1980 NSWRFL season

Rugby league competition March 2024 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League NSWRFL_Logo.png 12 16x16px Canterbury 3rd 16x16px Eastern Suburbs 14th 138 4415 1,498,634 16x16px Steve Gearin (220) 16x16px John Ribot (16)16x16px Wayne Wigham (16) Newtown 16 Geoff Bugden Rothmans Medal Penrith 2nd 1979 NSWRFL season 1979 1981 NSWRFL season 1981 The 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 73rd season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve clubs, including six of 1908's foundation teams and another six from around Sydney competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Canterbury and Eastern Suburbs clubs. NSWRFL clubs also competed in the 1980 Tooth Cup and players from NSWRFL clubs were selected to represent the New South Wales team. Season summary Twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March till August, resulting in a top five of Easts, Canterbury, Wests, St. George and Souths who battled it out in the finals. Mid-way through the season, players contracted to NSWRFL clubs were selected to represent the New South Wales team in two games against the Queensland team in 1980. After that the experimental 1980 State of Origin game was played, and NSWRFL clubs' players represented Queensland for the first time. NSWRFL club players were also selected to go on the mid-season 1980 Kangaroo tour of New Zealand. The 1980 season's Rothmans Medallist was Newtown prop Geoff Bugden. The inaugural Dally M Award, named in honour of rugby league's first "Master" Dally Messenger, went to South Sydney's Robert Laurie. Rugby League Week gave its player of the year award to Eastern Suburbs' halfback Kevin Hastings. The 1980 season also saw the retirement from the League of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Arthur Beetson. The grand finals: Canterbury 16 Canterbury Bulldogs vs Newcastle 16 Eastern Suburbs Roosters (Senior Grade) Parramatta 16 Parramatta Eels vs Canterbury 16 Canterbury Bulldogs (Reserve Grade) South Sydney 16 South Sydney Rabbitohs vs New South Wales 16 Unknown Team (Under-21s Grade) Parramatta 16 Parramatta Eels vs Balmain 16 Balmain Tigers (Mid-week) The winners in all grades were: Canterbury 16 Canterbury Bulldogs (Senior Grade) Parramatta 16 Parramatta Eels (Reserve Grade) South Sydney 16 South Sydney Rabbitohs (Under-21s Grade) Parramatta 16 Parramatta Eels (Mid-week) The State of Residence/State of Origin Series Queensland 16 Queensland vs New South Wales 16 New South Wales Teams Balmain100px|center 73rd seasonGround: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Dennis TuttyCaptain: Allan McMahonCanterbury-Bankstown100px|center 46th seasonGround: Belmore Oval Coach: Ted GlossopCaptain: George Peponis Cronulla-Sutherland100px|center 14th seasonGround: Endeavour Field Coach: Tommy BishopCaptain: Greg Pierce Eastern Suburbs100px|center 73rd seasonGround: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Bob FultonCaptain: Royce AyliffeManly-Warringah100px|center 34th seasonGround: Brookvale Oval Coach: Allan ThomsonCaptain: Max Krilich→Graham EadieNewtown100px|center 73rd seasonGround: Henson Park Coach: Warren RyanCaptain: Tommy RaudonikisNorth Sydney100px|center 73rd seasonGround:North Sydney Oval Coach: Ron WilleyCaptain: Kevin WilsonParramatta100px|center 34th seasonGround: Cumberland Oval Coach: John PeardCaptain: Ray Price→Ron HilditchPenrith100px|center 14th seasonGround: Penrith Park Coach: Len StackerCaptain: Tim SheensSouth Sydney100px|center 73rd seasonGround: Redfern Oval Coach: Bill AndersonCaptain: Robert Laurie→Nathan Gibbs St. George100px|center 60th seasonGround: Kogarah Oval Coach: Harry BathCaptain: Craig YoungWestern Suburbs100px|center 73rd seasonGround: Lidcombe Oval Coach: Roy MastersCaptain: Warren Boland Ladder TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 16x16px Eastern Suburbs221426339249+90302 16x16px Canterbury (P)221507361334+27303 16x16px Western Suburbs221408429308+121284 16x16px St. George221327367321+46285 16x16px South Sydney221219392318+74256 16x16px Parramatta221129420317+103247 16x16px Manly221129335354-19248 16x16px Newtown2211110348357-9239 16x16px Cronulla229211350346+42010 16x16px Balmain227015330382-521411 16x16px North Sydney226115282405-1231312 Old Penrith 16 Penrith222119294556-2625 Finals HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeCrowd Qualifying Finals 23x23px Canterbury22–17 23x23px Western Suburbs6 September 1980Sydney Cricket GroundGreg Hartley21,948 23x23px St. George16–5 23x23px South Sydney7 September 1980Sydney Cricket GroundJack Danzey33,552 Semi-finals 23x23px Eastern Suburbs7–13 23x23px Canterbury13 September 1980Sydney Cricket GroundGreg Hartley28,883 23x23px Western Suburbs13–7 23x23px St. George14 September 1980Sydney Cricket GroundJack Danzey28,451 Preliminary final 23x23px Eastern Suburbs41–5 23x23px Western Suburbs20 September 1980Sydney Cricket GroundGreg Hartley28,596 Grand final 23x23px Canterbury18–4 23x23px Eastern Suburbs27 September 1980Sydney Cricket GroundGreg Hartley52,881 Chart 150 Qualifying final Major semi-final Grand final Elimination final Minor semi-final Preliminary final 2 Canterbury 16 Canterbury 22 3 Western Suburbs 16 Western Suburbs 17 4 St. George 16 St. George 16 5 South Sydney 16 South Sydney 5 1 Eastern Suburbs 16 Eastern Suburbs 7 Canterbury 16 Canterbury 13 Western Suburbs 16 Western Suburbs 13 St. George 16 St. George 7 Eastern Suburbs 16 Eastern Suburbs 41 Western Suburbs 16 Western Suburbs 5 Canterbury 16 Canterbury 18 Eastern Suburbs 16 Eastern Suburbs 4 Grand Final 1980 NSWRFL Grand Final 50pxCanterbury 50pxEastern Suburbs CBY Canterbury 16 EAS Easts 16 7 11 18 4 0 4 27 September 1980 Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Man of the Match Steve Gearin (CBY) Greg Hartley 52,881 ABC Seven Network Rex Mossop Barry Ross Trevor Gardner John Sattler Arthur Collinson 1979 1981 Teams This was the last match for Eastern Suburbs forward John Lang who retired from rugby league after making his first grade rugby league debut with the Easts Tigers in 1969. The 1980 season was the only season he played in the NSWRFL premiership. n center Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs blue white blue Eastern Suburbs Roosters red navy white 13 s y Ted Glossop Greg Brentnall 1 Chris Anderson 2 Chris Mortimer 3 Peter Mortimer 4 Steve Gearin 5 Garry Hughes 6 Steve Mortimer 7 John Coveney 13 George Peponis (c) 12 Geoff Robinson 11 Graeme Hughes 10 Steve Folkes 9 Mark Hughes 8 Bob Fulton Marty Gurr 1 David Michael 2 Kerry Boustead 3 Noel Cleal 4 Steve McFarlane 5 Ken Wright 6 Kevin Hastings 7 John Harvey 13 John Lang 12 Royce Ayliffe (c) 11 John Tobin 10 Des O'Reilly 9 Gary Warnecke 8 NSWRFL 1980 – Grand Final https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/seasons/nswrfl-1980/grand-final/canterbury-bankstown-bulldogs-vs-eastern-suburbs-roosters/summary.html Rugby League Project 29 August 2025Hauser Liam The Great Grand Finals – Rugby League's Greatest Contests 2022 New Holland Wahroonga, Australia 9781760794736 112–114 2022 Match details Canterbury's loss of long serving fullback Stan Cutler with a broken leg suffered in the major semi-final, and the Roosters' form in the preliminary final resulted in Easts being warm favourites. But the Bulldogs, boasting two sets of brothers in the Hughes and Mortimers came ready to play expansive football. The Roosters began well and Noel Cleal was a constant threat but Canterbury's forwards led by Robinson and Coveney began to get on top. Canterbury's Chris Anderson scored the first try of the match after receiving a blatantly forward passHaddan p217 from Chris Mortimer in the lead up. The Roosters hit back and only desperate cover defence from Steve Mortimer on Easts' winger Steve McFarlane prevented a Roosters try. Ken Wright kicked two penalty goals for the tricolours, resulting in a 7–4 lead to the Bulldogs at half time. After the break Steve Gearin edged the Bulldogs clear with three successive goals after aggressive play from the Roosters – led by John Tobin's focus on the Hughes brothers – was penalised by referee Greg Hartley. The final Canterbury try by Gearin has been ranked amongst the best of all time. Five minutes from full-time Greg Brentnall raced downfield and put up a high kick. Gearin followed through at speed and outjumped opposing winger David Michael, catching the ball on the full to score and secure a Bulldogs victory.Haddan pp214-217 It was Canterbury's third premiership and had come after a wait of 38 years. It was the last Grand final to be played on a Saturday afternoon with the deciders since then being played on a Sunday. Scoreboard 1980 NSWRFL Grand Final Saturday, 27 September 15:00 AEST (UTC+10) Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Canterbury 16 2Anderson Gearin 6Gearin (6/6) 18 – 4 7–4 11–0 Report Easts 16 Eastern Suburbs Roosters 2Wright (2/2) Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney 52,881 Greg Hartley Steve Gearin (Canterbury)Dampney James The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) Greats to get man-of-match awards http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,24429346-5006066,00.html 3 January 2008 1 October 2008 dead 24 September 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200924164338/https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/Campton Nick NRL grand final: Betting tips, history and facts on the Clive Churchill Medal https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/cowboys/nrl-grand-final-betting-tips-history-and-facts-on-the-clive-churchill-medal/news-story/010acf389f4f7ddc2334c34e3b5a7201 news.com.au 26 June 2025 2 October 2015 Player statistics The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22. Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField Goals197Newtown Ken Wilson5902188Canterbury Steve Gearin12760176Parramatta Mick Cronin6790166Manly Graham Eadie2800160Western Suburbs Ron Giteau8680 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayer16Balmain Wayne Wigham14Western Suburbs John Ribot12Canterbury Steve Gearin12Parramatta Neville Glover12Old Penrith Marvin Hicks Top 5 goal scorers GoalsPlayer90Newtown Ken Wilson80Manly Graham Eadie79Parramatta Mick Cronin78Balmain Wayne Miranda76Canterbury Steve Gearin See also 1980 State of Origin References External links Haddan, Steve (2007) The finals – 100 Years of National Rugby League Finals, Steve Haddan Publishing, Brisbane Rugby League Tables – Season 1980 The World of Rugby League at rabbitohs.com.au 1980 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup at rleague.comJanuary 2025 medicmedic NSWRFL season 1980 at rugbyleagueproject.org 1980 Grand Final match replay at NRL.com Category:New South Wales Rugby League premiership NSWRFL season