1984 NSWRL season
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 CanberraThe 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: Michael Bolt | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 38th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Bob Fulton Captain: Alan Thompson | North Sydney Bears 77th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Greg Hawick 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: Ziggy Niszczot | 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
Finals
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 Bulldogs | Position | Parramatta Eels |
| 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 | HB | Peter Sterling |
| Paul Langmack | LK | Ray Price |
| Steve Folkes | SR | John Muggleton |
| Brian Battese | SR | Chris Phelan |
| Peter Kelly | PR | Paul Mares |
| Mark Bugden | HK | Steve Edge |
| Peter Tunks | PR | Stan Jurd |
| Geoff Robinson | Res. | David Liddiard |
| Darryl Brohman | Res. | Steve Sharp |
| Greg Mullane | Res. | Ron Quinn |
| Res. | Glen Mansfield | |
| 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 6
Tries: Bugden
Goals: Chris Mortimer
Parramatta 4
Tries: Cronin
Man-of-the-match: Peter Kelly