The 1984 New South Wales Rugby League season was the 77th season of competition between the top professional rugby league football clubs within New South Wales. With the departure from the first grade competition of Sydney foundation club the Newtown Jets 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.
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 and Manly, with Souths taking fifth spot after winning a play-off against Canberra
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 seasonGround: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Frank StantonCaptain: Wayne PearceCanberra Raiders 3rd seasonGround: Seiffert Oval Coach: Don FurnerCaptain: Ron GiteauCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 50th seasonGround: Belmore Oval Coach: Warren RyanCaptain: Chris Anderson→Terry Lamb→Steve MortimerCronulla-Sutherland Sharks 18th seasonGround: Ronson Field Coach: Terry FearnleyCaptain: David HatchEastern Suburbs Roosters 77th seasonGround: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Laurie FreierCaptain: Ron GibbsIllawarra Steelers 3rd seasonGround: Wollongong Showground Coach: Brian SmithCaptain: Michael Bolt Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 38th seasonGround: Brookvale Oval Coach: Bob FultonCaptain: Alan ThompsonNorth Sydney Bears 77th seasonGround: North Sydney Oval Coach: Greg HawickCaptain: Fred Teasdell→Mark GrahamParramatta Eels 38th seasonGround: Belmore Oval Coach: John MonieCaptain: Ray PricePenrith Panthers 18th seasonGround: Penrith Park Coach: Tim SheensCaptain: Royce SimmonsSouth Sydney Rabbitohs 77th seasonGround: Redfern Oval Coach: Ron WilleyCaptain: Ziggy Niszczot St. George Dragons 64th seasonGround: Kogarah Oval Coach: Roy MastersCaptain: Craig YoungWestern Suburbs Magpies 77th seasonGround: Lidcombe Oval Coach: Ken GentleCaptain: Lee Crooks
Ladder TeamPldWDLBPFPAPDPts1 Canterbury2419052435237+198422 St. George 2417072445289+156383 Parramatta2417072412260+152384 Manly24140102512338+174325 South Sydney24130112333307+26306 Canberra24130112379394-15307 Penrith24121112409401+8298 Illawarra24120122368388-20289 Balmain24120122380405-252810 Cronulla24101132446478-322511 North Sydney2491142371447-762312 Eastern Suburbs2451182308478-1701513 Western Suburbs2410232244620-3766
Finals HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd Playoff South Sydney Rabbitohs23-4 Canberra Raiders28 August 1984Sydney Cricket GroundGreg McCallum10,101 Qualifying Finals Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles18-22 South Sydney Rabbitohs1 September 1984Sydney Cricket GroundChris Ward15,801 St. George Dragons16-22 Parramatta Eels2 September 1984Sydney Cricket GroundKevin Roberts25,675 Semi-finals St. George Dragons24-6 South Sydney Rabbitohs8 September 1984Sydney Cricket GroundB. Barnes32,162 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs16-8 Parramatta Eels9 September 1984Sydney Cricket GroundGreg McCallum30,044 Preliminary final Parramatta Eels8-7 St. George Dragons16 September 1984Sydney Cricket GroundKevin Roberts37,004
Chart
Grand final The 1984 grand final was contested by minor premiers Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the Parramatta Eels. As competition leaders, the Bulldogs needed to win only one finals game to qualify for the grand final, and did so against the third-placed Eels, who had to play three finals games to qualify. Played at the Sydney Cricket Ground before a crowd of 47,076, the game was refereed by Kevin Roberts. Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsPositionParramatta Eels Mick PotterFB Paul Taylor 2. Peter Mortimer WG 2. Neil Hunt 3. Andrew Farrar CE 3. Mick Cronin 4. Chris Mortimer CE 4. Steve Ella 5. Steve O’Brien WG 5. Eric Grothe 6. Terry Lamb FE 6. Brett Kenny 7. Steve Mortimer (c) HB 7. Peter Sterling 8. Paul Langmack LK 8. Ray Price 9. Steve Folkes SR 9. Chris Phelan 16. Brian Battese SR 10. John Muggleton 11. Peter Kelly PR 11. Paul Mares 12. Mark Bugden HK 12. Steve Edge (c) 13. Peter Tunks PR 13. Stan Jurd 10. Darryl Brohman Res. 15. David Liddiard 20. Greg Mullane Res. 17. Glenn Mansfield 22. Geoff Robinson Res. 20. Ron Quinn Res. 22. Steve Sharp Warren Ryan Coach John Monie The ruthless game plan of coach Warren Ryan saw Canterbury trump Parramatta in a grueling 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 full-time.
Canterbury-Bankstown 6Tries: BugdenGoals: Chris Mortimer
Parramatta 4 Tries: Cronin
Man-of-the-match: Peter Kelly
Player statistics The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 26.
Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField goals186 Tony Armstrong9750176 Steve Gearin7740159 Ron Giteau6671143 Neil Baker5595142 Mark Levy2670 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayer17 Terry Lamb13 Steve Morris12 Dean Carney12 Steve Broughton11 Eric Grothe Sr.11 Phil Blake11 Brad Izzard
Top 5 goal scorers GoalsPlayer75 Tony Armstrong74 Steve Gearin67 Ron Giteau67 Mark Levy59 Neil Baker
References
External links Rugby League Tables - Season 1984 Results:1981-90 at rabbitohs.com.au 1984 J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup at rleague.com NSWRL season 1984 at rugbyleagueproject.org