1981 Tooth Cup
The 1981 Tooth Cup was the 8th edition of the NSWRFL Midweek Cup, a NSWRFL-organised national club Rugby League tournament between the leading clubs and representative teams from the NSWRFL, the BRL, the CRL, the QRL and the NZRL.
16 teams from across Australia and New Zealand played 23 matches in a round-robin format, with teams playing 2 games each. The top 8 teams advanced to a knockout stage, with the matches being held midweek during the premiership season.
Qualified Teams
Venues
Round 1
Round 2
| Club | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | For | Against | Diff. | Points |
| Manly-Warringah | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 13 | 62 | 4 |
| Cronulla-Sutherland | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 10 | 36 | 4 |
| Newtown | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 26 | 30 | 4 |
| Western Suburbs | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 22 | 21 | 4 |
| St George | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 26 | 24 | 4 |
| Canterbury-Bankstown | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 32 | 7 | 4 |
| Penrith | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 25 | 14 | 2 |
| South Sydney | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 38 | 1 | 2 |
| Balmain | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 34 | -2 | 2 |
| North Sydney | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 30 | -12 | 2 |
| Parramatta | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 43 | -8 | 0 |
| NSW Country | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 36 | -13 | 0 |
| Eastern Suburbs | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 41 | -22 | 0 |
| Combined Brisbane | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 48 | -24 | 0 |
| QLD Country | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 57 | -48 | 0 |
| Central Districts | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 82 | -66 | 0 |
Quarter finals
Semi finals
Final
The 1981 Tooth Cup Final attracted a still standing Leichhardt Oval attendance record of 23,000.Player of the Series
- Steve Rogers
Golden Try
- Mitch Brennan