New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1983
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| New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1983 | |
 |
|
| Teams | 14 |
| Premiers |  Parramatta (3rd title) |
| Minor premiers |  Manly-Warringah (5th title) |
| Matches played | 189 |
| Points scored | 7296 (average 38.603 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,458,144 (average 7,715 per match) |
| Top points scorer(s) |  Michael Eden (256 points) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Phil Blake (27 tries) |
The 1983 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the seventy-sixth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. The lineup of clubs remained unchanged from the previous season, with fourteen contesting for the Winfield Cup, including six Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, one from greater New South Wales and one from the Australian Capital Territory. During the season, NSWRFL teams also competed for the 1983 KB Cup.
Contents |
[edit] Teams
 Balmain Tigers |
 Canberra Raiders |
 Canterbury Bulldogs |
 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
 Eastern Suburbs Roosters |
 Illawarra Steelers |
 Manly Sea Eagles |
 Newtown Jets |
 North Sydney Bears |
 Parramatta Eels |
 Penrith Panthers |
 South Sydney Rabbitohs |
 St. George Dragons |
 Western Suburbs Magpies |
[edit] Season summary
For the first time, the number of points awarded for scoring a try was raised from three to four. There was also the introduction of a hand over if a team was caught in possession six times, which had the effect of killing the traditional scrum but attracted many new followers to a game that had seen crowds decline by fifty percent since the record year of 1968. To counter a lucrative illegal betting market, legal betting via FootyTAB was introduced and was a resounding success.
It was also the last season in the competition for foundation club the Newtown Jets, who were dropped at the season's end.
Manly-Warringah managed 23 wins from 28 matches in 1983 - at the time the most wins in a season by a club in NSWRL/NRL premieship history alongside Parramatta's 23 in 1982.
[edit] Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manly-Warringah |
26 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 690 | 361 | +329 | 44 |
| 2 | Parramatta |
26 | 18 | 0 | 8 | 639 | 293 | +346 | 36 |
| 3 |  Canterbury-Bankstown |
26 | 18 | 0 | 8 | 531 | 409 | +122 | 36 |
| 4 |  Balmain |
26 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 525 | 438 | +87 | 34 |
| 5 |  St. George |
26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 551 | 450 | +101 | 29 |
| 6 | Eastern Suburbs |
26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 579 | 492 | +87 | 29 |
| 7 |  North Sydney |
26 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 435 | 446 | -11 | 27 |
| 8 |  South Sydney |
26 | 12 | 1 | 13 | 439 | 495 | -56 | 25 |
| 9 |  Cronulla-Sutherland |
26 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 450 | 520 | -70 | 24 |
| 10 |  Canberra |
26 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 495 | 614 | -119 | 18 |
| 11 |  Penrith |
26 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 476 | 647 | -171 | 18 |
| 12 |  Illawarra |
26 | 8 | 0 | 18 | 451 | 644 | -193 | 16 |
| 13 |  Newtown |
26 | 7 | 2 | 17 | 373 | 591 | -218 | 16 |
| 14 |  Western Suburbs |
26 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 394 | 628 | -234 | 12 |
[edit] Finals
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Playoff | ||||||||
 St. George |
44-16 |  Eastern Suburbs |
30 August 1983 | Sydney Cricket Ground | B. Barnes | 17,981 | ||
| Qualifying FInals | ||||||||
 Balmain |
14-17 | St. George |
3 September 1983 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Kevin Roberts | 24,652 | ||
 Parramatta |
30-22 |  Canterbury-Bankstown |
4 September 1983 | Sydney Cricket Ground | B. Barnes | 22,311 | ||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
| Canterbury-Bankstown |
26-24 | St. George |
10 September 1983 | Sydney Cricket Ground | John Gocher | 27,867 | ||
 Manly-Warringah |
19-10 | Parramatta |
11 September 1983 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Kevin Roberts | 28,921 | ||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Parramatta |
18-4 | Canterbury-Bankstown |
18 September 1983 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Kevin Roberts | 27,726 | ||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| Manly-Warringah |
6-18 | Parramatta |
25 September 1983 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Kevin Roberts | 40,285 | ||
[edit] Grand Final
| Manly-Warringah | Position | Parramatta |
|---|---|---|
| Graham Eadie | FB | Paul Taylor |
| John Ribot | WG | David Liddiard |
| Chris Close | CE | Mick Cronin |
| Phil Sigsworth | CE | Steve Ella |
| Kerry Boustead | WG | Eric Grothe |
| Alan Thompson | FE | Brett Kenny |
| Phil Blake | HB | Peter Sterling |
| Ian Schubert | LK | Ray Price |
| Noel Cleal (c) | SR | Steve Sharp |
| Paul Vautin | SR | Peter Wynn |
| Paul McCabe | PR | Paul Mares |
| Ray Brown | HK | Steve Edge (c) |
| Geoff Gerard | PR | Stan Jurd |
| Glenn Ryan | Reserve | Don Duffy |
| Rick Chisholm | Reserve | Chris Phelan |
| Michael Blake | Reserve | Mark Laurie |
| Reserve | Gary Martine | |
| Bob Fulton | Coach | Jack Gibson |
Parramatta powered over Manly for the second year straight to claim their third successive title. The one-sided 18-6 win saw Brett Kenny claim a unique achievement in scoring two tries in three successive grand finals. Kenny opened the scoring and the Eels raced to a 10-0 lead after 13 minutes when Eric Grothe steamrolled burly Manly fullback Graham Eadie.
Parramatta 18 (Tries: Brett Kenny 2, Eric Grothe; Goals: Cronin 3)
defeated
Manly-Warringah 6 (Tries: Sigsworth; Goals: Eadie)
[edit] References
- Rugby League Tables - Season 1983 The World of Rugby League
