1985 NSWRL season

1985 New South Wales Rugby League
Teams	13
Premiers	Canterbury-Bankstown (5th title)
Minor premiers	St. George (15th title)
Matches played	163
Points scored	5416
Attendance	1450162
Top points scorer(s)	Mick Cronin (204)
Player of the year	Wayne Pearce (Rothmans Medal)
Top try-scorer(s)	Steve Linnane (17)
← 1984 1986 →

The 1985 New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the seventy-eighth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Thirteen teams competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Canterbury-Bankstown and St. George clubs. This season NSWRL teams also competed for the 1985 National Panasonic Cup.

Season summary[]

Twenty-six regular season rounds were played from March till September, resulting in a top five of St. George, Balmain, Canterbury, Parramatta and Penrith battling it out in the finals

The 1985 season's Rothmans Medallist was Balmain's lock, Wayne Pearce. The Dally M Award was given to Penrith's halfback, Greg Alexander, while Rugby League Week gave its player of the year award to Parramatta's lock, Ray Price.

Teams[]

The lineup of clubs remained unchanged from the previous year, with thirteen contesting the 1985 premiership, including five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, one from greater New South Wales and one from the Australian Capital Territory

Balmain Tigers 78th season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Frank Stanton Captain: Wayne Pearce	Canberra Raiders Ground: Seiffert Oval Coach: Don Furner Captain: Dean Lance	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Ground: Belmore Oval Coach: Warren Ryan Captain: Steve Mortimer	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 19th season Ground: Ronson Field Coach: Terry Fearnley Captain: David Hatch	Eastern Suburbs Roosters Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Arthur Beetson Captain: Ron Gibbs→John Tobin	Illawarra Steelers Ground: Wollongong Showground Coach: Brian Smith Captain: Brian Hetherington	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Bob Fulton Captain: →Paul Vautin
North Sydney Bears 78th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Greg Hawick→Brian Norton[1] Captain: W. Honeywood→Fred Teasdell→Mark Graham	Parramatta Eels Ground: Belmore Oval Coach: John Monie Captain: Ray Price	Penrith Panthers Ground: Penrith Park Coach: Tim Sheens Captain: Royce Simmons	South Sydney Rabbitohs Ground: Redfern Oval Coach: Ron Willey Captain: David Boyle	St. George Dragons 65th season Ground: Kogarah Oval Coach: Roy Masters Captain: Craig Young	Western Suburbs Magpies 78th season Ground: Lidcombe Oval Coach: Captain: Lee Crooks

Ladder[]

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	St. George Dragons	24	18	2	4	2	470	264	+206	42
2	Balmain Tigers	24	18	0	6	2	494	304	+190	40
3	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	16	2	6	2	435	267	+168	38
4	Parramatta Eels	24	16	0	8	2	458	311	+147	36
5	Penrith Panthers	24	13	1	10	2	460	379	+81	31
6	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	24	13	1	10	2	404	345	+59	31
7	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	24	10	3	11	2	374	389	-15	27
8	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	11	0	13	2	440	404	+36	26
9	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	10	0	14	2	373	419	-46	24
10	Canberra Raiders	24	8	2	14	2	432	534	-102	22
11	North Sydney Bears	24	6	1	17	2	281	491	-210	17
12	Western Suburbs Magpies	24	5	2	17	2	311	661	-350	16
13	Illawarra Steelers	24	5	0	19	2	303	467	-164	14

Finals[]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Playoff
Penrith Panthers	10-7	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	3 September 1985	Sydney Cricket Ground	Mick Stone	16,428
Qualifying Finals
Parramatta Eels	38-6	Penrith Panthers	7 September 1985	Sydney Cricket Ground	Kevin Roberts	18,939
Balmain Tigers	8-14	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	8 September 1985	Sydney Cricket Ground	Mick Stone	25,194
Semi Finals
Balmain Tigers	4-32	Parramatta Eels	14 September 1985	Sydney Cricket Ground	Kevin Roberts	25,423
St. George Dragons	17-6	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	15 September 1985	Sydney Cricket Ground	Mick Stone	39,013
Preliminary Final
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	26-0	Parramatta Eels	22 September 1985	Sydney Cricket Ground	Kevin Roberts	34,915
Grand Final
St. George Dragons	6-7	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	29 September 1985	Sydney Cricket Ground	Kevin Roberts	44,569

Grand Final[]

The 1985 Grand Final was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground before a crowd of 44,569.^[2] Canterbury continually put St George fullback Burgess under the test of the high-ball in his in-goal area, which, under the rules of the time, resulted in a line drop-out with the Bulldogs regaining possession. After felling St George's Graeme Wynn as a scrum broke up, Canterbury's prop Peter Kelly was surprising awarded a penalty and shortly thereafter Kelly used the blindside to send winger Peter Mortimer over out wide for a 6-0 half time lead.

Bulldogs half and skipper Steve Mortimer seized control of the match and centre Andrew Farrar clinched it with a field goal in the 72nd minute to take the score to 7-0. A last light of hope appeared for the Dragons when Steve Morris scored and Michael O'Connor converted with five minutes left on the clock. In the end a practised and clinical approach from Canterbury shut out the Dragons who had been the minor premiers.

Canterbury-Bankstown 7
Tries: P Mortimer. Goal: Farrar. Field Goal: Farrar.

St. George 6
Tries: Morris. Goal: O'Connor.

Man-of-the-match: Steve Mortimer

References[]

External links[]

• Rugby League Tables - Season 1985 The World of Rugby League
• Results:1981-90 at rabbitohs.com.au
• 1985 J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup^{[dead link]} at rleague.com
• NSWRL season 1985 at rugbyleagueproject.org