The 2000 Parramatta Eels season was the 54th in the club's history. Coached by Brian Smith and captained by Nathan Cayless, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2000 Telstra Premiership.
| 2000 Parramatta Eels season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRL Rank | 7th | |||
| Play-off result | Preliminary Finalists (Lost 10–16 vs Brisbane Broncos, 2nd Preliminary Final) | |||
| World Club Challenge | DNQ | |||
| 2000 record | Wins: 14; draws: 1; losses: 11 | |||
| Points scored | For: 476; against: 456 | |||
| Team information | ||||
| CEO | Denis Fitzgerald | |||
| Coach |  Brian Smith | |||
| Captain | ||||
| Stadium | Parramatta Stadium (Capacity: 20,741) | |||
| Top scorers | ||||
| Tries | Jason Moodie (12) | |||
| Goals | Clinton Schifcofske (38) | |||
| Points | Clinton Schifcofske (104) | |||
| ||||
Summary edit
Parramatta finished an inconsistent 2000 season in seventh place. However, in the first week of the Finals series, Parramatta was involved in a big upset, defeating the second placed Sydney Roosters 32–8 at the Sydney Football Stadium. It must be noted though that there was only three points which separated the two clubs on the competition ladder.
The Parramatta side managed to repeat the result against local rivals Penrith the next week in a comfortable 28–10 win in front of 25,746 at the same venue, meaning that the club reached their third straight NRL Preliminary Final. Parramatta were looking to make it "Third Time Lucky" against the former NRL premiers, Brisbane Broncos, but it ended up to be "Third Time Unlucky" as the Broncos won the match 16–10. Parramatta were known throughout the 2000 season as the "Baby Eels" due to the club having only eight players in the entire squad who were over the age of 25.[1][2]
Standings edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Brisbane Broncos (P)
|
26 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 696 | 388 | +308 | 38 | |
| 2 |  Sydney Roosters
|
26 | 16 | 0 | 10 | 601 | 520 | +81 | 32 | |
| 3 |  Newcastle Knights
|
26 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 686 | 532 | +154 | 31 | |
| 4 |  Canberra Raiders
|
26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 506 | 479 | +27 | 30 | |
| 5 |  Penrith Panthers
|
26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 573 | 562 | +11 | 30 | |
| 6 |  Melbourne Storm
|
26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 672 | 529 | +143 | 29 | |
| 7 |  Parramatta Eels
|
26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 476 | 456 | +20 | 29 | |
| 8 |  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
|
26 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 570 | 463 | +107 | 26 | |
| 9 |  St George Illawarra Dragons
|
26 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 576 | 656 | -80 | 24 | |
| 10 |  Wests Tigers
|
26 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 519 | 642 | -123 | 24 | |
| 11 |  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
|
26 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 469 | 553 | -84 | 21 | |
| 12 |  Northern Eagles
|
26 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 476 | 628 | -152 | 18 | |
| 13 |  Auckland Warriors
|
26 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 426 | 662 | -236 | 18 | |
| 14 |  North Queensland Cowboys
|
26 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 436 | 612 | -176 | 121 | |
1 North Queensland were stripped of 2 competition points due to a breach of the interchange rule in Round 4.
Awards edit
- Michael Cronin clubman of the year award: Michael Vella[3]
- Ken Thornett Medal (Players' player): Nathan Hindmarsh
- Jack Gibson Award (Coach's award): Brett Hodgson
- Eric Grothe Rookie of the Year Award: Andrew Ryan
References edit
- ^ "Parramatta Eels 2000 NRL season". www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
- ^ "Hodgson see parallels with 'Baby Eels'". www.theage.com.au. August 2005.
- ^ "Honour Roll". parraeels.com.au. Parramatta Eels. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.