2001 Parramatta Eels season

The 2001 Parramatta Eels season was the 55th in the club's history. Coached by Brian Smith and captained by Nathan Cayless, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2001 Telstra Premiership, reaching the 2001 NRL Grand final.

2001 Parramatta Eels season
NRL Rank1st
Play-off resultRunners-up (Lost 24–30 vs Newcastle Knights, Grand Final)
World Club ChallengeDNQ
2001 recordWins: 20; draws: 2; losses: 4
Points scoredFor: 839; against: 406
Team information
CEODenis Fitzgerald
CoachAustralia Brian Smith
Captain
StadiumParramatta Stadium (Capacity: 20,741)
High attendance34,184 (23 September vs Brisbane Broncos, 2nd Preliminary Final)
Top scorers
TriesAustralia Brett Hodgson (21)
GoalsAustralia Jason Taylor (116)
PointsAustralia Jason Taylor (265)
< 2000 List of seasons 2002 >

Summary

In 2001, Parramatta set a regular-season points scoring record in the premiership by scoring 839 points in 26 matches on their way to claiming the minor premiership. In their fifth consecutive Finals Series, Parramatta dominated the series, starting with a 56–12 victory over the New Zealand Warriors at Parramatta Stadium in front of 17,336. After getting a week off, Parramatta defeated the Brisbane Broncos at Stadium Australia, 24–16 in the rematch of the 2000 preliminary final.

Parramatta went into the decider as hot favourites after losing just once in 22 matches. Despite this the team was defeated in their first grand final appearance in fifteen years. They lost 30–24 against the Newcastle Knights, trailing 24–0 at half-time.[1]

Parramatta set a number of point scoring records throughout the season which as of 2023 are yet to be broken which include, most points in a regular season (839). They also set the record for most tries (159) and most points (943) in a full premiership season. The 2001 Parramatta side also held the records for most tries in a regular season and highest points differential of any side in a regular season, however both of these records were broken by Melbourne in the 2021 NRL season.[2][3]

Standings
2001 NRL season
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Parramatta Eels 262024839406+43342
2 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 261736617568+4937
3 Newcastle Knights (P) 261619782639+14333
4 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 261529594513+8132
5 Brisbane Broncos 2614111696511+18529
6 Sydney Roosters 2613112647589+5827
7 St. George Illawarra Dragons 2612212661573+8826
8 New Zealand Warriors 2612212638629+926
9 Melbourne Storm 2611114704725-2123
10 Northern Eagles 2611114603750-14723
11 Canberra Raiders 269116600623-2319
12 Wests Tigers 269116474746-27219
13 North Queensland Cowboys 266218514771-25714
14 Penrith Panthers 267019521847-32614

Awards

References
  1. "Eels coach rues missed chances". British Broadcasting Corporation. 30 September 2001. Retrieved 21 April 2007.
  2. "Throwback 2001 NRL season". www.parraeels.com.au. 27 April 2017.
  3. "The premiers that never were: 2001 Parramatta Eels". www.nrl.com. 6 September 2022.
  4. "Honour Roll". parraeels.com.au. Parramatta Eels. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
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