2003 NRL season

The lineup of fifteen teams for the 2003 premiership remained unchanged from the previous season, except that the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles rejoined the competition since their merger with North Sydney Bears in 1999, taking the place of the failed Northern Eagles. This ended North Sydney's representation in the League.

Brisbane Broncos 16th season Ground: Suncorp Stadium Coach: Wayne Bennett Captain: Gorden Tallis			Bulldogs 69th season Ground: Sydney Showground & Telstra Stadium Coach: Steve Folkes Captain: Steve Price			Canberra Raiders 22nd season Ground: Canberra Stadium Coach: Matthew Elliott Captain: Simon Woolford			Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 37th season Ground: Toyota Stadium Coach: Chris Anderson Captain: Brett Kimmorley
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 54th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Peter Sharp Captain: Steve Menzies			Melbourne Storm 6th season Ground Olympic Park Stadium Coach: Craig Bellamy Captain: Stephen Kearney			Newcastle Knights 16th season Ground: EnergyAustralia Stadium Coach: Michael Hagan Captain: Andrew Johns			New Zealand Warriors 9th season Ground: Ericsson Stadium Coach: Daniel Anderson Captain: Stacey Jones
North Queensland Cowboys 9th season Ground: Dairy Farmers Stadium Coach: Graham Murray Captain: Paul Bowman			Parramatta Eels 57th season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Brian Smith Captain: Nathan Cayless			Penrith Panthers 37th season Ground: CUA Stadium Coach: John Lang Captain: Craig Gower			South Sydney Rabbitohs 94th season Ground: Aussie Stadium Coach: Paul Langmack Captain: Bryan Fletcher
Sydney Roosters 96th season Ground: Aussie Stadium Coach: Ricky Stuart Captain: Brad Fittler				St. George Illawarra Dragons 5th season Ground: Kogarah Oval & WIN Stadium Coach: Nathan Brown Captain: Trent Barrett				Wests Tigers 4th season Ground: Campbelltown Stadium & Leichhardt Oval Coach: Tim Sheens Captain: Darren Senter

• Anthony Minichiello ran 4,571 metres with the ball in 2003, more than any other player in the competition.[5]
• Nathan Brown became the youngest non-playing coach in premiership history at the age of 29.[6] Brown had retired from playing in 2001 after a neck injury in a trial game.
• Referee Bill Harrigan's tenth grand final in 2003, the final match of his career, stands as the record for the most grand finals officiated by a referee.
• On 23 August the Parramatta Eels beat the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 74–4, at the time the third highest winning margin for a club game in Australian rugby league history.
• Also on 23 August, the North Queensland Cowboys beat the South Sydney Rabbitohs 60–8, the biggest win and most points in a match in Cowboys history.
• The Brisbane Broncos set a record for their longest losing streak, from round 20 to the 4th qualifying final.
• The Penrith Panthers became the first team to win the minor premiership and hold bottom spot on the ladder in the same season.
• The Penrith Panthers won 8 matches in a row from 19 April - 7 June, most wins in a row in the club's history.
• The Bulldogs equalled their worst defeat with a 50–4 loss to the Melbourne Storm in round 22.
• The Brisbane Broncos suffered their worst ever defeat at Suncorp Stadium, losing to the Bulldogs 40–4 in round 18. This was later eclipsed by a 56–18 loss to the New Zealand Warriors in Round 12 of season 2013. They also only recorded one victory at the Stadium in season 2003, which came two weeks earlier with a 10–8 win over the Sydney Roosters (who, at that time had not won at Suncorp since 1991, however this drought ended in 2005).

In 2003 the NRL sacked their advertising agency of the previous two years, Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney, and took the unusual step of coming up with their own in-house creative concept. Former Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks player and then current Parramatta Eels assistant coach Alan Wilson hit upon the idea of using the Hoodoo Gurus' 1987 hit "What's My Scene?" with reworked lyrics as "That's My Team".

"and another thing, I'm discovering lately, I'm a bit crazy, for my rugby league team "

Wilson is a friend of Hoodoo Gurus singer Dave Faulkner and made the necessary arrangements which included re-uniting the band to re-record the track. Faulkner is a long-time supporter of the Sharks and the original film clip of "What's My Scene?" had included shots of band members in Wests and Cronulla-Sutherland jumpers.

The ad focuses on the grass roots supporters at all levels of the game and in its finished version includes shots of fans from the Cessnock Goannas, a proud Bulldogs supporter and a Penrith teenager with a broken leg signed by her heroes. These images are included with the usual fare of pre-season team training images, big-hits, clever passes and post-try celebrations.[7]

To produce the ad the League returned to the agency who created and produced the Tina Turner campaigns from 1989 to 1995 - Hertz Walpole Advertising by now renamed MJW Hakuhodo.

• Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.
• Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
• Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round
• Underlined numbers indicate that the team had a bye during that round.

	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
1	Penrith	0	0	2	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	20	22	24	26	28	30	30	30	32	34	36	38	40
2	Sydney	2	4	4	6	8	10	10	12	12	14	16	18	18	20	20	20	22	24	26	28	30	32	34	36	36	38
3	Bulldogs	2	4	4	6	6	6	6	8	10	12	12	12	14	16	18	18	20	22	24	26	28	30	32	34	34	36
4	Canberra	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	16	16	18	20	22	22	22	24	24	26	28	30	30	32	32	34	36	36
5	Melbourne	2	4	6	6	8	8	8	10	12	12	14	14	14	16	16	18	20	22	22	24	26	26	28	30	32	34
6	New Zealand	0	2	4	6	8	10	10	10	12	14	14	14	16	16	18	20	20	22	24	26	26	28	28	30	32	34
7	Newcastle	2	2	2	4	6	8	10	10	12	12	12	14	16	18	18	20	20	22	22	22	24	26	28	28	30	32
8	Brisbane	2	4	6	8	8	8	10	12	14	16	18	18	20	22	24	26	26	26	28	28	28	28	28	28	28	28
9	Parramatta	0	0	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	6	8	10	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	22	24	26	26
10	St. George Illawarra	0	2	2	4	4	6	8	10	10	10	12	12	14	14	16	18	20	20	22	22	24	24	24	24	24	26
11	North Queensland	0	2	4	4	4	4	6	8	8	10	12	14	14	14	14	14	16	16	16	16	18	18	20	22	24	24
12	Cronulla-Sutherland	0	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	6	8	10	10	10	12	12	14	14	14	14	14	16	16	18	18	20	20
13	Wests	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	8	8	8	10	10	12	14	14	16	16	16	18	18	18	18
14	Manly-Warringah	2	2	2	2	4	6	8	8	8	10	10	12	14	14	16	16	16	16	16	18	18	18	18	18	18	18
15	South Sydney	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	8	8	8	8	10