Australian Rugby League season 1995
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| Australian Rugby League season 1995 | |
 |
|
| Teams | 20 |
| Premiers |  Sydney Bulldogs (7th title) |
| Minor premiers |  Manly-Warringah (9th title) |
| Matches played | 229 |
| Points scored | 5370 (average 23.45 per match) |
| Attendance | 3,352,927 (average 14,642 per match) |
| Top points scorer(s) |  Jason Taylor (242 points) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Steve Menzies (22 tries) |
The 1995 Australian Rugby League premiership was the 88th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the first to be run by the Australian Rugby League. Twenty teams contested during the season for the Winfield Cup, making it the largest first-grade competition in terms of participation in Australia's history. The competing clubs included five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, two from greater New South Wales, four from Queensland, and one from New Zealand, the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia.
Contents |
[edit] Teams
 Auckland Warriors |
 Balmain Tigers |
 Brisbane Broncos |
 Canberra Raiders |
 Canterbury Bulldogs |
 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
 Gold Coast Seagulls |
 Illawarra Steelers |
 Manly Sea Eagles |
 Newcastle Knights |
 North Sydney Bears |
 North Queensland Cowboys |
 Parramatta Eels |
 Penrith Panthers |
 Sydney City Roosters |
 South Queensland Crushers |
 South Sydney Rabbitohs |
 St. George Dragons |
 Western Suburbs Magpies |
 Western Reds |
[edit] Season summary
When the Australian Rugby League began taking bids for additional teams to begin playing in 1995, it was expected that only two teams would enter. The Auckland Warriors were the first club to be accepted, with the final place being fought for by South Queensland, North Queensland and Perth. The Australian Rugby League later announced that all three clubs had been accepted, taking the number of teams from 16 in 1994 to 20 in 1995, the highest it had ever been and would ever be.
1995 would prove to be a year of massive change for the competition. In addition to the introduction of four new teams, it was the last year of the permiership's association with Rothmans and the Winfield brand and consequently the final year that clubs competed for the Winfield Cup.
The storm clouds that had been gathering for some time in the form of rumours and speculation about Super League were to break on 1 April 1995 with a verification that would rain on the game with more force than anyone could have expected. The subsequent Super League war would rock the sport in Australia and set it back almost a decade in terms of its loss of public support and damage to its grass roots values.
The 1995 season was played in front of a background of legal actions, breaking friendships and with clubs, players and managers all jockeying for position and self-interest. Players who had signed with Super League were forbidden by the ARL from participating in the State of Origin. Queensland and New South Wales selectors were limited to selecting players only from ARL-aligned clubs.
In an effort to position themselves favourably as battle lines were being drawn up, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs re-branded themselves the 'Sydney Bulldogs' for the 1995 season.
Manly-Warringah's Steve Menzies became the first forward for 50 years to top the season's try-scoring list.
[edit] Advertising
1995 marked the final year of the New South Wales Rugby League's sponsorship arrangement with Rothmans and Winfield. It was consequently the final year of a seven-year association with Tina Turner and the end of an era in Australian sports marketing. As in 1994 the New South Wales Rugby League and its advertising agency Hertz Walpole returned to the original 1989 recording of The Best by Turner to underscore the season launch advertisement. Footage from the studio bluescreen shoot taken during Turner's 1993 Sydney visit was used in the final advertisements. The enduring images are of Turner performing the song on an elevated stage in front of the fluttering banners of the 20 clubs that would participate in 1995's expanded competition.
[edit] Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manly-Warringah |
22 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 687 | 248 | +439 | 40 |
| 2 |  Canberra |
22 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 634 | 255 | +379 | 40 |
| 3 |  Brisbane |
22 | 17 | 0 | 5 | 600 | 364 | +236 | 34 |
| 4 |  Cronulla |
22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 516 | 287 | +229 | 32 |
| 5 |  Newcastle |
22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 549 | 396 | +153 | 30 |
| 6 | Sydney Bulldogs |
22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 468 | 352 | +116 | 28 |
| 7 |  St. George |
22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 583 | 382 | +201 | 26 |
| 8 | North Sydney |
22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 542 | 331 | +211 | 24 |
| 9 |  Sydney City |
22 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 466 | 406 | +60 | 24 |
| 10 |  Auckland |
22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 544 | 493 | +51 | 24 |
| 11 |  Western Reds |
22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 361 | 549 | -188 | 22 |
| 12 |  Illawarra |
22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 519 | 431 | +88 | 21 |
| 13 |  Western Suburbs |
22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 459 | 534 | -75 | 20 |
| 14 |  Penrith |
22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 481 | 484 | -3 | 18 |
| 15 |  Balmain |
22 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 309 | 591 | -282 | 14 |
| 16 |  South Queensland |
22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 303 | 502 | -199 | 13 |
| 17 |  Gold Coast |
22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 350 | 628 | -278 | 9 |
| 18 |  South Sydney |
22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 319 | 686 | -367 | 9 |
| 19 |  Parramatta |
22 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 310 | 690 | -380 | 6 |
| 20 |  North Queensland |
22 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 269 | 660 | -391 | 4 |
- Auckland Warriors were stripped of 2 competition points due to exceeding the replacement limit in one game.
[edit] Finals
The final eight was to be made of four clubs who would ultimately prove loyal to the Australian Rugby League (Manly-Warringah, St. George, North Sydney and Newcastle) and four clubs who would join Super League's rebel ranks (Sydney Bulldogs, Canberra, Brisbane and Cronulla-Sutherland). The Grand Final, ironically was played out by a team from each faction, being Manly-Warringah and the Sydney Bulldogs.
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Quarter Finals | ||||||||
 Newcastle Knights |
20-10 |  North Sydney Bears |
1 September 1995 | Parramatta Stadium | David Manson | 14,174 | ||
 Canberra Raiders |
14-8 |  Brisbane Broncos |
2 September 1995 | Suncorp Stadium | Kelvin Jeffes | 40,187 | ||
 Sydney Bulldogs |
12-8 |  St. George Dragons |
2 September 1995 | Sydney Football Stadium | Eddie Ward | 26,835 | ||
 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
24-20 |  Cronulla Sharks |
3 September 1995 | Sydney Football Stadium | Paul McBlane | 32,795 | ||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
| Cronulla Sharks |
18-19 | Newcastle Knights |
9 September 1995 | Sydney Football Stadium | Eddie Ward | 26,061 | ||
| Brisbane Broncos |
10-24 | Sydney Bulldogs |
10 September 1995 | Sydney Football Stadium | David Manson | 34,087 | ||
| Preliminary Finals | ||||||||
| Canberra Raiders |
6-25 | Sydney Bulldogs |
16 September 1995 | Sydney Football Stadium | Eddie Ward | 36,894 | ||
| Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
12-4 | Newcastle Knights |
17 September 1995 | Sydney Football Stadium | David Manson | 38,874 | ||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles |
4-17 | Sydney Bulldogs |
24 September 1995 | Sydney Football Stadium | Eddie Ward | 41,127 | ||
[edit] Grand Final
| Sydney Bulldogs | Position | Manly Warringah |
|---|---|---|
| Rod Silva | FB | Matthew Ridge |
| Jason Williams | WG | Craig Hancock |
| John Timu | CE | Danny Moore |
| Matthew Ryan | CE | Terry Hill |
| Darryl Halligan | WG | John Hopoate |
| Terry Lamb (c) | FE | Cliff Lyons |
| Craig Polla-Mounter | HB | Geoff Toovey (c) |
| Darren Britt | PR | David Gillespie |
| Jason Hetherington | HK | Des Hasler |
| Dean Pay | PR | Mark Carroll |
| Steve Price | SR | Steve Menzies |
| Simon Gillies | SR | Ian Roberts |
| Jim Dymock | LK | Nik Kosef |
| Jason Smith | Reserve | Owen Cunningham |
| Glen Hughes | Reserve | Daniel Gartner |
| Mitch Newton | Reserve | Solomon Haumono |
| Chris Anderson | Coach | Bob Fulton |
Having finished in sixth place at the end of the regular season, the Bulldogs managed a history-making finals surge, winning three sudden death matches to make the grand final.
Referee Eddie Ward, who awarded the Bulldogs two dubious tries, was the centre of controversy. The first try came from a blatant forward pass, while the match-winning second try by Glen Hughes was scored on the seventh tackle.
Canterbury were ahead at half-time 6-4. They lost the scrum count 3-5 and the penalty count 9-10.
Referee Eddie Ward sent Bulldogs stalwart and skipper Terry Lamb to the sin-bin for a ten-minute spell. As of the 2007 NRL season no player since has been sin-binned in a Grand Final. At game's end Lamb enjoyed the rare honour of celebrating as a retiring victorious skipper, although he surprisingly returned for the 1996 season.
Canterbury Bankstown 17 (Tries: Price, Hughes, Silva. Goals: Halligan 2/5. Fld Goal: Lamb .)
defeated
Manly 4 ( Goals: Ridge 2.)
Clive Churchill Medal: Jim Dymock (Sydney Bulldogs).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Rugby League Tables - Season 1995 The World of Rugby League
