1989 NSWRL season explained

Year:	1989
Teams:	16
Count:	1st
Mpcount:	17th
Matches:	183
Points:	5537
Attendance:	2040375
Top Point Scorer:	Ricky Walford (146) Andy Currier (146)
Top Try Scorer:	Gary Belcher (17)
Player Of The Year:	Gavin Miller Mark Sargent (Rothmans Medal)
Prevseason Link:	1988 NSWRL season
Prevseason Year:	1988
Nextseason Link:	1990 NSWRL season
Nextseason Year:	1990

The 1989 NSWRL season was the 82nd season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs competed for the New South Wales Rugby League's J.J. Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup Premiership during the season, which culminated in a grand final between Balmain and Canberra. This season NSWRL teams also competed for the 1989 Panasonic Cup. This would be the last time a mid-season competition was played concurrent with the regular season. From 1990 it would become a pre-season competition.

Season summary

Twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March till August, resulting in a top five of South Sydney, Penrith, Balmain, Canberra and Cronulla (who finished equal with Brisbane but beat them in a play-off for fifth) to battle it out in the finals.

This year Penrith forward Geoff Gerard set new record for most first-grade NSWRL premiership games at 320 before retiring at the end of the season.

The 1989 season's Rothmans Medal was shared by Cronulla-Sutherland forward Gavin Miller and Newcastle front-rower Mark Sargent. Miller also won the Dally M Award and was named Rugby League Week's player of the year.

The grand finals:

Canberra Raiders vs Balmain Tigers (Senior Grade)
North Sydney Bears vs Parramatta Eels (Reserve Grade)
South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Canberra Raiders (Under-21s Grade)

The winners in all grades were:

Canberra Raiders (Senior Grade)
North Sydney Bears (Reserve Grade)
South Sydney Rabbitohs (Under-21s Grade)

The State of Origin Series

Queensland vs New South Wales

Teams

The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous season, with sixteen clubs contesting the premiership, 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.

Advertising

1989 was a watershed year for the New South Wales Rugby League's advertising commencing an association with Tina Turner that would last until 1995. In those years the NSWRL, its ad agency Hertz Walpole and promotions consultant Brian Walsh would fundamentally change the image and popular perception of the game in Australia.

Agency copywriter Paul Knights inspired by the brutal simplicity of the game, saw a link to the lyrics in Tina Turner's 1987 hit What You Get Is What You See^[1] written by Terry Britten & Graham Lyle. Negotiations were assisted by the fact that her Australian manager Roger Davies was familiar with the game and the rights deal was easily done. There was initially no intention to film Tina performing the song but at the last minute an availability appeared in her schedule. The agency and a production crew were despatched to England along with the NSWRL's General Manager John Quayle bearing bags of balls, jumpers and branded goalpost pads. Leading players Cliff Lyons (Manly) and Gavin Miller (Cronulla) were both in England at the time playing for Leeds and Hull Kingston Rovers respectively and made themselves available for the film and promotional stills shoot with Tina. In the finished ad the Tina footage is interspersed with the usual big hits and crowd scenes plus shots of the star players of the time in pre-season training. Lyons appears in the commercial in a hammy locker room shot with Tina.

Initial questions about the relevance of Tina to the Australian game were displaced when the up tempo, sexy ad appeared and the long running and successful association began.

Regular season

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	F1	F2	F3	F4	GF
Balmain Tigers	NOR +7	NEW +2	BRI +9	PAR −2	WES −2	MAN +1	PEN −20	GCG +10	CBY −6	X	STG −10	ILA +12	SOU −2	EAS +4	CRO +22	CAN +6	NOR +32	NEW −8	BRI +18	PAR +4	WES +40	MAN 0	PEN +27	X	PEN +12	SOU +10	X	CAN −5*
Brisbane Broncos	PEN +20	MAN +4	BAL −9	WES +2	NEW +12	PAR +4	NOR +26	ILA +8	EAS +34	X	GCG +14	STG −10	CAN −21	CRO +32	CBY −14	SOU −12	PEN −10	MAN −8	BAL −18	WES +12	NEW +4	PAR +8	NOR +30	CRO −24
Canberra Raiders	CRO −18	SOU −15	EAS +1	GCG +24	CBY +30	ILA +36	STG +38	MAN +2	PAR +25	X	NEW −4	PEN −10	BRI +21	WES −3	NOR +9	BAL −6	CRO −6	SOU −10	EAS +4	GCG +24	CBY +4	ILA +10	STG +14	X	CRO +21	PEN +9	SOU +16	BAL +5*
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	GCG +6	CRO +20	ILA +12	STG −8	CAN −30	EAS +24	SOU −8	NEW −8	BAL +6	X	PEN −34	PAR +14	NOR 0	MAN −18	BRI +14	WES +20	GCG +6	CRO −15	ILA +10	STG −32	CAN −4	EAS −32	SOU 0
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	CAN +18	CBY −20	SOU −2	EAS +4	STG −1	GCG +2	ILA +20	PEN +22	NEW +26	X	PAR −10	NOR +14	WES +16	BRI −32	BAL −22	MAN +5	CAN +6	CBY +15	SOU +2	EAS −18	STG +14	GCG −4	ILA +32	BRI +24	CAN −21
Eastern Suburbs Roosters	SOU +14	STG +1	CAN −1	CRO −4	ILA +42	CBY −24	GCG −14	PAR −4	BRI −34	WES +2	X	MAN −10	PEN −20	BAL −4	NEW −10	NOR +6	SOU −18	STG +4	CAN −4	CRO +18	ILA 0	CBY +32	GCG +30
Gold Coast-Tweed Giants	CBY −6	ILA +4	X	CAN −24	SOU −15	CRO −2	EAS +14	BAL −10	PEN −23	STG −4	BRI −14	WES 0	NEW +6	NOR +2	MAN +23	PAR −14	CBY −6	ILA +2	STG −32	CAN −24	SOU −11	CRO +4	EAS −30
Illawarra Steelers	STG −4	GCG −4	CBY −12	SOU −8	EAS −42	CAN −36	CRO −20	BRI −8	MAN +6	NOR −12	X	BAL −12	PAR −16	PEN −1	WES −2	NEW −12	STG +2	GCG −2	CBY −10	SOU −12	EAS 0	CAN −10	CRO −32
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	PAR −2	BRI −4	NEW −14	NOR +4	PEN −10	BAL −1	WES +12	CAN −2	ILA −6	X	SOU −26	EAS +10	STG +14	CBY +18	GCG −23	CRO −5	PAR +22	BRI +8	NEW +10	NOR −2	PEN −18	BAL 0	WES +6
Newcastle Knights	WES +9	BAL −2	MAN +14	PEN −9	BRI −12	NOR +12	PAR +4	CBY +8	CRO −26	X	CAN +4	SOU −8	GCG −6	STG −8	EAS +10	ILA +12	WES −18	BAL +8	MAN −10	PEN −1	BRI −4	NOR +13	PAR +10
North Sydney Bears	BAL −7	PEN −20	WES +24	MAN −4	PAR +16	NEW −12	BRI −26	SOU −10	STG +2	ILA +12	X	CRO −14	CBY 0	GCG −2	CAN −9	EAS −6	BAL −32	PEN −29	WES −30	MAN +2	PAR −24	NEW −13	BRI −30
Parramatta Eels	MAN +2	WES +20	PEN +2	BAL +2	NOR −16	BRI −4	NEW −4	EAS +4	CAN −25	X	CRO +10	CBY −14	ILA +16	SOU −8	STG +12	GCG +14	MAN −22	WES −18	PEN +7	BAL −4	NOR +24	BRI −8	NEW −10
Penrith Panthers	BRI −20	NOR +20	PAR −2	NEW +9	MAN +10	WES +26	BAL +20	CRO −22	GCG +23	X	CBY +34	CAN +10	EAS +20	ILA +1	SOU +11	STG −4	BRI +10	NOR +29	PAR −7	NEW +1	MAN +18	WES +37	BAL −27	X	BAL −12	CAN −9
South Sydney Rabbitohs	EAS −14	CAN +15	CRO +2	ILA +8	GCG +15	STG +32	CBY +8	NOR +10	WES +9	X	MAN +26	NEW +8	BAL +2	PAR +8	PEN −11	BRI +12	EAS +18	CAN +10	CRO −2	ILA +12	GCG +11	STG +4	CBY 0	X	X	BAL −10	CAN −16
St. George Dragons	ILA +4	EAS −1	X	CBY +8	CRO +1	SOU −32	CAN −38	WES −2	NOR −2	GCG +4	BAL +10	BRI +10	MAN −14	NEW +8	PAR −12	PEN +4	ILA −2	EAS −4	GCG +32	CBY +32	CRO −14	SOU −4	CAN −14
Western Suburbs Magpies	NEW −9	PAR −20	NOR −24	BRI −2	BAL +2	PEN −26	MAN −12	STG +2	SOU −9	EAS −2	X	GCG 0	CRO −16	CAN +3	ILA +2	CBY −20	NEW +18	PAR +18	NOR +30	BRI −12	BAL −40	PEN −37	MAN −6
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	F1	F2	F3	F4	GF

Bold – Home game
X – Bye

– Extra time game

Opponent for round listed above margin

Ladder

	width=200	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Souths	22	18	1	3	390	207	+183	37
2	Penrith	22	16	0	6	438	241	+197	32
3	Balmain	22	14	1	7	380	236	+144	29
4	Canberra (P)	22	14	0	8	457	287	+170	28
5	Brisbane	22	14	0	8	398	290	+108	28
6	Cronulla-Sutherland	22	14	0	8	368	281	+87	28
7	Newcastle	22	11	0	11	281	281	0	22
8	Parramatta	22	11	0	11	346	366	-20	22
9	Canterbury-Bankstown	22	10	2	10	280	337	-57	22
10	St. George	22	10	0	12	330	356	-26	20
11	Easts	22	9	1	12	348	346	+2	19
12	Manly-Warringah	22	9	1	12	334	343	-9	19
13	Wests	22	7	1	14	229	389	-160	15
14	Gold Coast	22	7	1	14	223	383	-160	15
15	Norths	22	5	1	16	194	406	-212	11
16	Illawarra	22	2	1	19	256	503	-247	5

Ladder progression

Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 5.
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.
Underlined numbers indicate that the team had a bye during that round.

width=20 abbr="Position"	width=250	Team	width=20 abbr="Round 1"	1	width=20 abbr="Round 2"	2	width=20 abbr="Round 3"	3	width=20 abbr="Round 4"	4	width=20 abbr="Round 5"	5	width=20 abbr="Round 6"	6	width=20 abbr="Round 7"	7	width=20 abbr="Round 8"	8	width=20 abbr="Round 9"	9	width=20 abbr="Round 10"	10	width=20 abbr="Round 11"	11	width=20 abbr="Round 12"	12	width=20 abbr="Round 13"	13	width=20 abbr="Round 14"	14	width=20 abbr="Round 15"	15	width=20 abbr="Round 16"	16	width=20 abbr="Round 17"	17	width=20 abbr="Round 18"	18	width=20 abbr="Round 19"	19	width=20 abbr="Round 20"	20	width=20 abbr="Round 21"	21	width=20 abbr="Round 22"	22	width=20 abbr="Round 23"	23
1	0	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	16	18	20	22	24	24	26	28	30	30	32	34	36	37
2	0	2	2	4	6	8	10	10	12	12	14	16	18	20	22	22	24	26	26	28	30	32	32
3	2	4	6	6	6	8	8	10	10	10	10	12	12	14	16	18	20	20	22	24	26	27	29
4	0	0	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	14	14	14	16	16	18	18	18	18	20	22	24	26	28
5	2	4	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	16	18	18	18	20	20	20	20	20	20	22	24	26	28
6	2	2	2	4	4	6	8	10	12	12	12	14	16	16	16	18	20	22	24	24	26	26	28
7	2	2	4	4	4	6	8	10	10	10	12	12	12	12	14	16	16	18	18	18	18	20	22
8	2	4	6	8	8	8	8	10	10	10	12	12	14	14	16	18	18	18	20	20	22	22	22
9	2	4	6	6	6	8	8	8	10	10	10	12	13	13	15	17	19	19	21	21	21	21	22
10	2	2	2	4	6	6	6	6	6	8	10	12	12	14	14	16	16	16	18	20	20	20	20
11	2	4	4	4	6	6	6	6	6	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	12	12	14	15	17	19
12	0	0	0	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	6	8	10	10	10	12	14	16	16	16	17	19
13	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	5	5	7	9	9	11	13	15	15	15	15	15
14	0	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	5	7	9	11	11	11	13	13	13	13	15	15
15	0	0	2	2	4	4	4	4	6	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	11	11	11	11
16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	5	5	5

Finals

Cronulla and Brisbane, having finished equal fifth, played off for a semi-final berth. Cronulla would secure fifth position via a dominant display in a midweek clash on neutral turf at the recently constructed Parramatta Stadium.

Despite being on fourth place on the ladder, Canberra went on to win the competition, the first club to do so since the top five system's introduction. They won their last nine games of the season. Canberra's win also saw them become the first non-Sydney based club to win the premiership.

Home	Score	Away	Match information
Home	Score	Away	width=17%	Date and time	width=17%	Venue	width=11%	Referee	width=7%	Crowd
Playoff
align=left	Brisbane	14–38	align=left	Cronulla-Sutherland	29 August 1989	Parramatta Stadium	Mick Stone	9,047
Qualifying Finals
align=left	Canberra	31–10	align=left	Cronulla-Sutherland	2 September 1989	Sydney Football Stadium	Bill Harrigan	18,186
align=left	Penrith	12–24	align=left	Balmain	3 September 1989	Sydney Football Stadium	Mick Stone	29,508
Semi-finals
align=left	Penrith	18–27	align=left	Canberra	9 September 1989	Sydney Football Stadium	Mick Stone	20,314
align=left	South Sydney	10–20	align=left	Balmain	10 September 1989	Sydney Football Stadium	Bill Harrigan	40,000
Preliminary final
align=left	South Sydney	16–32	align=left	Canberra	17 September 1989	Sydney Football Stadium	Bill Harrigan	31,469
Grand final
align=left	Balmain	14–19	align=left	Canberra	24 September 1989	Sydney Football Stadium	Bill Harrigan	40,500

Grand final

Balmain	Position	Canberra
Garry Jack		Gary Belcher
		2. Matthew Wood
3. Andy Currier		3. Mal Meninga (c)
4. Tim Brasher		4. Laurie Daley
		5. John Ferguson
		6. Chris O'Sullivan
		7. Ricky Stuart
		8. Brent Todd
		9. Steve Walters
		10. Glenn Lazarus
		11. Dean Lance
		12. Gary Coyne
13. Wayne Pearce (c)		13. Bradley Clyde
	Bench	15. Paul Martin
	Bench	20. Steve Jackson
	Bench	22. Kevin Walters
	Coach	Tim Sheens

For only the second time ever, the grand final was not an all-Sydney affair. A number of rugby league writers have referred to the 1989 grand final as the greatest ever;^[2] Canberra, who were beaten grand finalists in 1987, had won five games straight in order to make the finals, and in the finals accounted for Cronulla, an emerging Penrith team, and minor premiers South Sydney to qualify for their second grand final, though any loss would have eliminated the side from contention.

Canberra captain Mal Meninga had to overcome a broken arm from earlier in the season and played in a special cast. Also playing for the Raiders were future representative stars Laurie Daley, Bradley Clyde, Ricky Stuart, Steve Walters and his younger brother Kevin and Glenn Lazarus, as well as established stars Gary Belcher, Brent Todd and John "Chicka" Ferguson. Canberra were coached by Tim Sheens.

Their opponents Balmain, beaten grand finalists in 1988, boasted a Test-strength pack including Steve "Blocker" Roach, Paul Sironen, Ben Elias, Bruce McGuire, and inspirational captain Wayne "Junior" Pearce, as well as a backline that included Garry Jack, goalkicking English import Andy Currier, New Zealand halfback Gary Freeman, former Wallaby rugby union winger James Grant, and schoolboy sensation Tim Brasher, were favourites to win. The Tigers were again coached by former Canterbury-Bankstown dual premiership winning coach Warren Ryan.

The pre-match entertainment was provided by Marc Hunter, Debra Byrne, Michael Edward Stevens, boy soprano Ben Hawks & John Williamson.^[3]

Balmain led 12–2 at half time, having scored two tries against the run of play. The first came after an intercept by winger James Grant, snatching an offload from Raiders prop Brent Todd. The second was a great team effort with Paul Sironen steaming over under the posts after lead-up work from Andy Currier and Grant, all starting from a kick ahead by Currier after he had received a perfect offload from Steve Roach.

Canberra had looked marginally the better side in the first half and coach Tim Sheens spoke effectively to his players at the break, stressing that they could be considered unlucky to be trailing. Fifteen minutes into the second half referee Bill Harrigan controversially ruled against Balmain second-rower Bruce McGuire for using offside Raider Steve Walters as a shepherd.^[4] From the ensuing penalty the Raiders kicked for touch and "Chicka" Ferguson set up the Raiders' first try when he escaped an attempted tackle by Currier, passed to Belcher, who also beat Currier to score. The gap was narrowed to 12–8.

Twice in the last twenty minutes Balmain nearly wrapped up the match. Michael Neil was ankle-tapped five metres from the line in a desperate dive by Mal Meninga. Then the Tigers' captain Wayne Pearce lost the ball with the line wide open and centre Tim Brasher unmarked.

Warren Ryan's decisions with fifteen minutes left to replace the enforcer Roach with defender Kevin Hardwick may have been the turning point in the game. Ryan effectively set out to defend a six-point lead, a tactic which ultimately backfired. Benny Elias' field goal attempt hit the cross bar, after he'd earlier had one charged down by Meninga. However, with 90 seconds to go and it seemingly all over for the Raiders, the evergreen Ferguson scored the try of his life. Chris O'Sullivan sent up a searching bomb, Laurie Daley was there to palm the ball to Ferguson who stepped back inside past three converging defenders to score close to the posts, enabling an easy conversion for Meninga to level.^[5]

With Canberra's confidence mounting, the game became the first grand final since 1977 to go into same-day extra time. At this point the Sironen/Roach replacements became crucial with neither able to resume the field for the extra period.

Garry Jack knocked on two minutes into extra time and from the scrum Canberra's five-eighth Chris O'Sullivan kicked a field goal. Minutes from the finish, Raiders replacement Steve Jackson received the ball fifteen metres from the line and made for the tryline, beating two men and then carrying a further three with him. As he was being brought down he reached out to place the ball one-handed on the line.

It was Canberra's first ever premiership; the first grand final won by an out-of-Sydney club; and the first team to win from 4th position. Canberra's nineteen-year-old lock Bradley Clyde was a deserved Clive Churchill Medal winner as the man of the match, though most agreed that a number of Raiders could have won the medal, including fullback Gary Belcher.

Such was the drama of the match that an account of it was written by Thomas Keneally entitled "A movie script that came to life".^[6] This memorable match is now commemorated each year with the 1989 League Legends Cup.

Canberra 19 (Tries: Belcher, Ferguson, Jackson. Goals: Meninga 3/6. Field Goal: O'Sullivan)

Balmain 14 (Tries: Grant, Sironen. Goals: Currier 3/4)

Referee: Bill Harrigan

Attendance: 40,500

Clive Churchill Medal

Bradley Clyde (Canberra)^[7]

World Club Challenge

See main article: 1989 World Club Challenge. On 4 October, Canberra played British champions Widnes in the 1989 World Club Challenge at Old Trafford, Manchester. The Raiders lost 18 to 30 in front of 30,768 people.

Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22.Top 5 point scorers

width=50	Points	width=200	Player	width=30	Tries	width=30	Goals	width=30	Field goals
146	Ricky Walford	13	47	0
120	Andy Currier	9	42	0
117	Neil Baker	6	43	7
110	Laurie Daley	14	27	0
101	Alan Wilson	10	30	1

Top 5 try scorers

width=50	Tries	width=200	Player
15	Greg Alexander
14	Laurie Daley
13	Gary Belcher
13	Ricky Walford
12	Phil Blake
12	Alan McIndoe
12	Andrew Simons
12	Andrew Ettingshausen

Top 5 goal scorers

width=50	Goals	width=200	Player
47	Ricky Walford
43	Neil Baker
42	Andy Currier
40	Mark Ellison
40	Terry Matterson
40	Andrew Leeds

References

Clarkson, Alan (1997). The Greatest Games We Ever Played (Essay Collection, ed Geoff Prenter). Sydney: Ironbark Publishing.
Rugby League Tables - Season 1989 Rugby League Tables.

External links

Article on the 1989 grand final at rleague.com
1989 grand final at eraofthebiff.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGpfea1rN6c 1989 grand final highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXIzp0ok24I 1989 Winfield Cup TVC
1989 J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup at rleague.com
NSWRL season 1989 at rugbyleagueproject.com
Results:1981-90 at rabbitohs.com.au

Notes and References

Book: Clemes , Michael D. . New Zealand Case Studies in Strategic Marketing . Thomson Learning Nelson . 2002 . 186 . 978-0-86469-419-5.
Clarkson, The Greatest Games We Ever Played p133
News: MacDonald . John . Shut your Eyes, plug your Ears, and cringe . . Australia . 75 . . 25 September 1992 . 13 February 2011.
Web site: The pain of a grand final penalty. news.com.au. 19 April 2018.
Book: Keneally , Thomas . The best ever Australian Sports Writing. Thomas Keneally. 2001. Black Inc.. Australia. 1-86395-266-7. 350–253. 19 February 2011.
Web site: Headon . David . Up From the Ashes: The Phoenix of a Rugby League Literature . Football Studies Volume 2, Issue 2 . Football Studies Group . October 1999 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100810033028/http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/FootballStudies/1999/FS0202i.pdf . dead . 2010-08-10.
Web site: D'Souza. Miguel. Grand Final History. https://web.archive.org/web/20140819082626/http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/league/2009-grand-final/grandFinal_History.swf. dead. 19 August 2014. wwos.ninemsn.com.au. Australian Associated Press. 8 September 2013.