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.

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

• Rugby League Tables - Season 1984 The World of Rugby League
• Results:1981-90 at rabbitohs.com.au
• 1984 J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup at rleague.com
• NSWRL season 1984 at rugbyleagueproject.com