1982 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams14
Premiers Parramatta (2nd title)
Minor premiers Parramatta (2nd title)
Matches played188
Points scored5927
Attendance1716490
Top points scorer(s) Mick Cronin (279)
Player of the year Greg Brentnall (Rothmans Medal)
Top try-scorer(s) Steve Ella (23)

The 1982 NSWRFL season was the 75th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and saw the New South Wales Rugby Football League’s first expansion since 1967 with the introduction of the first two clubs from outside the Sydney area in over half a century: the Canberra Raiders and the Illawarra Steelers. Thus a total of 14 clubs (including 6 Sydney-based foundation teams, another 6 from Sydney, one from greater New South Wales, and one from the Australian Capital Territory) competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield and newly-created Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Parramatta and Manly-Warringah clubs. This season, NSWRFL teams also competed for the 1982 KB Cup which was won by Manly-Warringah.

Season summary

The first Charity Shield match was played before the 1982 season between St. George and South Sydney.

This year a bronze replica of “the Gladiators” – the 1963 photo taken by John O'Gready of Norm Provan and Arthur Summons’ post-game, mud-caked embrace – was first adopted to adorn the Winfield Cup, the new trophy to be awarded to the grand final winners. Because of the introduction of two new teams, twenty-six (rather than twenty-two) regular season rounds were played from February till August, resulting in a top five of Parramatta, Manly, Norths, Easts and Wests. The new teams, the Illawarra Steelers and the Canberra Raiders, would finish their debut seasons in second last and last place respectively.

The 1982 season saw the only nil-all scoreline in competition history. Newtown and Canterbury-Bankstown drew their match at Henson Park on 28 March, with neither team scoring a point. The long-standing record for the longest suspension for a player in the League's history was broken during the season. Western Suburbs' Bob Cooper was suspended for 15 months for punching Illawarra’s Lee Pomfret.

The 1982 season's Rothmans Medallist was Canterbury-Bankstown’s Greg Brentnall and the Dally M Award went to Parramatta’s lock forward, Ray Price. Rugby League Week gave their player of the year award to Eastern Suburbs’ halfback Kevin Hastings for the third consecutive season.

Teams

This year the number of clubs in the League reached a new high of fourteen, with the addition of two expansion clubs, the Illawarra Steelers and the Canberra Raiders.[1] This saw the first inclusion of teams based outside of the Sydney area since the foundation Newcastle club departed the League in 1909. This was the first of several expansions that would take place over the next decade and a half which would see the Sydney-wide competition grow into a New South Wales-wide competition and eventually into a national league. Also, for the first time in three quarters of a century, the League's 1908 foundation teams were outnumbered by teams introduced since the inaugural season.

Balmain

75th season
Ground: Leichhardt Oval
Coach: Frank Stanton
Captain: Neil WhittakerTrevor Ryan

Canberra

1st season
Ground: Seiffert Oval
Coach: Don Furner
Captain: David Grant

Canterbury-Bankstown

48th season
Ground: Belmore Sports Ground
Coach: Ted Glossop
Captain: George Peponis

Cronulla-Sutherland

16th season
Ground: Endeavour Field
Coach: Greg Pierce
Captain: Steve Rogers

Eastern Suburbs

75th season
Ground: Sydney Sports Ground
Coach: Bob Fulton
Captain: Royce Ayliffe

Illawarra

1st season
Ground: Wollongong Showground
Coach: Allan Fitzgibbon
Captain: John Dorahy

Manly-Warringah

36th season
Ground: Brookvale Oval
Coach: Ray Ritchie
Captain: Max Krilich

Newtown

75th season
Ground: Henson Park
Coach: Warren Ryan
Captain: Tom Raudonikis & Ken Wilson

North Sydney

75th season
Ground: North Sydney Oval
Coach: Ron Willey
Captain: Mark Graham

Parramatta

36th season
Ground: Belmore Sports Ground
Coach: Jack Gibson
Captain: Steve Edge

Penrith

16th season
Ground: Penrith Stadium
Coach: John Peard
Captain: Darryl Brohman

South Sydney

75th season
Ground: Redfern Oval
Coach: Bill Anderson
Captain: Mitch Brennan

St. George

62nd season
Ground: Jubilee Oval
Coach: Roy Masters
Captain: Craig Young

Western Suburbs

75th season
Ground: Lidcombe Oval
Coach: Terry Fearnley
Captain: Warren Boland

Ladder

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Parramatta 262105619242+37742
2 Manly-Warringah 261709530411+11934
3 North Sydney 261619399360+3933
4 Eastern Suburbs 261529437304+13332
5 Western Suburbs 2616010412349+6332
6 South Sydney 2614111395400-529
7 Newtown 2613211406309+9728
8 Cronulla-Sutherland 2613112400336+6427
9 Canterbury-Bankstown 2612311399361+3827
10 St. George 2611213408402+624
11 Balmain 2610115383427-4421
12 Penrith 267118375441-6615
13 Illawarra 266020344572-22812
14 Canberra 264022269862-5938

Finals

Home Score Away Match information
Date and time Venue Referee Crowd
Qualifying Finals
Eastern Suburbs 11–7 Western Suburbs 4 September 1982 Sydney Cricket Ground Jack Danzey 21,167
Manly-Warringah 26–3 North Sydney 5 September 1982 Sydney Cricket Ground John Gocher 24,690
Semi-finals
North Sydney 10–12 Eastern Suburbs 11 September 1982 Sydney Cricket Ground Jack Danzey 19,566
Parramatta 0–20 Manly-Warringah 12 September 1982 Sydney Cricket Ground John Gocher 31,604
Preliminary final
Parramatta 33–0 Eastern Suburbs 19 September 1982 Sydney Cricket Ground John Gocher 24,637
Grand final
Manly-Warringah 8–21 Parramatta 26 September 1982 Sydney Cricket Ground John Gocher 52,186

Chart

Qualifying finalMajor semi-finalPreliminary finalGrand final
1 Parramatta0 Manly8
Manly20 Parramatta21
2 Manly26 Parramatta33
3 North Sydney3Minor semi-final Eastern Suburbs0
North Sydney10
4 Eastern Suburbs11 Eastern Suburbs12
5 Western Suburbs7

Grand final

Manly-Warringah Position Parramatta
  1. Graham Eadie
FB
  1. Paul Taylor
2. John RibotWG2. Neil Hunt
3. Chris CloseCE3. Mick Cronin
4. Michael BlakeCE4. Steve Ella
5. Phil CareyWG5. Eric Grothe
6. Alan Thompson (c)FE6. Brett Kenny
7. Phil BlakeHB7. Peter Sterling
13. Geoff GerardPR13. Geoff Bugden
12. Ray BrownHK12. Steve Edge (c)
11. Terry RandallPR11. Chris Phelan
10. Paul VautinSR10. Steve Sharp
14. Les BoydSR9. John Muggleton
8. Paul McCabeLK8. Ray Price
9. Bruce WalkerReserve14. Peter Wynn
15. Max KrillichReserve17. Gary Martine
18. Ian ThomsonReserve19. Mark Laurie
Ray RitchieCoachJack Gibson

The Eels won the minor premiership with ease – eight points ahead of Manly – and breezed through the decider with the same confidence. Manly opened the scoring through Phil Blake in the opening minutes, but Parramatta replied quickly when Brett Kenny put Steve Ella over. After a quiet period, Manly collapsed in the ten minutes before half-time with Parramatta scoring three tries. The first to Eric Grothe came when Brett Kenny had shown brilliant evasive skills on the second tackle after Manly dropped the ball, the second came when a Peter Sterling bomb deflected off a Parramatta player into Kenny's arms, and the third after quick hands saw Kenny send Neil Hunt over in the corner. The Eels led 16–3 at half-time and, despite Les Boyd scoring after playing the ball forward in the 48th minute, Brett Kenny's second try in the 62nd minute sealed victory.

Parramatta 21 (Tries: Kenny 2, Ella, Grothe, Hunt. Goals: Cronin 3/5.)

Manly 8 (Tries: P Blake, Boyd. Goal: Eadie 1/2.)

Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 26.

References

  1. "History of the Premiership". centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au. Australian Rugby League. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
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