[1] The season began in early February to accommodate the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games which were to be held during September and required the use of Stadium Australia, the grand final venue.

The capacity of Stadium Australia for the grand final was limited due to preparations for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, which would take place just nineteen days later.

Melbourne Storm players Stephen Kearney and Marcus Bai ended the career of Wests Tigers captain Jarrod McCracken with a spear tackle.

For the first time since farewelling Tina Turner in 1995 the NRL used a major recording star in its promotional campaign and accessed a media budget that saw the launch ad shown regularly throughout the season.

Sydney advertising agency VCD in the last of their four-year tenure on the NRL account shot an ad with Tom Jones performing on stage alongside hi-kicking female dancers,[2] the 1993 Salt-N-Pepa hit Whatta Man with lyrics re-worked as "What A Game".