The 1981 Tooth Cup was the 8th edition of the NSWRFL Midweek Cup, a NSWRFL-organised national club Rugby League tournament between the leading clubs and representative teams from the NSWRFL, the BRL, the CRL, the QRL and the NZRL.
16 teams from across Australia and New Zealand played 23 matches in a round-robin format, with teams playing 2 games each. The top 8 teams advanced to a knockout stage, with the matches being held midweek during the premiership season.
Qualified Teams TeamNicknameLeagueQualificationParticipation (bold indicates winners)Canterbury-BankstownBulldogsNSWRFLWinners of the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership8th Eastern SuburbsRoostersNSWRFLRunners-Up in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership8th Western SuburbsMagpiesNSWRFLThird Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership8th St. GeorgeDragonsNSWRFLFourth Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership8th South SydneyRabbitohsNSWRFLFifth Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership8th ParramattaEelsNSWRFLSixth Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership8th Manly-WarringahSea EaglesNSWRFLSeventh Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership8th NewtownJetsNSWRFLEighth Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership8th Cronulla-SutherlandSharksNSWRFLNinth Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership8th BalmainTigersNSWRFLTenth Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership8th North SydneyBearsNSWRFLEleventh Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership8th PenrithPanthersNSWRFLTwelfth Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership8th BrisbanePoinsettiasBRLLeague Representative Team3rd NSW CountryKangaroosCRLCountry League Representative Team3rd Queensland CountryMaroonsQRLCountry League Representative Team3rd Central DistrictsFalconsNZRLWinners of the 1980 New Zealand Rugby League Inter-District Premiership1st
Venues SydneyBrisbaneLismore Leichhardt Oval Lang Park Oakes Oval Capacity: 23,000 Capacity: 45,000 Capacity: 12,000
Round 1 Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue18/03/81 Cronulla-Sutherland 21 North Sydney 5 Leichhardt Oval25/03/81 South Sydney 24 Parramatta 17 Leichhardt Oval1/04/81 Canterbury-Bankstown 20 Eastern Suburbs 14 Leichhardt Oval8/04/81 Western Suburbs 20 Penrith 8 Leichhardt Oval15/04/81 St George 29 Balmain 11 Oakes Oval22/04/81 Manly-Warringah 51 Central Districts 11 Leichhardt Oval29/04/81 Newtown 23 Combined Brisbane 19 Lang Park20/05/81 Manly-Warringah 24 QLD Country 2 Lang Park
Round 2 Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue6/05/81 St George 21 South Sydney 15 Leichhardt Oval13/05/81 Penrith 31 Central Districts 5 Leichhardt Oval27/05/81 Western Suburbs 23 NSW Country 14 Leichhardt Oval27/05/81 Canterbury-Bankstown 19 Parramatta 18 Leichhardt Oval3/06/81 Balmain 21 Eastern Suburbs 5 Leichhardt Oval10/06/81 Newtown 33 QLD Country 7 Lang Park10/06/81 Cronulla-Sutherland 25 Combined Brisbane 5 Lang Park17/06/81 North Sydney 13 NSW Country 9 Leichhardt Oval
Club Played Won Lost Drawn For Against Diff. Points Manly-Warringah 2 2 0 0 75 13 62 4 Cronulla-Sutherland 2 2 0 0 46 10 36 4 Newtown 2 2 0 0 56 26 30 4 Western Suburbs 2 2 0 0 43 22 21 4 St George 2 2 0 0 50 26 24 4 Canterbury-Bankstown 2 2 0 0 39 32 7 4 Penrith 2 1 1 0 39 25 14 2 South Sydney 2 1 1 0 39 38 1 2 Balmain 2 1 1 0 32 34 -2 2 North Sydney 2 1 1 0 18 30 -12 2 Parramatta 2 0 2 0 35 43 -8 0 NSW Country 2 0 2 0 23 36 -13 0 Eastern Suburbs 2 0 2 0 19 41 -22 0 Combined Brisbane 2 0 2 0 24 48 -24 0 QLD Country 2 0 2 0 9 57 -48 0 Central Districts (NZ) 2 0 2 0 16 82 -66 0
Quarter finals Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue24/06/81 Newtown 22 Canterbury-Bankstown 7 Leichhardt Oval1/07/81 Cronulla-Sutherland 23 Penrith 19 Leichhardt Oval8/07/81 Manly-Warringah 16 Western Suburbs 13 Leichhardt Oval15/07/81 South Sydney 23 St George 9 Leichhardt Oval
Semi finals Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue22/07/81 Cronulla-Sutherland 19 Newtown 2 Leichhardt Oval5/08/81 South Sydney 24 Manly-Warringah 13 Leichhardt Oval
Final Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue12/08/81 South Sydney 10 Cronulla-Sutherland 2 Leichhardt Oval
The 1981 Tooth Cup Final attracted a still standing (as of 2020) Leichhardt Oval attendance record of 23,000.
Player of the Series Steve Rogers (Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks) Golden Try Mitch Brennan (South Sydney)
Sources
http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/