National Rugby League season 2001
| 2001 National Rugby League | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 14 |
| Premiers |
 Newcastle (2nd title) |
| Minor premiers |
 Parramatta (4th title) |
| Matches played | 191 |
| Points scored | 9,333 |
| Attendance | 2,682,210 |
| Top points scorer(s) |
Andrew Johns (279) Ben Walker (279) |
| Player of the year |
 Preston Campbell (Dally M Medal) |
| Top try-scorer(s) |
 Nathan Blacklock (27) |
The 2001 NRL season was the 94th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fourth run by the National Rugby League. Also called the 2001 Telstra Premiership (due to sponsorship from Telstra Corporation) it was contested by thirteen Australian-based clubs plus one New Zealand-based club. The Newcastle Knights claimed their second premiership in five seasons, defeating minor premiers Parramatta Eels in the NRL's first ever night-time grand final.
Early in the season NRL matches involving the Bulldogs were marred by off-field violence from the club's supporters.
The Parramatta Eels looked set to break their fifteen-year premiership drought as they compiled one of the most dominant season records in rugby league history, losing just four of their 26 regular season games with the League's best attack and defensive record. In 2001 they established the standing record for most points by a club in a season with 943, blitzing the Brisbane Broncos' previous record tally of 871 set in 1998. The Eels tally was significantly contributed to by Jason Taylor, who that year surpassed Daryl Halligan's mark of 2,034 to become the greatest point-scorer in the history of club competition in Australia.
The Warriors made the finals for the first time in their seven-year history under rookie coach Daniel Anderson, but were hammered 56-12 by the aforementioned minor premiers.
After Warren Ryan retired in 2000, the Newcastle Knights appointed former player Michael Hagan to the coaching position. Hagan proceeded to become the first coach since Phil Gould in 1988 to win a premiership in his first season as coach. Ricky Stuart would follow suit with the Roosters the following season. Tim Sheens was sacked as the coach of the North Queensland Cowboys during the season and was replaced by Murray Hurst. Mal Meninga resigned as Canberra coach following the club's disappointing season and in turn was replaced by Matthew Elliott.
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