New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1976
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| New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1976 | |
 |
|
| Teams | 12 |
| Premiers |  Manly-Warringah (3rd title) |
| Minor premiers | Manly-Warringah (4th title) |
| Matches played | 138 |
| Points scored | 4390 (average 31.812 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,594,183 (average 11,552 per match) |
| Top points scorer(s) | Graham Eadie (233 points) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Bob Fulton (24 tries) |
The 1976 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the sixty-ninth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Twelve clubs contested during the season for the premiership, including six Sydney-based foundation teams and another six from Sydney. NSWRFL teams also competed for the 1976 Amco Cup.
Contents |
[edit] Teams
 Balmain Tigers |
 Canterbury Bulldogs |
 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
 Eastern Suburbs Roosters |
 Manly Sea Eagles |
 Newtown Jets |
 North Sydney Bears |
 Parramatta Eels |
 Penrith Panthers |
 South Sydney Rabbitohs |
 St. George Dragons |
 Western Suburbs Magpies |
[edit] Season summary
In a one-off match that would form the foundation of the modern World Club Challenge, the previous season's premiers, Eastern Suburbs played British Champions St Helens RLFC on the 29th of June at the Sydney Cricket Ground. 26,865 turned out to see the Roosters beat the Saints 25 to 2.
[edit] Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manly-Warringah |
22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 499 | 252 | +247 | 32 |
| 2 |  Parramatta |
22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 347 | 238 | +109 | 30 |
| 3 |  St. George |
22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 328 | 298 | +30 | 28 |
| 4 |  Eastern Suburbs |
22 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 399 | 250 | +149 | 27 |
| 5 |  Canterbury-Bankstown |
22 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 361 | 337 | +24 | 27 |
| 6 |  Balmain |
22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 318 | 287 | +31 | 25 |
| 7 |  Western Suburbs |
22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 379 | 313 | +66 | 24 |
| 8 |  Cronulla-Sutherland |
22 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 378 | 393 | -15 | 19 |
| 9 |  Penrith |
22 | 8 | 1 | 13 | 352 | 333 | +19 | 17 |
| 10 |  South Sydney |
22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 297 | 421 | -124 | 16 |
| 11 |  North Sydney |
22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 272 | 526 | -254 | 13 |
| 12 |  Newtown |
22 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 264 | 546 | -282 | 6 |
[edit] Finals
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Qualifying Finals | ||||||||
 Parramatta |
31 - 6 |  St. George |
28 August 1976 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Greg Hartley | 28,264 | ||
 Eastern Suburbs |
13 - 22 |  Canterbury-Bankstown |
29 August 1976 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Gary Cook | 27,203 | ||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
 Manly-Warringah |
17 - 23 | Parramatta |
4 September 1976 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Greg Hartley | 30,999 | ||
| St. George |
9 - 25 | Canterbury-Bankstown |
5 September 1976 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Gary Cook | 27,261 | ||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Manly-Warringah |
15 - 12 | Canterbury-Bankstown |
11 September 1976 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Gary Cook | 31,381 | ||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| Parramatta |
10 - 13 | Manly-Warringah |
18 September 1976 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Gary Cook | 57,343 | ||
[edit] Semi Finals
Parramatta were first into the Grand Final, truimphing 23-17 in a bloody and brutal major semi-final against Manly. Manly earned a grand final berth the following week, surviving a Canterbury comeback to win 15-12.[1]
[edit] Grand Final
| Manly Sea Eagles | Position | Parramatta Eels |
|---|---|---|
| Graham Eadie | FB | Mark Levy |
| Tom Mooney | WG | Jim Porter |
| Russell Gartner | CE | Ed Sulkowicz |
| Bob Fulton (c) | CE | John Moran |
| Rod Jackson | WG | Neville Glover |
| Alan Thompson | FE | John Peard |
| Gary Stephens | HB | John Kolc |
| John Harvey | PR | Graham Olling |
| Max Krilich | HK | Ron Hilditch |
| Terry Randall | PR | Denis Fitzgerald |
| Steve Norton | SR | Ray Higgs (c) |
| Phil Lowe | SR | Geoff Gerard |
| Ian Martin | LK | Ray Price |
| Gary Thoroughgoood | Reserve | J Baker |
| Mark Willoughby | Reserve | Graeme Atkins |
| Frank Stanton | Coach | Terry Fearnley |
In 1976, after 30 years of competition, Parramatta reached their first Grand Final since their admission into the NSWRFL premiership in 1947. Jim Porter scored first, getting Parramatta to a 5-0 lead. A penalty goal to Graham Eadie closed the score to 5-2 before Alan Thompson side-stepped through to send Phil Lowe in for Manly's first and only try. Scores were locked 7-7 at half time.
Geoff Gerard scored an unconverted try for the Eels early in the second half, then two penalties gave Manly an 11-10 lead. Twelve minutes from full-time Parramatta missed a critical opportunity to win the game and their first ever premiership when winger Neville Glover put down a pass from John Moran in the Paddington Hill corner with the line wide open.
Another penalty gave Manly a 13-10 lead. In the frantic dying minutes Parramatta threw everything they had at the Manly defence including the infamous "flying wedge" of dubious legality which had Ron Hilditch at the apex of a phalanx of players driving him towards the line. The wedge was somehow stopped by Eadie a foot short of the try line.
The Manly defence held and the Sea Eagles secured their third premiership in five seasons, while the Eels would have to wait five more years for their first.
It was Bob Fulton's 213th and final match for Manly after a brilliant ten-year career with the club. He was full of emotion as he accepted the Giltinan Shield and was able to end his playing career at Manly on the highest note. He would later return to the club as a successful coach in the 1980s but first he would finish his playing years and then commence coaching at the Eastern Suburbs Roosters.
Manly's win was a triumph for the powerful triumvirate of Fulton, coach Frank Stanton and Secretary Ken Arthurson who would all go onto higher honours in the game. For Stanton, it was his first success in a coaching career which was to bring two premierships and two Ashes-winning Kangaroo tours. Arthurson had brought to the club players of a calibre to enable five Grand Final appearances in the 1970s for four victories. He would go on to become the Chairman of the New South Wales Rugby League and later the Australian Rugby League.
Manly 13 (Tries: Lowe. Goals: Eadie 5.)
Parramatta 10 (Tries: Porter, Gerard. Goals: Peard 2.)
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Heads, p365
[edit] References
- Heads, Ian (1992) True Blue The Story of the NSW Rugby League, Ironbark Press, Randwick, NSW
- Whiticker, Alan (1994) Grand Finals of the NSW Rugby League, Gary Allen Pty Ltd, Smithfield , NSW
- Rugby League Tables - Season 1976 The World of Rugby League
