| 1981 NSWRFL season | |
| Teams | 12 |
| Premiers | Parramatta (1st title) |
| Minor premiers | Eastern Suburbs (16th title) |
| Matches played | 138 |
| Points scored | 4160 (total) 30.145 (per match) |
| Attendance | 1,312,977 (total) 9,514 (per match) |
| Top point scorer(s) | Steve Rogers (194) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Terry Fahey (16) |
The 1981 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the seventy-fourth season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve clubs, including six of 1908's foundation teams and another six from around Sydney competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Parramatta and Newtown clubs. NSWRFL teams also competed for the 1981 Tooth Cup.
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In 1981 the "sin-bin" was introduced to rugby league in Australia, enabling referees to send players from the field for five or ten minute periods for minor or deliberate technical offences.[1] Newtown Jets hooker Barry Jensen became the first player to be sent from the field in this manner.
Twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March until August, resulting in a top five of Easts, Newtown, Parramatta, Cronulla and Manly who battled it out in the finals.
Eastern Suburbs' halfback Kevin Hastings won the 1981 season's Rothmans Medal as well as Rugby League Week's Player of the Year award. The Dally M Award went to Cronulla-Sutherland centre, Steve Rogers.
This was to be the final year that the NSWRFL premiership was an all-Sydney competition, with the introduction of teams from Canberra and Illawarra in 1982 starting a new era of expansion which would see the League transform into a national, then international competition.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eastern Suburbs | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 385 | 225 | +160 | 32 |
| 2 | Newtown | 22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 326 | 268 | +58 | 30 |
| 3 | Parramatta | 22 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 398 | 246 | +152 | 29 |
| 4 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 22 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 339 | 337 | +2 | 27 |
| 5 | Manly-Warringah | 22 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 350 | 317 | +33 | 26 |
| 6 | Western Suburbs | 22 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 311 | 352 | -41 | 23 |
| 7 | North Sydney | 22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 322 | 355 | -33 | 18 |
| 8 | St. George | 22 | 8 | 1 | 13 | 320 | 399 | -79 | 17 |
| 9 | South Sydney | 22 | 8 | 1 | 13 | 322 | 423 | -101 | 17 |
| 10 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 340 | 344 | -4 | 16 |
| 11 | Penrith | 22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 305 | 350 | -45 | 16 |
| 12 | Balmain | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 293 | 395 | -102 | 13 |
The elimination semi-final between Newtown and Manly-Warringah will always be remembered for the notorious all-in brawl, with the main combatants Newtown's Steve Bowden and Manly hardman Mark Broadhurst. Bowden was marched for the incident and was unable to take part in the Preliminary Final against Eastern Suburbs or the Grand Final against Parramatta.
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Qualifying Finals | ||||||||
| Newtown | 8-10 | Parramatta | 5 September 1981 | Sydney Cricket Ground | John Gocher | 17,265 | ||
| Cronulla-Sutherland | 11-14 | Manly-Warringah | 6 September 1981 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Greg Hartley | 21,635 | ||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
| Eastern Suburbs | 8-12 | Parramatta | 12 September 1981 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Greg Hartley | 27,600 | ||
| Newtown | 20-15 | Manly-Warringah | 13 September 1981 | Sydney Cricket Ground | John Gocher | 22,440 | ||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Eastern Suburbs | 5-15 | Newtown | 19 September 1981 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Greg Hartley | 25,243 | ||
| Newtown | Position | Parramatta |
|---|---|---|
| Phil Sigsworth | FB | Steve McKenzie |
| John Ferguson | WG | Graeme Atkins |
| Mick Ryan | CE | Mick Cronin |
| Brian Hetherington | CE | Steve Ella |
| Ray Blacklock | WG | Eric Grothe |
| Paul Morris | FE | Brett Kenny |
| Tommy Raudonikis (c) | HB | Peter Sterling |
| Steve Blythe | PR | Ron Hilditch |
| Barry Jensen | HK | Steve Edge (c) |
| Craig Ellis | PR | Bob O'Reilly |
| Michael Pitman | SR | John Muggleton |
| Phil Gould | SR | Kevin Stevens |
| Graeme O'Grady | LK | Ray Price |
| Geoff Bugden | Reserve | Steve Sharp |
| Jim Walters | Reserve | Paul Taylor |
| Ken Wilson | Reserve | |
| Shane McKellar | Reserve | |
| Warren Ryan | Coach | Jack Gibson |
Newtown had reached their first grand final in twenty-six years. Parramatta lead 7-6 at half-time, but the Jets looked set to spring a major upset when tough half back Tommy Raudonikis crashed over to score early in the second-half. Then the Eels' brilliant backline exploded into action. The combination of Brett Kenny, Mick Cronin, Peter Sterling, Eric Grothe and Steve Ella dominated and would go on to feature in five grand finals and four premierships by the end of 1986.
Steve Edge became the first player to ever captain two different sides to premiership victory having captained the St George Dragons to a win over Parramatta in season 1977.
Master coach Jack Gibson had just six words for a packed Parramatta Leagues Club auditorium, who had just witnessed the Eels' first ever premiership since their 1947 entry to the competition. "Ding, dong, the witch is dead," he said before the thunderous chants of the success-starved blue and gold army of fans.
Parramatta 20 (Tries: Kenny 2, Atkins, Ella. Goals: Cronin 4.)
Newtown 11 (Tries: Hetherington, Raudonikis, O'Grady. Goal: Morris.)
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