The 2000 National Rugby League season started with a new CEO in rugby union's
David Moffett who replaced
Neil Whittaker in late 1999. The season began in early February to accommodate the
Sydney 2000 Olympic Games which were to be held during September and required the use of
Stadium Australia, the grand final venue. The grand final was scheduled for late August, the first grand final in that month since
1963. The capacity of Stadium Australia for the grand final was limited due to preparations for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, which would take place just nineteen days later. Throughout the month of February, mandatory breaks in play at the 20th and 60th minute of the game were implemented to allow players to rehydrate themselves. Due to concerns over the summer heat, the
Brisbane and
North Queensland clubs played their first four games away from home. The Cowboys were stripped of two competition points after it was later revealed that they unwittingly used a fourteenth player for three minutes in their 26–18 win against the
Parramatta Eels, due to an error in interchanging players.
Melbourne Storm players
Stephen Kearney and
Marcus Bai ended the career of
Wests Tigers captain
Jarrod McCracken with a spear tackle. Kearney was suspended for 8 matches and Bai for 2 matches. The two men were also sued by McCraken, who won a six-figure damages bill. The
Canberra Raiders and the
Wests Tigers became the first teams to play a premiership game in the snow. It occurred at Bruce Stadium on 28 May and it is the only premiership game played in these conditions.
Teams The season saw the debut of the
Wests Tigers (formed by the merging of the
Balmain Tigers and
Western Suburbs Magpies) and
Northern Eagles (formed by the merging of the
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and
North Sydney Bears) in the National Rugby League. In addition, the
South Sydney Rabbitohs were excluded from the competition, thereby completing the NRL's rationalisation process from 20 teams in
1998 to 14 in 2000. For the 2000 season, the
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs changed their name again, this time to the geographically indistinct "Bulldogs" and the Auckland Warriors were re-branded the New Zealand Warriors at the end of the season.
Advertising For the first time since farewelling
Tina Turner in 1995 the NRL used a major recording star in its promotional campaign and accessed a media budget that saw the launch ad shown regularly throughout the season. Sydney advertising agency VCD in the last of their four-year tenure on the NRL account shot an ad with
Tom Jones performing on stage alongside hi-kicking female dancers, the 1993
Salt-N-Pepa hit
Whatta Man with lyrics re-worked as "What A Game".
Records and statistics •
Martin Lang ran 4,571 metres with the ball in 2000, more than any other player in the competition. •
Melbourne Storm club record for their biggest ever win and most points in a game : 70–10 over
St. George Illawarra Dragons in round 5. •
Melbourne Storm club record for their biggest ever loss : 50–4 loss to
St. George Illawarra Dragons in round 18. •
St. George Illawarra Dragons club record for their biggest ever win : 50–4 over
Melbourne Storm in round 18. •
North Queensland Cowboys scored their first ever 50 points in a game: 50–10 over
Northern Eagles in round 8.
Ladder ==Finals series==