 Played in the second half of the season to allow Super 12 players to compete, the Premier Rugby competition spanned nine rounds that were then followed by a finals series for the Hospitals Cup.For the first half of the season the clubs played for the Welsby Cup, which was won by Sunnybank in 2002.Laurie Fisher stepped up from the assistant coaching role the previous season to become the Vikings' head coach, and his team took out the double in the 2002 Premier Rugby competition.