2003 NRL Grand final
| 2003 NRL Grand Final | |||||||||||||
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| Date | 5 October 2003 | ||||||||||||
| Stadium | Telstra Stadium | ||||||||||||
| Location | Sydney, Australia | ||||||||||||
| Clive Churchill Medal | Luke Priddis, (PEN) | ||||||||||||
| National anthem | Troy Cassar-Daley | ||||||||||||
| Referees | Bill Harrigan | ||||||||||||
| Attendance | 81,166 | ||||||||||||
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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. 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.
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.
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.
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.
The Roosters were seen as favourites. Of all the Panthers players, only Luke Priddis had grand final experience, having defeated the Roosters with the 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.
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