The 1985 National Panasonic Cup was the 12th edition of the NSWRL Midweek Cup, a NSWRL-organised national club Rugby League tournament between the leading clubs and representative teams from the NSWRL, the BRL, the CRL and the NZRL.
A total of 16 teams from across Australia and New Zealand played 15 matches in a straight knock-out format, with the matches being held midweek during the premiership season.
Qualified Teams TeamNicknameLeagueQualificationParticipation (bold indicates winners)Canterbury-BankstownBulldogsNSWRLWinners of the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership12th ParramattaEelsNSWRLRunners-Up in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership12th St. GeorgeDragonsNSWRLThird Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership12th South SydneyRabbitohsNSWRLFourth Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership12th Manly-WarringahSea EaglesNSWRLFifth Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership12th CanberraRaidersNSWRLSixth Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership4th PenrithPanthersNSWRLSeventh Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership12th IllawarraSteelersNSWRLEighth Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership4th BalmainTigersNSWRLNinth Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership12th Cronulla-SutherlandSharksNSWRLTenth Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership12th North SydneyBearsNSWRLEleventh Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership12th Eastern SuburbsRoostersNSWRLTwelfth Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership12th Western SuburbsMagpiesNSWRLThirteenth Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership12th BrisbanePoinsettiasBRLLeague Representative Team7th NSW CountryKangaroosCRLCountry League Representative Team7th AucklandFalconsNZRLWinners of the 1984 New Zealand Rugby League Inter-District Premiership9th
Venues SydneyLismoreTamworthBathurstWagga Wagga Leichhardt Oval Redfern Oval Oakes Oval Scully Park Carrington Park Eric Weissel Oval Capacity: 23,000 Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 13,000 Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 10,000
Round 1 Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue Man of the Match6/03/85 Manly-Warringah (Shearer, Cleal, Brown, Close tries, Elwin 3 goals) 22 North Sydney (Teasdell, McKinnon tries, Dennis 3 goals) 12 Leichhardt Oval Glenn Ryan - Manly-Warringah10/03/85 St George * (Wynn, Johnston tries, P.Morris goal) 10 South Sydney (Murphy try, Baker 2 goals) 8 Redfern Oval Craig Young - St George13/03/85 Penrith (Alexander, Fenton, Gonzales tries, Levy 3 goals) 18 Parramatta (D.Price try, Cronin 3 goals) 10 Carrington Park Greg Alexander - Penrith20/03/85 Illawarra (D.Moon, Hetherington, Greenland, Mackey tries, Dorahy 3 goals) 22 Eastern Suburbs (Leggett try, Portlock 3 goals) 10 Leichhardt Oval John Dorahy - Illawarra27/03/85 Canterbury-Bankstown (C.Mortimer, P.Mortimer tries, C.Mortimer 3 goals, Lamb 2 field goals) 16 Canberra (Giteau 3 goals) 6 Eric Weissel Oval Steve Mortimer - Canterbury-Bankstown3/04/85 Western Suburbs 32 Auckland (NZ) 10 Leichhardt Oval Leo Epifania - Western Suburbs10/04/85 Cronulla-Sutherland (See 2, Merlo tries, Carney 6 goals) 24 NSW Country (Randall 2 goals) 4 Scully Park17/04/85 Balmain (Brooks 2, Gale, Elias, Marketo tries, Conlon 6 goals, Gale field goal) 33 Combined Brisbane (Boys, Dwyer tries, Ribot 4 goals) 16 Leichhardt Oval Ben Elias - Balmain * The St George V South Sydney game also functioned as the Charity Shield for this season.
Quarter finals
Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue Man of the Match17/04/85 Western Suburbs (Harrigan, T.Cogger tries, Pearce goal) 10 Penrith (Howell try, Alexander goal) 6 Leichhardt Oval Mark Harrigan - Western Suburbs1/05/85 Cronulla-Sutherland (Carney, D.Sorensen tries, Carney goal) 10 Canterbury-Bankstown 0 Leichhardt Oval Mark Wakefield - Cronulla-Sutherland8/05/85 Balmain (Elias, Gale, John Davidson tries, Conlon 4 goals) 20 St George (Linnane, O’Connor, Cannon tries, O’Connor 3 goals) 18 Leichhardt Oval Wayne Pearce - Balmain15/05/85 Manly-Warringah (Hegarty, Blake, Close, Hasler, Barkley tries, Melrose 5 goals) 30 Illawarra (Selby try, Dorahy goal) 6 Leichhardt Oval Tony Melrose - Manly-Warringah
Semi finals
Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue Man of the Match22/05/85 Cronulla-Sutherland (Docking, Porter, K.Sorensen tries, Carney 2 goals) 16 Manly-Warringah 0 Oakes Oval Michael Porter - Cronulla-Sutherland29/05/85 Balmain (Gale, Schofield tries, Conlon 2 goals) 12 Western Suburbs (Wigham, Fyvie tries, Crooks goal) 10 Leichhardt Oval Kevin Hardwick - Balmain
Final Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue Man of the Match5 June 1985 Balmain (Bridge, Gartner tries, Conlon 3 goals) 14 Cronulla-Sutherland (Carney, Wakefield tries, Carney 2 goals) 12 Leichhardt Oval Scott Gale - Balmain
Player of the Series Scott Gale (Balmain)
Golden Try Garry Jack (Balmain)
Sources https://web.archive.org/web/20070929092832/http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~maajjs/aus/nsw/sum/nsw1985.htm