New South Wales Rugby League season 1994
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| New South Wales Rugby League season 1994 | |
 |
|
| Teams | 16 |
| Premiers |  Canberra (3rd title) |
| Minor premiers |  Canterbury (6th title) |
| Matches played | 182 |
| Points scored | 7416 (average 40.747 per match) |
| Attendance | 2,732,389 (average 15,013 per match) |
| Top points scorer(s) | Daryl Halligan (270 points) |
| Top try scorer(s) |  Steve Renouf (23 tries) |
The 1994 New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the eighty-seventh season of professional rugby league football in Australia. The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous season, with sixteen clubs competing for the Winfield Cup, including five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, two from greater New South Wales, two from Queensland, and one from the Australian Capital Territory.
Contents |
[edit] Teams
 Balmain Tigers |
 Brisbane Broncos |
 Canberra Raiders |
 Canterbury Bulldogs |
 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
 Eastern Suburbs Roosters |
 Gold Coast Seagulls |
 Illawarra Steelers |
 Manly Sea Eagles |
 Newcastle Knights |
 North Sydney Bears |
 Parramatta Eels |
 Penrith Panthers |
 South Sydney Rabbitohs |
 St. George Dragons |
 Western Suburbs Magpies |
[edit] Season summary
This was the last season to be administered by the New South Wales Rugby League. The following year, control of the Winfield Cup premiership would be passed on to the Australian Rugby League.
On the first of June, the previous season's premiers, the Broncos played in the 1994 World Club Challenge match against British champions Wigan in Brisbane. Wigan defeated the Broncos 20 to 14 at ANZ Stadium in front of 54,220 spectators. With the Super League war looming, this was to be the last WCC match until Super League (Australia) season 1997, and the last time the British and Australian champions faced off until the year 2000.
The Canberra Raiders claimed their third premiership, beating the Canterbury Bulldogs 36–12 in the Grand Final in what was at the time the highest scoring grand final in history.
[edit] Advertising
In 1994 the League and its advertising agency Hertz Walpole returned to the original 1989 recording of "The Best" by Tina Turner to underscore the season launch ad. Footage had been shot of Turner's performance at the 1993 Grand Final and a studio bluescreen shoot also took place during that visit ensuring a store of images that could be used in flexible adaptations for the final two years of Turner's association with the competition and the Winfield Cup.
The 1994 advertisement used the performance and superimposed studio footage of Turner into crowd and stadium scenes that replicated the Sydney Football Stadium. The closing scenes of the commercial made it appear that Turner was singing the song high up in the Sydney Football Stadium's stands in front of its identifiable stretched-sail roofing.
[edit] Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canterbury |
22 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 537 | 340 | +197 | 36 |
| 2 |  North Sydney |
22 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 517 | 291 | +226 | 35 |
| 3 | Canberra |
22 | 17 | 0 | 5 | 677 | 298 | +379 | 34 |
| 4 |  Manly-Warringah |
22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 605 | 311 | +294 | 33 |
| 5 | Brisbane |
22 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 544 | 316 | +228 | 27 |
| 6 |  Illawarra |
22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 484 | 387 | +97 | 25 |
| 7 |  Cronulla |
22 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 432 | 401 | +31 | 24 |
| 8 |  Penrith |
22 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 404 | 448 | -44 | 22 |
| 9 |  South Sydney |
22 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 401 | 569 | -168 | 19 |
| 10 |  Newcastle |
22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 427 | 458 | -31 | 18 |
| 11 |  St. George |
22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 386 | 497 | -111 | 18 |
| 12 |  Parramatta |
22 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 350 | 474 | -124 | 15 |
| 13 |  Western Suburbs |
22 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 439 | 650 | -211 | 14 |
| 14 |  Eastern Suburbs |
22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 344 | 513 | -169 | 13 |
| 15 |  Gold Coast |
22 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 363 | 618 | -255 | 11 |
| 16 |  Balmain |
22 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 303 | 642 | -339 | 8 |
[edit] Finals
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Qualifying Finals | ||||||||
 North Sydney Bears |
12-26 |  Canberra Raiders |
3 September 1994 | Sydney Football Stadium | Bill Harrigan | 33,641 | ||
 Manly Sea Eagles |
4-16 |  Brisbane Broncos |
4 September 1994 | Sydney Football Stadium | Greg McCallum | 34,891 | ||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
| North Sydney Bears |
15-14 | Brisbane Broncos |
10 September 1994 | Sydney Football Stadium | Bill Harrigan | 36,011 | ||
 Canterbury Bulldogs |
19-18 | Canberra Raiders |
11 September 1994 | Sydney Football Stadium | Greg McCallum | 41,865 | ||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Canberra Raiders |
22-9 | North Sydney Bears |
18 September 1994 | Sydney Football Stadium | Greg McCallum | 41,941 | ||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| Canterbury Bulldogs |
12-36 | Canberra Raiders |
25 September 1994 | Sydney Football Stadium | Greg McCallum | 42,234 | ||
[edit] Grand Final
| Canterbury Bulldogs | Position | Canberra Raiders |
|---|---|---|
| Scott Wilson | FB | Brett Mullins |
| Jason Williams | WG | Ken Nagas |
| Steven Hughes | CE | Mal Meninga (c) |
| Jarrod McCracken | CE | Ruben Wiki |
| Darryl Halligan | WG | Noa Nadruku |
| Terry Lamb (c) | FE | Laurie Daley |
| Craig Polla-Mounter | HB | Ricky Stuart |
| Darren Britt | PR | Quentin Pongia |
| Jason Hetherington | HK | Steve Walters |
| Martin Bella | PR | Paul Osborne |
| Jason Smith | SR | Jason Croker |
| Dean Pay | SR | David Furner |
| Jim Dymock | LK | Bradley Clyde |
| Matthew Ryan | Reserve | Brett Hetherington |
| Mark Brokenshire | Reserve | David Westley |
| Simon Gillies | Reserve | |
| Steve Price | Reserve | |
| Chris Anderson | Coach | Tim Sheens |
The Canberra Raiders were confident in the lead up and everything played into their hands from the whistle. Canterbury veteran prop Martin Bella dropped the ball from the kick-off and before too long Canberra had posted two tries.
Canberra legend Mal Meninga was given a champion's farewell as his "Green Machine" swamped the Bulldogs. Canberra's Paul Osborne also enjoyed a fairytale day. On the outer for most of the year, Osborne won a reprieve as prop after team-mate John Lomax was suspended for a high tackle in the final against Norths. Osborne rose to the occasion, setting up the first two Raiders tries in the opening sixteen minutes.
Meninga's 166th and final match for the Raiders ended perfectly when he scored the last try of the day after intercepting a pass from Jason Smith. Meninga outlasted the cover defence, running almost 40 metres and palming off his opposite centre Jarrod McCracken to score the try and send the crowd into raptures.
Canberra 36 (Tries: Nagas 2, Furner, Daley, Nadruku, Croker, Meninga. Goals: Furner 4)
defeated
Canterbury Bulldogs 12 (Tries: Williams, Hetherington. Goals: Halligan 2 )
Clive Churchill Medallist: David Furner
[edit] References
- Rugby League Tables - Season 1994 The World of Rugby League
