1984 NSWRL season

1984 NSWRL season
Teams 13
Premiers Canterbury-Bankstown (4th title)
Minor premiers Canterbury-Bankstown (4th title)
Matches played 163
Points scored 5226 (total)
32.061 (per match)
Attendance 1,379,655 (total)
8,464 (per match)
Top try scorer(s) Steve Morris (17)
Terry Lamb (17)

The 1984 New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the seventy-seventh season of professional rugby league football in Australia. With the departure of the Newtown Jets from the first grade competition at the close of the previous season, 1984 saw thirteen teams compete for the J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Canterbury-Bankstown and Parramatta clubs. NSWRL teams also competed for the 1984 National Panasonic Cup.

Contents

Season summary

The New South Wales Rugby Football League dropped the "football" from its name this year. Twenty-six regular season rounds were played from March till August, resulting in a top five of Canterbury, St. George, Parramatta, Manly and Souths who battled it out in the finals.

The 1984 season's Rothmans Medallist was Canterbury-Bankstown's five-eighth, Terry Lamb, who was also the season's top try-scorer. The Dally M Award was given to Canterbury's fullback, Michael Potter, while Rugby League Week gave their player of the year award to Parramatta's halfback, Peter Sterling.

Teams

At the close of the previous season Newtown became the first club since University in 1937 to exit the League, reducing the number of clubs this season from fourteen to thirteen. This included five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, one from greater New South Wales and one from the Australian Capital Territory.

Balmain Tigers
77th season
Ground: Leichhardt Oval
Coach: Frank Stanton
Captain: Wayne Pearce
Canberra Raiders
3rd season
Ground: Seiffert Oval
Coach: Don Furner
Captain: Ron Giteau
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
50th season
Ground: Belmore Oval
Coach: Warren Ryan
Captain: Steve Mortimer
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
18th season
Ground: Ronson Field
Coach: Terry Fearnley
Captain: David Hatch
Eastern Suburbs Roosters
77th season
Ground: Sydney Sports Ground
Coach: Laurie Freier
Captain: Ron Gibbs
Illawarra Steelers
3rd season
Ground: Wollongong Showground
Coach: Brian Smith
Captain:
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
38th season
Ground: Brookvale Oval
Coach: Bob Fulton
Captain: Glen Ryan
North Sydney Bears
77th season
Ground: North Sydney Oval
Coach: Greg Hawick→Brian Norton
Captain: →Fred Teasdell→Mark Graham
Parramatta Eels
38th season
Ground: Belmore Oval
Coach: John Monie
Captain: Ray Price
Penrith Panthers
18th season
Ground: Penrith Park
Coach: Tim Sheens
Captain: Royce Simmons
South Sydney Rabbitohs
77th season
Ground: Redfern Oval
Coach: Ron Willey
Captain:
St. George Dragons
64th season
Ground: Kogarah Oval
Coach: Roy Masters
Captain: Craig Young
Western Suburbs Magpies
77th season
Ground: Lidcombe Oval
Coach: Ken Gentle
Captain: Lee Crooks

Ladder

Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 Canterbury-Bankstown 24 19 0 5 2 435 237 +198 42
2 St. George 24 17 0 7 2 445 289 +156 38
3 Parramatta 24 17 0 7 2 412 260 +152 38
4 Manly-Warringah 24 14 0 10 2 512 338 +174 32
5 South Sydney 24 13 0 11 2 333 307 +26 30
6 Canberra 24 13 0 11 2 379 394 -15 30
7 Penrith 24 12 1 11 2 409 401 +8 29
8 Illawarra 24 12 0 12 2 368 388 -20 28
9 Balmain 24 12 0 12 2 380 405 -25 28
10 Cronulla-Sutherland 24 10 1 13 2 446 478 -32 25
11 North Sydney 24 9 1 14 2 371 447 -76 23
12 Eastern Suburbs 24 5 1 18 2 308 478 -170 15
13 Western Suburbs 24 1 0 23 2 244 620 -376 6

Finals

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Crowd
Playoff
South Sydney 23-4 Canberra 28 August 1984 Sydney Cricket Ground Greg McCallum 10,101
Qualifying Finals
Manly-Warringah 18-22 South Sydney 1 September 1984 Sydney Cricket Ground Chris Ward 15,801
St. George 16-22 Parramatta 2 September 1984 Sydney Cricket Ground Kevin Roberts 25,675
Semi Finals
St. George 24-6 South Sydney 8 September 1984 Sydney Cricket Ground B. Barnes 32,162
Canterbury-Bankstown 16-8 Parramatta 9 September 1984 Sydney Cricket Ground Greg McCallum 30,044
Preliminary Final
Parramatta 8-7 St. George 16 September 1984 Sydney Cricket Ground Kevin Roberts 37,004
Grand Final
Canterbury-Bankstown 6-4 Parramatta 23 September 1984 Sydney Cricket Ground Kevin Roberts 47,076

Grand Final

Canterbury-Bankstown Position Parramatta
Mick Potter FB Paul Taylor
Steve O'Brien WG Neil Hunt
Andrew Farrar CE Mick Cronin
Chris Mortimer CE Steve Ella
Peter Mortimer WG Eric Grothe
Terry Lamb FE Brett Kenny
Steve Mortimer (c) HB Peter Sterling
Paul Langmack PR Ray Price
Steve Folkes HK John Muggleton
Brian Battese PR Chris Phelan
Peter Kelly SR Paul Mares
Mark Bugden SR Steve Edge (c)
Peter Tunks LK Stan Jurd
Geoff Robinson Reserve David Liddiard
Darryl Brohman Reserve Steve Sharp
Greg Mullane Reserve Ron Quinn
Reserve Glen Mansfield
Warren Ryan Coach John Monie

The ruthless game plan of coach Warren Ryan saw Canterbury trump Parramatta in a guelling encounter. The Bulldogs mastered the art of the "gang-tackle" under Ryan and it was executed superbly by Peter Tunks, Peter Kelly, Mark Bugden and Brian Battese. Parramatta had a 4-0 half-time lead after Mick Cronin scored from a neat Peter Sterling pass.

An ingenious moment from Canterbury hooker Bugden won the day - seeing an injured Ray Price on the ground, he ran from dummy-half at the place where Price would have been defending to crash over and score the winning try.

Cronin later missed a close range penalty goal attempt which would have levelled the scores close to fulltime.

Canterbury-Bankstown 6
Tries: Bugden
Goals: Chris Mortimer

Parramatta 4
Tries: Cronin

References