1979 NSWRFL season

Rugby league competition 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League 12 16x16px St. George 15th 16x16px St. George 14th 138 4466 1,500,369 16x16px Mick Cronin (253) 16x16px Mitch Brennan (16)16x16px Tom Mooney (16) Parramatta 16 Ray Price Rothmans Medal North Sydney 9th 1978 NSWRFL season 1978 1980 NSWRFL season 1980 The 1979 NSWRFL season was the 72nd season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve New South Wales Rugby Football League clubs competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the St. George and Canterbury-Bankstown clubs. NSWRFL teams also competed in the 1979 Amco Cup. Season summary Twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March till August, resulting in a top five of St. George, Parramatta, Cronulla-Sutherland, Western Suburbs and Canterbury-Bankstown who battled it out in the finals. 1979 Great Britain Lions tour's Australian leg saw several matches against teams across New South Wales, several involving NSWRFL players, such as the 3 Test matches against Australia and a match against New South Wales. Parramatta's Ray Price was the 1979 season's Rothmans Medallist, and also won Rugby League Week’s player of the year award. The 1979 season also saw the retirement from the League of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Bob Fulton. Teams Twelve clubs, including six of 1908's foundation teams and another six from around Sydney competed for the NSWRFL premiership. Balmain100px|center 72nd seasonGround: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Ron WilleyCaptain: Allan McMahonCanterbury-Bankstown100px|center 45th seasonGround: Belmore Oval Coach: Ted GlossopCaptain: George PeponisCronulla-Sutherland100px|center 13th seasonGround: Endeavour Field Coach: Norm ProvanCaptain: Greg PierceEastern Suburbs100px|center 72nd seasonGround: Sydney Sports Ground Captain/Coach: Bob FultonManly-Warringah100px|center 33rd seasonGround: Brookvale Oval Coach: Frank StantonCaptain: Max KrilichNewtown100px|center 72nd seasonGround: Henson Park Coach: Warren RyanCaptain: Trevor Ryan→ Ken WilsonNorth Sydney100px|center 72nd seasonGround: North Sydney Oval Coach: Tommy BishopCaptain: Keith HarrisParramatta100px|center 33rd seasonGround: Cumberland Oval Coach: Terry FearnleyCaptain: Ray PricePenrith100px|center 13th seasonGround: Penrith Park Coach: Len StackerCaptain: Gary PethybridgeSouth Sydney100px|center 72nd seasonGround: Redfern Oval Coach: Jack GibsonCaptain: Bob McMillan, Darrell Bampton, Terry FaheySt. George Dragons100px|center 59th seasonGround: Kogarah Oval Coach: Harry BathCaptain: Steve Edge→Craig YoungWestern Suburbs100px|center 72nd seasonGround: Lidcombe Oval Coach: Roy MastersCaptain: Tom Raudonikis Regular season Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 F1 F2 F3 GF Balmain TigersEAS+22WES−10CRO+9CBY−13STG+7NEW+4MAN+5PEN0NOR+15PAR−35SOU+10EAS+28WES−2XCBY−2STG+13NEW+4MAN−16PEN+7NOR+4PAR−1CRO−3SOU−1 Canterbury-Bankstown BulldogsPEN+11NOR+8PAR−1BAL+13EAS+3WES+6CRO−2SOU+9STG−13NEW+28MAN−9PEN−5NOR+9PAR+1BAL+2EAS−8WES+1CRO−2SOU+6STG−8NEW+32XMAN−12WES+14CRO+15PAR+6STG−4 Cronulla-Sutherland SharksNOR+27PAR+25BAL−9EAS−11WES+7SOU+9CBY+2STG+7NEW+20MAN−5PEN−6NOR+14PAR−15XEAS+22WES+10SOU−15CBY+2STG+5NEW−14MAN+19BAL+3PEN0PAR−20CBY−15 Eastern Suburbs RoostersBAL−22SOU−4WES−9CRO+11CBY−3STG−13NEW+5MAN0PEN+32NOR−7PAR−5BAL−28SOU+5WES+5CRO−22CBY+8STG−25NEW+7MAN−22PEN+11NOR+14XPAR−9 Manly Warringah Sea EaglesSTG−25NEW+4SOU+11PEN+15NOR−3PAR−15BAL−5EAS0WES−7CRO+5CBY+9STG−7NEW+6XPEN+5NOR+7PAR−17BAL+16EAS+22WES−8CRO−19SOU−18CBY+12 Newtown JetsSOU+1MAN−4PEN−9NOR+1PAR−18BAL−4EAS−5WES−3CRO−20CBY−28STG−5SOU+24MAN−6PEN+26NOR+19PAR−13BAL−4EAS−7WES−17CRO+14CBY−32XSTG−12 North Sydney BearsCRO−27CBY−8STG−17NEW−1MAN+3PEN−8SOU−7PAR−31BAL−15EAS+7WES−11CRO−14CBY−9XNEW−19MAN−7PEN−4SOU−6PAR−38BAL−4EAS−14STG−3WES−12 Parramatta EelsWES−11CRO−25CBY+1STG−6NEW+18MAN+15PEN+9NOR+31SOU+11BAL+35EAS+5WES−18CRO+15CBY−1STG−1NEW+13MAN+17PEN+3NOR+38SOU+14BAL+1XEAS+9CRO+20STG−4CBY−6 Penrith PanthersCBY−11STG+3NEW+9MAN−15SOU−30NOR+8PAR−9BAL0EAS−32WES−1CRO+6CBY+5STG−22NEW−26MAN−5SOU−17NOR+4PAR−3BAL−7EAS−11WES−8XCRO0 South Sydney RabbitohsNEW−1EAS+4MAN−11WES−14PEN+30CRO−9NOR+7CBY−9PAR−11STG−21BAL−10NEW−24EAS−5XWES+2PEN+17CRO+15NOR+6CBY−6PAR−14STG−8MAN+18BAL+1 St. George DragonsMAN+25PEN−3NOR+17PAR+6BAL−7EAS+13WES+15CRO−7CBY+13SOU+21NEW+5MAN+7PEN+22XPAR+1BAL−13EAS+25WES+1CRO−5CBY+8SOU+8NOR+3NEW+12XPAR+4XCBY+4 Western Suburbs MagpiesPAR+11BAL+10EAS+9SOU+14CRO−7CBY−6STG−15NEW+3MAN+7PEN+1NOR+11PAR+18BAL+2EAS−5SOU−2CRO−10CBY−1STG−1NEW+17MAN+8PEN+8XNOR+12CBY−14 Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 F1 F2 F3 GF Bold – Home game X – Bye Opponent for round listed above margin Ladder TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 16x16px St. George221705476309+167342 16x16px Parramatta221606490317+173323 16x16px Cronulla221417367270+97294 16x16px Western Suburbs221408396312+84285 16x16px Canterbury221309379310+69266 16x16px Balmain221219358313+45257 16x16px Manly2211110341353-12238 16x16px Eastern Suburbs229112250321-71199 16x16px South Sydney229013286329-431810 Old Penrith 16 Penrith226214311473-1621411 16x16px Newtown226016321423-1021212 16x16px North Sydney222020302547-2454 Ladder progression Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 5. Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round. Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round. Underlined numbers indicate that the team had a bye during that round. Team12345678910111213141516171819202122231St. George 16 St. George Dragons 2 2 4 6 6 8 10 10 12 14 16 18 20 20 22 22 24 26 26 28 30 32 342Parramatta 16 Parramatta Eels 0 0 2 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 16 18 18 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 30 323Cronulla 16 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2 4 4 4 6 8 10 12 14 14 14 16 16 16 18 20 20 22 24 24 26 28 294Western Suburbs 16 Western Suburbs Magpies 2 4 6 8 8 8 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 20 20 20 20 20 22 24 26 26 285Canterbury 16 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2 4 4 6 8 10 10 12 12 14 14 14 16 18 20 20 22 22 24 24 26 26 266Balmain 16 Balmain Tigers 2 2 4 4 6 8 10 11 13 13 15 17 17 17 17 19 21 21 23 25 25 25 257Manly 16 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 0 2 4 6 6 6 6 7 7 9 11 11 13 13 15 17 17 19 21 21 21 21 238Eastern Suburbs 16 Eastern Suburbs Roosters 0 0 0 2 2 2 4 5 7 7 7 7 9 11 11 13 13 15 15 17 19 19 199South Sydney 16 South Sydney Rabbitohs 0 2 2 2 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 8 10 12 14 14 14 14 16 1810Old Penrith 16 Penrith Panthers 0 2 4 4 4 6 6 7 7 7 9 11 11 11 11 11 13 13 13 13 13 13 1411Newtown 16 Newtown Jets 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 6 8 10 10 10 10 10 12 12 12 1212North Sydney 16 North Sydney Bears 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 Finals HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd Minor semi-finals 23x23px Parramatta24–4 23x23px Cronulla-Sutherland1 September 1979Sydney Cricket GroundGary Cook28,335 23x23px Western Suburbs6–20 23x23px Canterbury-Bankstown2 September 1979Sydney Cricket GroundGreg Hartley22,104 Major semi-finals 23x23px St. George15–11 23x23px Parramatta8 September 1979Sydney Cricket GroundGary Cook38,531 23x23px Cronulla-Sutherland15–30 23x23px Canterbury-Bankstown9 September 1979Sydney Cricket GroundGreg Hartley24,132 Preliminary final 23x23px Parramatta14–20 23x23px Canterbury-Bankstown15 September 1979Sydney Cricket GroundGreg Hartley33,291 Grand final 23x23px St. George17–13 23x23px Canterbury-Bankstown22 September 1979Sydney Cricket GroundGreg Hartley50,911 Chart 150 Qualifying final Major semi-final Grand final Elimination final Minor semi-final Preliminary final 2 Parramatta 16 Parramatta 24 3 Cronulla 16 Cronulla-Sutherland 4 4 Western Suburbs 16 Western Suburbs 6 5 Canterbury 16 Canterbury 20 1 St. George 16 St. George 15 Parramatta 16 Parramatta 11 Cronulla 16 Cronulla-Sutherland 15 Canterbury 16 Canterbury 30 Parramatta 16 Parramatta 14 Canterbury 16 Canterbury 20 St. George 16 St. George 17 Canterbury 16 Canterbury 13 Grand final St. George PositionCanterbury-Bankstown Brian Johnson FB Stan Cutler 2. Mitch Brennan WG 2. Chris Anderson 3. Graeme Quinn CE 3. Chris Mortimer 4. Robert Finch CE 4. Peter Mortimer 5. Michael Sorridimi WG 5. Steve Gearin 6. Tony Trudgett FE 6. Garry Hughes 7. Steve Morris HB 7 Steve Mortimer 13. Bruce Starkey PR 13. Greg Cook 12. Steve Edge HK 12. George Peponis (c) 11. Craig Young (c) PR 11. Peter Smith 10. George Grant SR 10. Graeme Hughes 9. Graeme Wynn SR 9. Peter Cassilles 8. Rod Reddy LK 8. Steve Folkes 16. Stephen Butler Res. 14. Mark Hughes 18. Robert Stone Res. Harry Bath Coach Ted GlossopSt. George finished 22 rounds as minor premiers with 17 wins and were straight into the grand final after defeating Parramatta in the major semi. Their Grand final opponents Canterbury, qualified after defeating Wests, Cronulla and Parramatta. Television Coverage Dispute Under agreements in place at the time, the broadcast rights to the season saw one to two games on ABC TV on Saturday and/or Sunday afternoons, and a Sunday Night primetime replay and highlights of other matches on ATN-7 (part of the Seven's Big League programming). Under this agreement, the networks had rights to each broadcast and/or simulcast all six of the finals series games, under which they could either accept or decline the matches. The scene was set by an industrial relations dispute between camera and production crews and commercial broadcasting networks towards the end of 1979. This forced ATN-7 and the ABC into a shared feed arrangement using ABC production crew, but separate network commentary teams calling the game. ATN-7, wore the financial costs as the designated broadcaster of the preliminary final, and provided the ABC with a clean feed of the match as agreed. However, the ABC refused to offer a clean feed to ATN-7 for the grand final, which caused massive controversy. ATN-7 then exercised their right as the primary broadcaster of the competition to broadcast the match between St George and Canterbury exclusively, deciding to source their own freelance crew and cover the match. The ABC then sued ATN-7, and the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal became involved, but ultimately the match remained exclusive to Seven's Big League.MTN 9 1979 News, Adds and general presentation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpww6XT96Jo en 2022-11-18 Match The pre-game talk had been about the match-up of opposing half-backs Steve Morris and Steve Mortimer and the game didn't disappoint, beginning with a 40-metre flying break on a last tackle by Morris from deep in Dragons territory before he was cut down in a classic covering tackle by Mortimer. The first half belonged to St. George with new fullback Brian Johnson scoring an easy opening try after taking a pass 10 metres out from the Canterbury line. Soon after, Rod Reddy, who was subduing his opponents with his experience and ruthlessness, put Morris into a gap. “Slippery” kicked ahead and the race was on. Mortimer had a head start and got there first but Morris tackled him into touch. Soon afterwards Canterbury put a bomb up and toward the St. George in-goal. Brian Johnson was on hand to field the ball and returned it with a 60-metre run ended by a copybook tackle from his opposing fullback Stan Cutler. However the defence was opening up and it wasn't long before the Dragons scored their second try, with winger Mitch Brennan venturing infield and finding a gap courtesy of centre Robert Finch who slipped a short ball to Brennan 30 metres out. The strapping winger made a powerful run to score. By now, Saints were carving Canterbury up with Morris, on his 20-metre line, putting Graeme Wynn into a gap. The lanky back rower ran 40 metres, leaving defenders in his wake. Next it was “Rocket” Reddy's turn when Morris, Wynn and Reddy combined down the right flank and exposed the Bulldogs defence. 'Rocket' handled twice in scoring a try under the posts. At half time the score was St George 17 – Canterbury 2. Canterbury fought back gamely after the break. Steve Gearin and then Peter Mortimer crossed, with two further tries being disallowed. The St. George defence rallied and held from that point until Stan Cutler scored a third try out wide late in the match. St. George's goal-kicking second rower George Grant was the difference on the day, kicking four to ensure a 17–13 victory. Grant had kicked brilliantly all season, scoring 211 points in 1979. The Dave Brown Medal for the best player on field, went to Steve Morris. St. George 17 (Tries: Johnson, Brennan, Reddy. Goals: Grant 4.) Canterbury-Bankstown 13 (Tries: Gearin, Mortimer, Cutler. Goals: Gearin 2.) Player statistics The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22. Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField Goals229Parramatta Mick Cronin13950206Canterbury Steve Gearin10880203St. George George Grant11000155Manly Graham Eadie6681145Western Suburbs John Dorahy6631 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayer16Manly Tom Mooney14St. George Mitch Brennan14Balmain Larry Corowa13St. George Steve Morris13Parramatta Mick Cronin13Parramatta Garry Dowling13Cronulla Steve Edmonds13Western Suburbs Wayne Smith13Balmain Wayne Wigham13Old Penrith Stephen Martin Top 5 goal scorers GoalsPlayer100St. George George Grant95Parramatta Mick Cronin88Canterbury Steve Gearin68Manly Graham Eadie65North Sydney Rod Henniker References External links Rugby League Tables – Season 1979 The World of Rugby League Results:1971-80 at rabbitohs.com.au 1979 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup at rleague.comJanuary 2025 medicmedic NSWRFL season 1979 at rugbyleagueproject.org 1979 Grand final at Dragons History site Category:New South Wales Rugby League premiership NSWRFL season