1980 NSWRFL season
| 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Teams | 12 |
| Premiers |  Canterbury (3rd title) |
| Minor premiers |  Eastern Suburbs (14th title) |
| Matches played | 138 |
| Points scored | 4415 |
| Total attendance | 1,498,634 |
| Top points scorer | Steve Gearin (220) |
| Wooden spoon | Penrith (2nd spoon) |
| Rothmans Medal |  Geoff Bugden |
| Top try-scorer(s) |  John Ribot (16) Wayne Wigham (16) |
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 Bulldogs vs 
Eastern Suburbs Roosters (Senior Grade)
Parramatta Eels vs Canterbury Bulldogs (Reserve Grade)
South Sydney Rabbitohs vs 
Unknown Team (Under-21s Grade)- Parramatta Eels vs
Balmain Tigers (Mid-week)
The winners in all grades were:
- Canterbury Bulldogs (Senior Grade)
- Parramatta Eels (Reserve Grade)
- South Sydney Rabbitohs (Under-21s Grade)
- Parramatta Eels (Mid-week)
The State of Residence/State of Origin Series
Queensland vs New South Wales
Teams
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eastern Suburbs
|
22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 339 | 249 | +90 | 30 |
| 2 | Canterbury (P)
|
22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 361 | 334 | +27 | 30 |
| 3 | Western Suburbs
|
22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 429 | 308 | +121 | 28 |
| 4 |  St. George
|
22 | 13 | 2 | 7 | 367 | 321 | +46 | 28 |
| 5 |  South Sydney
|
22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 392 | 318 | +74 | 25 |
| 6 |  Parramatta
|
22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 420 | 317 | +103 | 24 |
| 7 |  Manly
|
22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 335 | 354 | -19 | 24 |
| 8 | Newtown
|
22 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 348 | 357 | -9 | 23 |
| 9 |  Cronulla
|
22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 350 | 346 | +4 | 20 |
| 10 | Balmain
|
22 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 330 | 382 | -52 | 14 |
| 11 |  North Sydney
|
22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 282 | 405 | -123 | 13 |
| 12 |  Penrith
|
22 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 294 | 556 | -262 | 5 |
Finals
| Home | Score | Away | Match information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Qualifying Finals | ||||||||
| Canterbury
|
22–17 | Western Suburbs
|
6 September 1980 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Greg Hartley | 21,948 | ||
| St. George
|
16–5 | South Sydney
|
7 September 1980 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Jack Danzey | 33,552 | ||
| Semi-finals | ||||||||
| Eastern Suburbs
|
7–13 | Canterbury
|
13 September 1980 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Greg Hartley | 28,883 | ||
| Western Suburbs
|
13–7 | St. George
|
14 September 1980 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Jack Danzey | 28,451 | ||
| Preliminary final | ||||||||
| Eastern Suburbs
|
41–5 | Western Suburbs
|
20 September 1980 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Greg Hartley | 28,596 | ||
| Grand final | ||||||||
| Canterbury
|
18–4 | Eastern Suburbs
|
27 September 1980 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Greg Hartley | 52,881 | ||
Chart
| Qualifying final | Major semi-final | Preliminary final | Grand final | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Eastern Suburbs | 7 | Canterbury | 18 | ||||||||||||||
| Canterbury | 13 | Eastern Suburbs | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | Canterbury | 22 | Eastern Suburbs | 41 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Western Suburbs | 17 | Minor semi-final | Western Suburbs | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Western Suburbs | 13 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | St. George | 16 | St. George | 7 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | South Sydney | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
Grand Final
| 1980 NSWRFL Grand Final | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Date | 27 September 1980 | ||||||||||||
| Stadium | Sydney Cricket Ground | ||||||||||||
| Location | Sydney | ||||||||||||
| Man of the Match | Steve Gearin (CBY) | ||||||||||||
| Referee | Greg Hartley | ||||||||||||
| Attendance | 52,881 | ||||||||||||
| Broadcast partners | |||||||||||||
| Broadcasters | |||||||||||||
| Commentators |
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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.
| Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Position | Eastern Suburbs Roosters | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Number | Number | Name | |
| Greg Brentnall | 1 | 1 | Marty Gurr | |
| Chris Anderson | 2 | 2 | David Michael | |
| Chris Mortimer | 3 | 3 | Kerry Boustead | |
| Peter Mortimer | 4 | 4 | Noel Cleal | |
| Steve Gearin | 5 | 5 | Steve McFarlane | |
| Garry Hughes | 6 | 6 | Ken Wright | |
| Steve Mortimer | 7 | 7 | Kevin Hastings | |
| John Coveney | 13 | 13 | John Harvey | |
| George Peponis (c) | 12 | 12 | John Lang | |
| Geoff Robinson | 11 | 11 | Royce Ayliffe (c) | |
| Graeme Hughes | 10 | 10 | John Tobin | |
| Steve Folkes | 9 | 9 | Des O'Reilly | |
| Mark Hughes | 8 | 8 | Gary Warnecke | |
| Ted Glossop | Coach |
Bob Fulton | ||
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 pass[3] 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.[4]
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
| Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
|
18 – 4 | Eastern Suburbs Roosters
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: 2 Anderson  Gearin Goals: 6 Gearin  (6/6) |
1st: 7–4 2nd: 11–0 Report |
Goals: 2 Wright (2/2) |
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Attendance: 52,881 Referee: Greg Hartley Player of the Match: Steve Gearin (Canterbury)[5][6] |
Player statistics
The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22.
|
Top 5 point scorers
Top 5 try scorers
|
Top 5 goal scorers
|
See also
References
- ^ "NSWRFL 1980 – Grand Final". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
- ^ Hauser, Liam (2022). The Great Grand Finals – Rugby League's Greatest Contests (2022 ed.). Wahroonga, Australia: New Holland. pp. 112–114. ISBN 9781760794736.
- ^ Haddan p217
- ^ Haddan pp214-217
- ^ Dampney, James (1 October 2008). "Greats to get man-of-match awards". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved 3 January 2008.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Campton, Nick (2 October 2015). "NRL grand final: Betting tips, history and facts on the Clive Churchill Medal". news.com.au. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
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.com[dead link]
- NSWRFL season 1980 at rugbyleagueproject.org
- 1980 Grand Final match replay at NRL.com