Darren Lockyer (Brisbane Broncos).

Match context

With the 2000 Sydney Olympics looming, the NRL season and its finals series were compressed and the Grand Final brought forward to late August rather than its usual late-September slot, though it remained at Stadium Australia in front of 94,277 fans, at the time one of the largest crowds ever to watch a rugby league match in Australia. This was also the first season in which South Sydney, one of the code's foundation clubs, was excluded from the competition after the NRL's controversial reduction from 17 to 14 teams, a decision that sparked outrage and legal action from Rabbitohs supporters even as the finals proceeded without them. Brisbane, minor premiers who had led the table since round four, went in as strong favourites against a Sydney Roosters side appearing in its first Grand Final in twenty years and considered rank underdogs. The Broncos should arguably have led earlier when Shannon Hegarty appeared to score inside the opening three minutes only for scrambling Roosters defence to prevent the try, but Brisbane's control told nonetheless: Michael De Vere's 12th-minute penalty goal opened the scoring, before a Lote Tuqiri try, converted by De Vere, made it 8-0, and a second De Vere penalty stretched the margin to 10-0 by the 27th minute. Sydney's only first-half points came from a Luke Phillips penalty goal, leaving Brisbane 10-2 ahead at the break. The Roosters' hopes were further dented in the opening minute of the second half when Ben Ikin was penalised for a high tackle, though the resulting penalty attempt was missed. Wendell Sailor's unconverted try in the 56th minute put the result beyond reasonable doubt at 14-2, and although Craig Fitzgibbon scored a late consolation try in the 71st minute, with the conversion attempt cruelly cannoning off the crossbar, Brisbane closed out a comfortable 14-6 victory. Fullback Darren Lockyer was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for his composed, try-creating display. The win delivered Brisbane's fifth premiership and reaffirmed the club's status as the dominant force of the sport's post-Super League era, even as the competition's integrity was clouded by the ongoing Rabbitohs exclusion controversy playing out in the background.

Sources

• Wikipedia - 2000 NRL Grand Final
• Rugby League Project - 2000 NRL Grand Final Summary