# 2001 Bulldogs RLFC season

The 2001 Bulldogs RLFC season was the 67th in the club's history. Coached by Steve Folkes and captained by Darren Britt, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2001 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season 2nd. The team went on to the Semi-finals after losing the semi-final game 10-52 against the Cronulla Sharks at the Sydney Football Stadium.

## Squad movement
### Gains

| Player | Signed From | Until end of | Notes |
| Brett Howland | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 2003 | |
| Luke Patten | St George Illawarra Dragons | Until retirement (2010) | |
| Paul Rauhihi | Newcastle Knights | 2002 | |
| Darrell Trindall | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 2002 | |
| Nigel Vagana | New Zealand Warriors | 2003 | [5] [6] |

### Debuts

* Royce Simms

### Losses

| Player | Signed to | Until end of |
| Bradley Clyde | Leeds Rhinos | ? |
| Jason Hetherington | London Broncos | 2002 |
| Justin Murphy | New Zealand Warriors | 2004 |
| Troy Stone | Huddersfield Giants | 2001 |

### Left club/did not play in 2001

* Daryl Halligan
* Gavin Lester
* James Pickering
* Nathan Sologinkin
* Ricky Stuart

## Fixtures
### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Ladder Position |
| Sunday 18 February | 1 | Melbourne Storm | Colonial Stadium | 14-10 | Darren Smith, Willie Mason | Hazem El Masri (3) | 15,070 | 5th |
| Sunday 25 February | 2 | Canberra Raiders | Bruce Stadium | 28-18 | Brett Howland, Darren Britt, Shane Marteene, Brent Sherwin, Braith Anasta | Hazem El Masri (4) | 11,685 | 2nd |
| Sunday 4 March | 3 | Newcastle Knights | Sydney Showground | 28-28 | Hazem El Masri, Darren Smith, Luke Patten, Paul Rauhihi, Braith Anasta | Hazem El Masri (4) | 18,109 | 1st |
| Saturday 10 March | 4 | Northern Eagles | Sydney Showground | 38-18 | Hazem El Masri (3), Nigel Vagana (2), Darren Smith, Craig Polla-Mounter, Braith Anasta | Hazem El Masri (3) | 14,302 | 1st |
| Saturday 17 March | 5 | Penrith Panthers | Penrith Football Stadium | 32-20 | Corey Hughes, Darren Smith, Travis Norton, Brett Howland, Willie Mason | Hazem El Masri (6) | 16,010 | 1st |
| Sunday 25 March | 6 | Sydney Roosters | Sydney Football Stadium | 12-38 | Brett Howland, Nigel Vagana | Hazem El Masri (2) | 15,251 | 1st |
| Friday 30 March | 7 | Brisbane Broncos | Sydney Showground | 6-34 | Braith Anasta | Hazem El Masri | 16,642 | 4th |
| Saturday 7 April | 8 | New Zealand Warriors | Westpac Stadium, Wellington | 24-24 | Luke Patten (2), Hazem El Masri, Steve Reardon, Glen Hughes | Hazem El Masri (2) | 27,700 | 5th |
| Saturday 14 April | 9 | West Tigers | Campbelltown Stadium | 16-14 | Hazem El Masri (2), Travis Norton | Hazem El Masri (2) | 14,632 | 4th |
| Friday 20 April | 10 | Parramatta Eels | Parramatta Stadium | 20-20 | Jamie Feeney (2), Nigel Vagana | Hazem El Masri (4) | 20,220 | 4th |
| Saturday 28 April | 11 | North Queensland Cowboys | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 26-14 | Darrell Trindall (2), Nigel Vagana, Braith Anasta | Hazem El Masri (5) | 8,000 | 3rd |
| Friday 11 May | 12 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Toyota Park | 20-6 | Hazem El Masri, Luke Patten, Nigel Vagana, Shane Marteene | Hazem El Masri (2) | 11,218 | 3rd |
| Friday 20 April | 13 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Sydney Showground | 14-26 | Willie Talau, Luke Patten | Hazem El Masri (3) | 15,173 | 4th |
| Sunday 27 May | 14 | Melbourne Storm | Sydney Showground | 28-26 | Nigel Vagana (3), Hazem El Masri (2) | Hazem El Masri (4) | 8,234 | 4th |
| Saturday 2 June | 15 | Canberra Raiders | Sydney Showground | 0-32 | | | 8,155 | 5th |
| Sunday 17 June | 16 | Newcastle Knights | Marathon Stadium | 46-18 | Hazem El Masri (3), Jamie Feeney (2), Braith Anasta (2), Willie Talau | Hazem El Masri (7) | 16,645 | 5th |
| Sunday 24 June | 17 | Northern Eagles | NorthPower Stadium | 32-30 | Craig Polla-Mounter (2), Hazem El Masri, Darren Smith, Brent Sherwin | Hazem El Masri (6) | 13,222 | 3rd |
| Sunday 8 July | 18 | Penrith Panthers | Sydney Showground | 40-14 | Braith Anasta (2), Hazem El Masri, Dennis Scott, Luke Patten, Nigel Vagana, Darrell Trindall | Hazem El Masri (6) | 8,217 | 3rd |
| Sunday 15 July | 19 | Sydney Roosters | Sydney Showground | 34-18 | Hazem El Masri, Willie Talau, Shane Marteene, Willie Mason, Braith Anasta, Darrell Trindall | Hazem El Masri (5) | 13,303 | 3rd |
| Sunday 22 July | 20 | Brisbane Broncos | ANZ Stadium | 37-30 | Willie Talau, Steven Price, Darren Smith, Steve Reardon, Nigel Vagana, Braith Anasta | Hazem El Masri (6), Braith Anasta (FG) | 25,830 | 2nd |
| Sunday 28 July | 21 | New Zealand Warriors | Ericsson Stadium | 8-34 | Nigel Vagana, Shane Marteene | | 10,391 | 3rd |
| Saturday 4 August | 22 | West Tigers | Sydney Showground | 28-14 | Luke Patten (2), Steven Price, Glenn Hughes, Shane Marteene | Hazem El Masri (4) | 15,153 | 2nd |
| Friday 10 August | 23 | Parramatta Eels | Sydney Showground | 16-24 | Nigel Vagana, Shane Marteene, Braith Anasta | Hazem El Masri (2) | 21,895 | 2nd |
| Saturday 18 August | 24 | North Queensland Cowboys | Sydney Showground | 30-22 | Hazem El Masri (2), Willie Talau, Steve Reardon, Jamie Feeney, Glen Hughes | Hazem El Masri (2), Braith Anasta (1) | 6,715 | 2nd |
| Friday 24 August | 25 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Sydney Showground | 16-14 | Willie Talau, Craig Polla-Mounter | Hazem El Masri (4) | 14,871 | 2nd |
| Friday 31 August | 26 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Sydney Football Stadium | 24-22 | Nigel Vagana (3), Rod Silva | Hazem El Masri (4) | 20,123 | 2nd |

#### Finals season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Score | Tries | Goals | Attendance | Ladder Position |
| Saturday 8 September | Qualif Final | St George Illawarra Dragons | Sydney Showground | 22-23 | Hazem El Masri, Glen Hughes, Braith Anasta | Hazem El Masri (5) | 17,975 | - |
| Sunday 16 September | Semi-final | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | Sydney Football Stadium | 10-52 | Willie Talau, Steven Price | Hazem El Masri (1) | 19,259 | - |

## Player statistics

| Player | Age | App | Int | T | G | FG | Pts |
| Braith Anasta | 19 | 21 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 55 |
| Darren Britt | 31 | 22 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Hazem El Masri | 25 | 28 | - | 19 | 97 | - | 270 |
| Jamie Feeney | 23 | 13 | 15 | 6 | - | - | 24 |
| Brett Howland | 25 | 12 | - | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Corey Hughes | 23 | 14 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Glen Hughes | 28 | 8 | 6 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Steven Hughes | 27 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Shane Marteene | 24 | 18 | - | 5 | - | - | 20 |
| Willie Mason | 21 | 11 | 12 | 3 | - | - | - |
| Travis Norton | 25 | 8 | - | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Luke Patten | 21 | 28 | - | 8 | - | - | 32 |
| Adam Peek | 23 | - | 10 | - | - | - | - |
| Adam Perry | 22 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Shane Perry | 24 | - | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Craig Polla-Mounter | 29 | 23 | - | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Steven Price | 27 | 25 | 1 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| Paul Rauhihi | 28 | 6 | 11 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Steve Reardon | 30 | 17 | 4 | 3 | - | - | 8 |
| Dennis Scott | 25 | 4 | 13 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Brent Sherwin | 23 | 9 | 12 | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| Rod Silva | 33 | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Royce Simms | 23 | - | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Darren Smith | 32 | 23 | - | 6 | - | - | 24 |
| Troy Stone | 29 | - | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Willie Talau | 25 | 24 | 2 | 7 | - | - | 28 |
| David Thomson | 23 | - | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Darrell Trindall | 29 | 15 | 2 | 4 | - | - | 16 |
| Nigel Vagana | 26 | 26 | - | 16 | - | - | 64 |
| Barry Ward | 30 | 1 | 11 | - | - | - | - |
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