1985 NSWRL season
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
The regular season commenced in March with reigning premiers Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs winning 18–4 against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. Bulldogs forward Paul Langmack scored the first try of the season. Parramatta played their round 2 match against the Canberra at Orana Park following the opening of a new 1.25m grandstand. It was the first match played at the venue since 1983. Parramatta hosted their remaining matches at Belmore Sports Ground with the new Parramatta Stadium to open in time for the 1986 season.St. George would be undefeated through the opening eight rounds of the season, before losing to Balmain 24–19 at Kogarah Oval, the Tigers had been behind 13–0 after only 17 minutes of the match.
In the second half of the season, the NSWRL experimented by fixturing 11 matches played at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Monday nights, with matches broadcast live by Network 10. The experiment was hailed as a success with average attendance over 10,000 fans and an average television audience of 750,000.
Following the final round of the season, Penrith and Manly Warringah Sea Eagles finished level on 31 competition points to force a Tuesday night playoff for fifth place. The scores were tied at 6-all after 80 minutes forcing extra time. Manly led 7–6 early in the first half of extra time, but two goals by Penrith halfback Greg Alexander gave the Panthers a 10–7 victory.
Penrith joined minor premiers St. George in the finals with Balmain, Canterbury and Parramatta the other finalists.
Awards
- Rothmans Medal — Wayne Pearce
- Dally M Medal — Greg Alexander
- Rugby League Week Player of the Year — Ray Price
Teams
| Balmain Tigers 78th season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Frank Stanton Captain: Wayne Pearce | Canberra Raiders 4th season Ground: Seiffert Oval Coach: Don Furner Captain: Dean Lance | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 51st season Ground: Belmore Sports Ground Coach: Warren Ryan Captain: Steve Mortimer | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 19th season Ground: Ronson Field Coach: Terry Fearnley Captain: David Hatch | Eastern Suburbs Roosters 78th season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Arthur Beetson Captain: Ron Gibbs→John Tobin | Illawarra Steelers 4th season Ground: Wollongong Showground Coach: Brian Smith Captain: Brian Hetherington | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 39th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Bob Fulton Captain: Glenn Ryan→Paul Vautin |
| North Sydney Bears 78th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Greg Hawick→Brian Norton Captain: W. Honeywood→Fred Teasdell→Mark Graham | Parramatta Eels 39th season Ground: Belmore Sports Ground Coach: John Monie Captain: Ray Price | Penrith Panthers 19th season Ground: Penrith Park Coach: Tim Sheens Captain: Royce Simmons | South Sydney Rabbitohs 78th season 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: Ken Gentle Captain: Lee Crooks |
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 | 24 | 25 | 26 | F1 | F2 | F3 | F4 | GF |
| Balmain Tigers | NOR +20 | PEN +30 | CRO +24 | WES +40 | CBY −2 | MAN −4 | EAS −4 | X | STG +5 | ILA +8 | CAN +3 | PAR +13 | SOU +12 | NOR +23 | PEN +6 | CRO −20 | WES +6 | CBY +6 | MAN +8 | EAS +1 | X | STG −2 | ILA +13 | CAN +18 | PAR −32 | SOU +18 | X | CBY −6* | PAR −28 | ||
| Canberra Raiders | ILA +10 | PAR −14 | NOR +8 | SOU +14 | PEN −30 | CRO −20 | WES +32 | CBY −24 | MAN 0 | EAS −2 | BAL −3 | STG +10 | X | ILA +9 | PAR −14 | NOR +30 | SOU +7 | PEN −6 | CRO −2 | WES 0 | CBY −12 | MAN −15 | EAS −18 | BAL −18 | STG −44 | X | |||||
| Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | CRO +14 | X | MAN −20 | EAS 0 | BAL +2 | STG 0 | ILA +6 | CAN +24 | PAR −20 | NOR +8 | SOU −15 | PEN −11 | WES +52 | CRO +8 | X | MAN +4 | EAS +7 | BAL −6 | STG −10 | ILA +20 | CAN +12 | PAR +15 | NOR +18 | SOU +18 | PEN +14 | WES +28 | X | BAL +6* | STG −11 | PAR +26 | STG +1 |
| Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | CBY −14 | EAS −20 | BAL −24 | STG −10 | ILA +8 | CAN +20 | PAR −4 | NOR +14 | SOU −6 | PEN −6 | X | WES +18 | MAN +15 | CBY −8 | EAS −7 | BAL +20 | STG −18 | ILA +26 | CAN +2 | PAR +8 | NOR +12 | SOU −2 | PEN −8 | X | WES +26 | MAN −6 | |||||
| Eastern Suburbs Roosters | SOU −18 | CRO +20 | WES +38 | CBY 0 | MAN −12 | X | BAL +4 | STG −4 | ILA +2 | CAN +2 | PAR −26 | NOR −4 | PEN +20 | SOU −8 | CRO +7 | WES 0 | CBY −7 | MAN −22 | X | BAL −1 | STG 0 | ILA −10 | CAN +18 | PAR +2 | NOR +16 | PEN −32 | |||||
| Illawarra Steelers | CAN −10 | NOR −5 | SOU +13 | PEN +6 | CRO −8 | WES −10 | CBY −6 | MAN −12 | EAS −2 | BAL −8 | STG −8 | X | PAR −20 | CAN −9 | NOR +18 | SOU +4 | PEN −26 | CRO −26 | WES −12 | CBY −20 | MAN −6 | EAS +10 | BAL −13 | STG −12 | X | PAR −2 | |||||
| Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | PEN −12 | WES +20 | CBY +20 | X | EAS +12 | BAL +4 | STG −4 | ILA +12 | CAN 0 | PAR +4 | NOR +14 | SOU −8 | CRO −15 | PEN −12 | WES +24 | CBY −4 | X | EAS +22 | BAL −8 | STG −17 | ILA +6 | CAN +15 | PAR −12 | NOR +18 | SOU −26 | CRO +6 | PEN −3 | ||||
| North Sydney Bears | BAL −20 | ILA +5 | CAN −8 | PAR −2 | X | SOU +4 | PEN −12 | CRO −14 | WES +2 | CBY −8 | MAN −14 | EAS +4 | STG −16 | BAL −23 | ILA −18 | CAN −30 | PAR −8 | X | SOU +4 | PEN 0 | CRO −12 | WES +16 | CBY −18 | MAN −18 | EAS −16 | STG −8 | |||||
| Parramatta Eels | STG −20 | CAN +14 | X | NOR +2 | SOU +17 | PEN −8 | CRO +4 | WES +6 | CBY +20 | MAN −4 | EAS +26 | BAL −13 | ILA +20 | STG +4 | CAN +14 | X | NOR +8 | SOU −13 | PEN +11 | CRO −8 | WES +38 | CBY −15 | MAN +12 | EAS −2 | BAL +32 | ILA +2 | X | PEN +32 | BAL +28 | CBY −26 | |
| Penrith Panthers | MAN +12 | BAL −30 | STG −3 | ILA −6 | CAN +30 | PAR +8 | NOR +12 | SOU +5 | X | CRO +6 | WES −9 | CBY +11 | EAS −20 | MAN +12 | BAL −6 | STG −10 | ILA +26 | CAN +6 | PAR −11 | NOR 0 | SOU −4 | X | CRO +8 | WES +26 | CBY −14 | EAS +32 | MAN +3 | PAR −32 | |||
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | EAS +18 | STG −6 | ILA −13 | CAN −14 | PAR −17 | NOR −4 | X | PEN −5 | CRO +6 | WES −8 | CBY +15 | MAN +8 | BAL −12 | EAS +8 | STG −24 | ILA −4 | CAN −7 | PAR +13 | NOR −4 | X | PEN +4 | CRO +2 | WES +8 | CBY −18 | MAN +26 | BAL −18 | |||||
| St. George Dragons | PAR +20 | SOU +6 | PEN +3 | CRO +10 | WES +12 | CBY 0 | MAN +4 | EAS +4 | BAL −5 | X | ILA +8 | CAN −10 | NOR +16 | PAR −4 | SOU +24 | PEN +10 | CRO +18 | WES −3 | CBY +10 | MAN +17 | EAS 0 | BAL +2 | X | ILA +12 | CAN +44 | NOR +8 | X | X | CBY +11 | X | CBY −1 |
| Western Suburbs Magpies | X | MAN −20 | EAS −38 | BAL −40 | STG −12 | ILA +10 | CAN −32 | PAR −6 | NOR −2 | SOU +8 | PEN +9 | CRO −18 | CBY −52 | X | MAN −24 | EAS 0 | BAL −6 | STG +3 | ILA +12 | CAN 0 | PAR −38 | NOR −16 | SOU −8 | PEN −26 | CRO −26 | CBY −28 | |||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | F1 | F2 | F3 | F4 | GF |
Bold – Home game
X – Bye
* – Extra time game
Opponent for round listed above margin