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1983 NSWRFL season
Rugby league competition
Rugby league competition
| Field | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| year | 1983 | |
| competition | New South Wales Rugby Football League | |
| teams | 14 | |
| premiers | [[Image:Parramatta colours.svg | 16x16px]] Parramatta |
| count | 3rd | |
| minor premiers | [[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg | 16x16px]] Manly-Warringah |
| mpcount | 5th | |
| matches | 189 | |
| points | 7,296 | |
| attendance | 1,458,144 | |
| top point scorer | [[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg | 16x16px]] Michael Eden (256) |
| top try scorer | [[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg | 16x16px]] Phil Blake (27) |
| MVP | Michael Eden | |
| MVP_link | Rothmans Medal | |
| wooden_spoon | [[File:Western Suburbs colours.svg | 16x16px]] Western Suburbs |
| wooden_spoon_count | 12th | |
| prevseason_link | 1982 NSWRFL season | |
| prevseason_year | 1982 | |
| nextseason_link | 1984 NSWRL season | |
| nextseason_year | 1984 |
The 1983 NSWRFL season was the 76th season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Fourteen teams competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated in a replay of the previous year's grand final between the Parramatta and Manly-Warringah clubs. During the season, NSWRFL teams also competed for the 1983 KB Cup.
1983 was the final season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership for Sydney-based foundation club Newtown Jets, and the first reduction in the number of teams in the competition since Sydney University's departure at the end of the 1937 NSWRFL season. It was also the first season that was played with four-point tries.
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 handover 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 attendances 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 regarded as a success.
Twenty-six regular season rounds were played from February till August, resulting in a top five of Manly-Warringah, Parramatta, Canterbury-Bankstown, Balmain and St. George, who battled it out in the finals. Manly-Warringah managed 23 wins from 28 matches in 1983 – at the time the most wins in a season by a club in NSWRFL premiership history alongside Parramatta's 23 in 1982.
The 1983 season's Rothmans Medallist was Eastern Suburbs’ back, Michael Eden and the Dally M Award went to Western Suburbs’ half, Terry Lamb. Rugby League Week gave their player of the year award to Manly-Warringah winger, Phil Sigsworth. This season the Coca-Cola Coach-of-the-year award was voted for by the coaches in the League and was awarded to rookie coach Laurie Freier.{{cite news | access-date = 18 September 2010}}
This was also the last year in the first-grade competition for foundation club Newtown, who were dropped at the season's end.
The Round 2 game between Illawarra and Manly-Warringah at the Wollongong Showground was refereed by French Rugby League Federation referee Julien Rascagnères who had refereed the Ashes series during the 1982 Kangaroo tour.
Teams
The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous season, with fourteen clubs competing in total, including six Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, one from greater New South Wales and one from the Australian Capital Territory. It was the last season for the Newtown club.
| **Newtown Jets**[[File:Newtown Jersey 1983.png | 100px | center]] | **North Sydney Bears**[[File:North Sydney Jersey 1983.png | 100px | center]] | **Parramatta Eels**[[File:Parramatta Jersey 1983.png | 100px | center]] | **Penrith Panthers**[[File:Penrith Jersey 1983.png | 100px | center]] | **South Sydney Rabbitohs**[[File:South Sydney Jersey 1983.png | 100px | center]] | **St. George Dragons**[[File:St George Jersey 1983.png | 100px | center]] | **Western Suburbs Magpies**[[File:Western Suburbs Jersey 1983.png | 100px | center]] |
|---|
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg | 16x16px]] Manly | 26 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 690 | 361 | +329 |
| 2 | [[Image:Parramatta colours.svg | 16x16px]] Parramatta | 26 | 18 | 0 | 8 | 639 | 293 | +346 |
| 3 | [[Image:Canterbury colours.svg | 16x16px]] Canterbury | 26 | 18 | 0 | 8 | 531 | 409 | +122 |
| 4 | [[Image:Balmain colours.svg | 16x16px]] Balmain | 26 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 525 | 438 | +87 |
| 5 | [[Image:St. George colours.svg | 16x16px]] St. George | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 551 | 450 | +101 |
| 6 | [[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg | 16x16px]] Eastern Suburbs | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 579 | 492 | +87 |
| 7 | [[Image:North Sydney colours.svg | 16x16px]] North Sydney | 26 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 435 | 446 | -11 |
| 8 | [[Image:South Sydney colours.svg | 16x16px]] South Sydney | 26 | 12 | 1 | 13 | 439 | 495 | -56 |
| 9 | [[Image:Cronulla colours.svg | 16x16px]] Cronulla | 26 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 450 | 520 | -70 |
| 10 | [[Image:Canberra colours.svg | 16x16px]] Canberra | 26 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 495 | 614 | -119 |
| 11 | Penrith | 26 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 476 | 647 | -171 | |
| 12 | [[Image:Illawarra colours.svg | 16x16px]] Illawarra | 26 | 8 | 0 | 18 | 451 | 644 | -193 |
| 13 | [[Image:Newtown colours.svg | 16x16px]] Newtown | 26 | 7 | 2 | 17 | 373 | 591 | -218 |
| 14 | [[Image:Western Suburbs colours.svg | 16x16px]] Western Suburbs | 26 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 394 | 628 | -234 |
Finals
| Home | Score | Away | Match information | Date and time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Playoff** | |||||||||
| [[Image:St. George colours.svg | 23x23px]] St. George Dragons | 44-16 | [[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg | 23x23px]] Eastern Suburbs Roosters | 30 August 1983 | Sydney Cricket Ground | B. Barnes | 17,981 | |
| **Qualifying Finals** | |||||||||
| [[Image:Balmain colours.svg | 23x23px]] Balmain Tigers | 14-17 | [[Image:St. George colours.svg | 23x23px]] St. George Dragons | 3 September 1983 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Kevin Roberts | 24,652 | |
| [[Image:Parramatta colours.svg | 23x23px]] Parramatta Eels | 30-22 | [[Image:Canterbury colours.svg | 23x236px]] Canterbury Bulldogs | 4 September 1983 | Sydney Cricket Ground | B. Barnes | 22,311 | |
| **Semi-finals** | |||||||||
| [[Image:Canterbury colours.svg | 23x23px]] Canterbury Bulldogs | 26-24 | [[Image:St. George colours.svg | 23x23px]] St. George Dragons | 10 September 1983 | Sydney Cricket Ground | John Gocher | 27,867 | |
| [[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg | 23x23px]] Manly Sea Eagles | 19-10 | [[Image:Parramatta colours.svg | 23x23px]] Parramatta Eels | 11 September 1983 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Kevin Roberts | 28,921 | |
| **Preliminary final** | |||||||||
| [[Image:Parramatta colours.svg | 23x23px]] Parramatta Eels | 18-4 | [[Image:Canterbury colours.svg | 23x23px]] Canterbury Bulldogs | 18 September 1983 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Kevin Roberts | 27,726 | |
| **Grand final** | |||||||||
| [[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg | 23x23px]] Manly Sea Eagles | 6-18 | [[Image:Parramatta colours.svg | 23x23px]] Parramatta Eels | 25 September 1983 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Kevin Roberts | 40,285 |
Chart
| team-width=150
| RD1-seed1=2 | RD1-team1= Parramatta | RD1-score1=30 | RD1-seed2=3 | RD1-team2= Canterbury | RD1-score2=22
| RD1-seed3=4 | RD1-team3= Balmain | RD1-score3=14 | RD1-seed4=5 | RD1-team4= St. George | RD1-score4=17
| RD2-seed1=1 | RD2-team1= Manly | RD2-score1=19 | RD2-seed2= | RD2-team2= Parramatta | RD2-score2=10
| RD2-seed3= | RD2-team3= Canterbury | RD2-score3=26 | RD2-seed4= | RD2-team4= St. George | RD2-score4=24
| RD3-seed1= | RD3-team1= Parramatta | RD3-score1=18 | RD3-seed2= | RD3-team2= Canterbury | RD3-score2=4
| RD4-seed1= | RD4-team1= Manly | RD4-score1=6 | RD4-seed2= | RD4-team2= Parramatta | RD4-score2=18
Grand final
| Manly Sea Eagles | Position | Parramatta Eels |
|---|---|---|
| FB | ||
| 2. John Ribot | WG | 2. David Liddiard |
| 3. Chris Close | CE | 3. Mick Cronin |
| 4. Phil Sigsworth | CE | 4. Steve Ella |
| 5. Kerry Boustead | WG | 5. Eric Grothe |
| 6. Alan Thompson (c) | FE | 6. Brett Kenny |
| 7. Phil Blake | HB | 7. Peter Sterling |
| 8. Ian Schubert | LK | 8. Ray Price |
| 9. Noel Cleal | SR | 9. Steve Sharp |
| 10. Paul Vautin | SR | 10. Peter Wynn |
| 11. Paul McCabe | PR | 11. Paul Mares |
| 12. Ray Brown | HK | 12. Steve Edge (c) |
| 13. Geoff Gerard | PR | 13. Stan Jurd |
| 18. Glenn Ryan | Reserve | 16. Chris Phelan |
| 20. Rick Chisolm | Reserve | 20. Gary Martine |
| 25. Michael Blake | Reserve | 22. Mark Laurie |
| Reserve | 23. Don Duffy | |
| Bob Fulton | Coach | Jack Gibson |
Parramatta powered over Manly for the second year straight to claim their third successive title. The 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: Phil Sigsworth; Goals: Graham Eadie)
Player statistics
The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 26: Top 5 point scorers
| Points | Player | Tries | Goals | Field Goals | 244 | 214 | 202 | 193 | 192 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Eden | 11 | 99 | 2 | ||||||
| Graham Eadie | 7 | 93 | 0 | ||||||
| Mick Cronin | 4 | 93 | 0 | ||||||
| Ron Giteau | 5 | 86 | 1 | ||||||
| Ross Conlon | 7 | 82 | 0 |
Top 5 try scorers
| Tries | Player | 26 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Blake | ||||||
| Neil Hunt | ||||||
| Chris Anderson | ||||||
| Steve Morris | ||||||
| Shane McKellar |
Top 5 goal scorers
| Goals | Player | 99 | 93 | 93 | 86 | 82 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Eden | ||||||
| Graham Eadie | ||||||
| Mick Cronin | ||||||
| Ron Giteau | ||||||
| Ross Conlon |
References
References
- [http://afltables.com/rl/crowds/summary.html AFL Tables – Rugby League Crowds summary]
- [https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/seasons/nswrfl-1983/round-2/illawarra-steelers-vs-manly-warringah-sea-eagles/summary.html 1983 Winfield Cup Round 2 Illawarra vs Manly summary]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnkcIlhjlno&t=344s 1983 Winfield Cup Round 2 Illawarra vs Manly highlights]
- "History of the Premiership". [[Australian Rugby League]].
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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