The 1992 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership season was the eighty-fifth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen teams competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield during the season which culminated in a grand final for the Winfield Cup between the Brisbane Broncos, making their grand final debut, and the St. George Dragons.1992 J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup at rleague.com
Season summary The 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand also took place during the season. Having decided in May that a team from Auckland would join the premiership in 1995, the NSWRL announced in November that three more new clubs – from Townsville, Perth and a second team from Brisbane – will also be invited.
Twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March till August, resulting in a top five of Brisbane, St. George, Illawarra, Newcastle and Wests, who battled it out in the finals. The 3rd-place finish for the Illawarra Steelers would be the best season they ever had in its time as a standalone club.
It's the first season played outside of Australia for premiership points in Auckland when Manly hosted Newcastle.
Tragedy struck the 1992 season, with Ben Alexander, being killed a car crash.
The 1992 season's Rothmans Medallist was the Brisbane Broncos' halfback and captain, Allan Langer. The Dally M Award went to Eastern Suburbs' halfback, Gary Freeman, while Western Suburbs forward Paul Langmack was named Rugby League Week's player of the year.
The 1992 season also saw the retirement from the League of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Wally Lewis.
The grand finals: Brisbane Broncos vs St George Dragons (Senior Grade) North Sydney Bears vs Balmain Tigers (Reserve Grade) Western Suburbs Magpies vs St George Dragons (Under-21s Grade)
The winners in all grades were:
Brisbane Broncos (Senior Grade) North Sydney Bears (Reserve Grade) Western Suburbs Magpies (Under-21s Grade)
The Test Match Series Australia vs Great Britain
The State of Origin Series Queensland vs New South Wales
Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the fourth consecutive season, with sixteen clubs contesting the 1992 premiership, including five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, two from regional New South Wales, two from Queensland, and one from Australian Capital Territory. Balmain Tigers 85th seasonGround: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Alan JonesCaptain: Steve RoachBrisbane Broncos 5th seasonGround: Lang Park Coach: Wayne BennettCaptain: Allan LangerCanberra Raiders 11th seasonGround: Bruce Stadium Coach: Tim SheensCaptain: Mal MeningaCanterbury Bulldogs 58th seasonGround: Belmore Oval Coach: Chris AndersonCaptain: Terry LambCronulla Sharks 26th seasonGround: Endeavour Park Coach: Arthur BeetsonCaptain: Dan StainsEast. Subs. Roosters 85th seasonGround: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Mark MurrayCaptain: Craig SalvatoriGold Coast Seagulls 5th seasonGround: Seagulls Stadium Captain: Wally Lewis Coach: Wally LewisIllawarra Steelers 11th seasonGround: Wollongong Stadium Coach: Graham MurrayCaptain: John CrossManly Sea Eagles 46th seasonGround: Brookvale Oval Coach: Graham LoweCaptain: Michael O'ConnorNewcastle Knights 5th seasonGround: Marathon Stadium Coach: David WaiteCaptain: Michael HaganNorth Sydney Bears 85th seasonGround: North Sydney Oval Coach: Steve MartinCaptain: Peter JacksonParramatta Eels 45th seasonGround: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Mick CroninCaptain: Peter Sterling → Brett KennyPenrith 26th seasonGround: Penrith Stadium Coach: Phil GouldCaptain: Greg Alexander → John CartwrightSouth Sydney 85th seasonGround: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Frank CurryCaptain: Michael AndrewsSt George Dragons 72nd seasonGround: Kogarah Oval Coach: Brian SmithCaptain: Michael BeattieWestern Suburbs Magpies 85th seasonGround: Campbelltown Stadium Coach: Warren RyanCaptain: Joe Thomas → Paul Langmack
Advertising Riding the consistent Australian popularity of "The Best" since its 1989 release, due partially to its use and association with the NSWRL, Tina Turner went into a Los Angeles recording studio in early 1992 with Jimmy Barnes to record a duet version specifically for Australian release. The production capitalised on the complementary vocal styles of Turner and Barnes and also features Barnes' brother-in-law Johnny Diesel on guitar.
A simple black-and-white film clip shot around the recording sessions was produced and the track was released and renamed "Simply the Best" to coincide with the 1992 NSWRL season. That year the track peaked at #13 on the Australian charts.
In 1992 and 1993 the League and its advertising agency Hertz Walpole would use the new duet performance of the song in the season launch ads. Excerpts from the black-and-white film clip start the 1992 ad with firstly Tina and then Barnes in wistful solo shots before coming together and displaying a camaraderie that's intended to capture the good times they appear to have had in recording the track. Diesel also appears in the black-and-white footage before the ad bursts into colour with the standard fare of big hits and previous season action.
Ladder TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 Brisbane (P)221804506311+195362 St. George221507401283+118303 Illawarra221318318259+59274 Newcastle221228363267+96265 Western Suburbs221219356327+29256 Eastern Suburbs2212010392319+73247 Canterbury2210210423417+6228 Manly2210210334335-1229 Penrith2211011274309-352210 Balmain2210111402398+42111 North Sydney2210111376381-52112 Canberra2210012435409+262013 Cronulla228014284395-1111614 South Sydney227015429533-1041415 Parramatta226115276491-2151316 Gold Coast226115288423-13511 Gold Coast Seagulls were docked 2 points due to exceeding the replacement limit in one game.Had this not occurred, Parramatta Eels would have won the wooden spoon due to an inferior for and against record.
Finals A great advertisement for the expansion of the game was the appearance of three non-Sydney teams in the final five - Brisbane, Illawarra and Newcastle - all of whom had only been admitted to the NSWRL within the previous decade. The "steel-city cousins", Illawarra and Newcastle, both won their first semi-finals from their initial attempt, Illawarra defeating St George, and Newcastle downing Wests.
An all non-Sydney decider was a real possibility, with Illawarra and St George meeting a second time in the preliminary final, with Brisbane waiting to play the winner in the grand final.
The Dragons played two of the lowest scoring matches in finals history as they beat Newcastle 3–2 in the semi-final, and Illawarra 4–0 in the preliminary final.
The preliminary final saw four disallowed tries, with Saints denied once in the first half and Illawarra three times in the second half. Illawarra looked as though they were going to finish on top and began opening up the St George defence after the half-time break, only to be denied twice by referee Greg McCallum for forward passes. A late attacking movement from the Steelers saw winger Alan McIndoe excitedly appeal for a try off a John Simon grubber kick, but was denied by the in-goal touch judge. St George held on to win 4-0 and ensure a Sydney club appeared in the grand final once again (with this Sydney representation in grand finals being maintained until the Brisbane-Melbourne decider of 2006).
HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd Qualifying Finals St. George Dragons16–18 Illawarra Steelers5 September 1992Sydney Football StadiumGraeme Annesley28,521 Newcastle Knights21–2 Western Suburbs Magpies6 September 1992Sydney Football StadiumGreg McCallum28,571 Semi-finals St. George Dragons3–2 Newcastle Knights12 September 1992Sydney Football StadiumGraeme Annesley38,772 Brisbane Broncos22–12 Illawarra Steelers13 September 1992Sydney Football StadiumGreg McCallum38,859 Preliminary final Illawarra Steelers0–4 St. George Dragons20 September 1992Sydney Football StadiumGreg McCallum38,928 Grand final Brisbane Broncos28-8 St. George Dragons27 September 1992Sydney Football StadiumGreg McCallum41,560
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Grand final
In just their fifth year in the competition, Brisbane finally put together the right combination to reach the grand final. Their big names in Allan Langer, twins Kevin and Kerrod Walters, Steve Renouf, Michael Hancock and Glenn Lazarus had been unstoppable all year and helped the club power their way straight through to the finals as minor premiers, losing just four games in the regular season, and easily winning their only semi-final. This meant the Broncos went into the grand final as runaway favourites.
The 1992 grand final was played on the afternoon of Sunday, 27 September at the Sydney Football Stadium before a crowd of 41,560. For the pre-match entertainment, Debbie Byrne sang I Still Call Australia Home in a duet with the late Peter Allen, thanks to video on the big screen. Yothu Yindi also performed, and Jodie Gillies sang the national anthem. Brisbane BroncosPositionSt. George Dragons Julian O'Neill FB Mick Potter 2. Michael Hancock WG 2. Ricky Walford 3. Steve Renouf CE 3. Mark Coyne 4. Chris Johns CE4. Michael Beattie (c) 5. Willie Carne WG 5. Ian Herron 6. Kevin Walters FE 6. Peter Coyne 7. Allan Langer (c) HB 7. Noel Goldthorpe 8. Glenn Lazarus PR 8. Tony Priddle 9. Kerrod Walters HK 9. Wayne Collins 10. Gavin Allen PR 10. Neil Tierney 11. Trevor Gillmeister SR 11. David Barnhill 12. Alan Cann SR 12. Scott Gourley 13. Terry Matterson LK 13. Jeff Hardy 15. Tony Currie Bench 14. Brad Mackay 20. John Plath Bench 15. Rex Terp 21. Andrew Gee Bench 19. Tony Smith 22. Mark Hohn Bench 21. Matt Elliott Wayne Bennett Coach Brian Smith Referee Greg McCallum blew time on and, early in the first half, St. George came very close to scoring first when Ricky Walford dived over in the corner, but had only just slipped into touch. Around the ten-minute mark, Brisbane were on the attack when, on the last tackle, Allan Langer cleverly stepped and passed inside to Gavin Allen who charged at the line. Allen drew the defence before flicking the ball back to the little half off the head of the Dragons fullback Mick Potter. Langer then nipped in to score untouched between the posts. Terry Matterson kicked the simplest of conversions to make it 6–0 in favour of the Broncos.
The Dragons hit back about five minutes later when Scott Gourley charged from just within his own half and produced a remarkable off-load for Michael Beattie in support, who then passed it out for Walford to race off and score in the right-hand corner. Ian Herron hooked the conversion attempt wide, so Brisbane remained in the lead at 6–4. Both sides then came close to scoring from kicks but no further points were posted before half-time.
In the second half, the Broncos ran away with the game. About ten minutes after the break, following a scrum win close to the Dragons’ try-line, Langer scurried through the defence from dummy-half and reached out to put the ball down. Matterson kicked the extras and Brisbane's lead was now 12–4. A few minutes later, they scored again when, from about thirty metres out, the Broncos again decided to run on the fifth tackle, the ball reaching Alan Cann who beat several defenders to ground the ball before celebrating the try by throwing it down, inadvertently into the forehead of an exhausted and demoralised Potter. Matterson once again kicked the extras to give Brisbane an 18–4 lead.