Amco Cup

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The Amco Cup (also known by various other sponsors' names including the Tooth Cup, KB Cup, National Panasonic Cup and Panasonic Cup) was a mid-week rugby league competition in Australia between 1974 and 1989. The format was usually a straight knock-out, but various group formats were used between 1979 and 1982.

1 History
2 Teams
3 Winners, Runners-Up and # Teams
4 Cup and Premiership in the Same Season
5 Competition Names & Sponsors

[edit] History

The competition was essentially a "made for TV" event, featuring 4 x 20-minute quarters and a penalty countback rule in the event of a draw. Matches were played under floodlights (usually) on a Wednesday evening at venues including Lang Park in Brisbane, Parramatta Stadium and Leichhardt Oval in Sydney and various NSW country centres. The competition was scrapped after the increasingly professional clubs resented the additional burdens on their players caused by the mid-week games. In 1990 it was replaced by a preseason challenge cup played for only by the NSWRL teams.

[edit] Teams

The number and composition of teams has varied considerably over the course of the competition.

Region/Competition	Years	Teams
NSWRL Club Teams	1974-1989	Balmain Tigers, Brisbane Broncos (from 1988), Canberra Raiders (from 1982) Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs, Cronulla Sutherland Sharks, Eastern Suburbs Roosters, Gold Coast Giants (from 1988), Illawarra Steelers (from 1982), Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, Newcastle Knights (from 1988), Newtown Jets (to 1983), North Sydney Bears, Parramatta Eels, Penrith Panthers, St George Dragons, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Western Suburbs Magpies.
NSW Country Divisional Teams	1974- 1978	Illawarra, Monaro, Newcastle (from 1975), North Coast, Northern Division, Riverina, Southern Division, Western Division
NSW Second Division Premiers	1974- 1977	Ryde-Eastwood
BRL Club Teams	1975-1978	Brothers Leprechauns, Eastern Suburbs Tigers (from 1976), Northern Suburbs Devils, Redcliffe Dolphins (from 1976), Southern Suburbs Magpies, Valleys Diehards, Western Suburbs Panthers (from 1976), Wynnum Manly Seagulls (from 1977)
New Zealand Provincial Team/s	1974-1985	Auckland (1974-1980, 1984-1985), Canterbury (1976-1977), Central Districts (1981, 1983), South Island (1982), Wellington (1978)
Australian Regional Representative Teams	1979-1989	Combined Brisbane, NSW Country, Queensland Country (to 1984)
Australian State Teams	1977-1978, 1986-1987	Northern Territory (not 1986), South Australia (1987 only), Victoria (1987 only), Western Australia
Queensland Country Regional Teams	1975-1978	Central Queensland (from 1977), Gold Coast (1978), Ipswich, North Queensland (from 1976), Toowoomba, Wide Bay (from 1976)
Papua New Guinea team	1986-1989	Port Moresby

[edit] Winners, Runners-Up and # Teams

Multiple Winners
- 3 wins: Balmain
- 2 wins: Sydney Easts, Manly, Parramatta

Year	Winners	Score	Runners-Up	Score	# Teams
1974	Western Division	6	Penrith	2	21
1975	Sydney Easts	17	Parramatta	7	28
1976	Balmain	21	North Sydney	7	35
1977	Sydney Wests	6	Sydney Easts	5	38
1978	Sydney Easts	16	St George	4	38
1979	Cronulla Sutherland	22	Combined Brisbane	5	16
1980	Parramatta	8	Balmain	5	16
1981	South Sydney	10	Cronulla Sutherland	2	16
1982	Manly	23	Newtown	8	18
1983	Manly	26	Cronulla Sutherland	6	18
1984	Combined Brisbane	12	Sydney Easts	11	17
1985	Balmain	14	Cronulla Sutherland	12	16
1986	Parramatta	32	Balmain	16	17
1987	Balmain	14	Penrith	12	20
1988	St George	16	Balmain	8	19
1989	Brisbane Broncos	22	Illawarra Steelers	20	19