1978 NSWRFL season explained

Year:	1978
Competition:	New South Wales Rugby Football League
Duration:	March 25 – September 19, 1978
Teams:	12
Count:	4th
Mpcount:	5th
Matches:	140
Points:	4375
Attendance:	1,582,914
Top Point Scorer:	Mick Cronin (282)
Top Try Scorer:	Larry Corowa (24)
Player Of The Year:	Mick Cronin (Rothmans Medal)
Prevseason Link:	1977 NSWRFL season
Prevseason Year:	1977
Nextseason Link:	1979 NSWRFL season
Nextseason Year:	1979

The 1978 NSWRFL season was the 71st season of the NSWRFL Premiership, Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, and Australia's first. Twelve clubs, including six of 1908's foundation teams and another six from around Sydney competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Manly-Warringah and Cronulla-Sutherland clubs that was drawn and had to be re-played. NSWRFL teams also competed for the 1978 Amco Cup.

Season summary

This season video citing was introduced for incidents of foul play that are not detected on the field.^[1] Twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March till August, resulting in a top five of Western Suburbs, Cronulla-Sutherland, Manly-Warringah, Parramatta and Canterbury-Bankstown who battled it out in the finals.

Mick Cronin set a new record for most points scored by an individual in Australian club rugby league history with his tally of 282 points from 25 games in 1978. This record would stand for another twenty years. He also broke Arthur Oxford's 1920 record for consecutive goals with 26 in a row.

In a tragic accident during the match between Penrith and Newtown at Henson Park on 28 May, rookie Panther prop John Farragher broke his neck in a scrum and was left a quadriplegic.^[2]

The 1978 Rothmans Medallist was Parramatta centre Mick Cronin. Rugby League Week gave their player of the year award to Parramatta forward Geoff Gerard.

The 1978 season was also the last in the playing career of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Ron Coote.

Teams

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	F2R	F3	GF	GFR
Balmain Tigers	PEN +8	NEW +34	CBY −9	PAR +6	WES +10	MAN −16	SOU +18	NOR 0	CRO −2	EAS −7	STG −31	PEN −6	NEW +37	CBY +13	PAR −15	WES −28	MAN +12	X	SOU −4	NOR −8	CRO −15	EAS −12	STG +8
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	NEW +19	PAR −10	BAL +9	MAN +3	SOU +14	WES −4	NOR +5	CRO +3	EAS +15	STG −10	PEN 0	NEW +7	PAR −20	BAL −13	MAN +3	SOU +3	WES +2	X	NOR +20	CRO −10	EAS −6	STG +4	PEN 0	PAR −7
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	SOU +18	NOR +26	PAR +2	EAS +17	PEN +26	STG +8	NEW +12	CBY −3	BAL +2	MAN −19	WES −18	SOU −11	NOR +3	PAR +10	EAS −13	PEN +39	STG +12	X	NEW +44	CBY +10	BAL +15	MAN −22	WES −1	MAN +5	WES +4	X	X	MAN 0	MAN −16
Eastern Suburbs Roosters	WES +5	SOU −2	NOR +5	CRO −17	STG +16	PAR +6	PEN −2	NEW +9	CBY −15	BAL +7	MAN −3	WES −4	SOU −8	NOR +10	CRO +13	STG −14	PAR +5	X	PEN +29	NEW +9	CBY +6	BAL +12	MAN −10
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	STG +14	PEN +7	NEW +27	CBY −3	PAR +12	BAL +16	WES −6	SOU −25	NOR +1	CRO +19	EAS +3	STG −9	PEN +23	NEW +7	CBY −3	PAR −1	BAL −12	X	WES +6	SOU +4	NOR +28	CRO +22	EAS +10	CRO −5	PAR 0	PAR +6	WES +7	CRO 0	CRO +16
Newtown Jets	CBY −19	BAL −34	MAN −27	WES −18	NOR −11	SOU −1	CRO −12	EAS −9	STG 0	PEN −16	PAR −29	CBY −7	BAL −37	MAN −7	WES −19	NOR +8	SOU −23	X	CRO −44	EAS −9	STG −31	PEN +11	PAR −44
North Sydney Bears	PAR −33	CRO −26	EAS −5	STG −9	NEW +11	PEN −1	CBY −5	BAL 0	MAN −1	WES −10	SOU −9	PAR −22	CRO −3	EAS −10	X	NEW −8	PEN +52	STG +14	CBY −20	BAL +8	MAN −28	WES −1	SOU −8
Parramatta Eels	NOR +33	CBY +10	CRO −2	BAL −6	MAN −12	EAS −6	STG +8	WES −1	PEN +9	SOU +9	NEW +29	NOR +22	CBY +20	CRO −10	BAL +15	MAN +1	EAS −5	X	STG +17	WES −20	PEN +24	SOU +40	NEW +44	CBY +7	MAN 0	MAN −6
Penrith Panthers	BAL −8	MAN −7	WES −14	SOU −1	CRO −26	NOR +1	EAS +2	STG −17	PAR −9	NEW +16	CBY 0	BAL +6	MAN −23	WES −13	SOU −8	CRO −39	NOR −52	X	EAS −29	STG −1	PAR −24	NEW −11	CBY 0
South Sydney Rabbitohs	CRO −18	EAS +2	STG +8	PEN +1	CBY −14	NEW +1	BAL −18	MAN +25	WES 0	PAR −9	NOR +9	CRO +11	EAS +8	STG −1	PEN +8	CBY −3	NEW +23	X	BAL +4	MAN −4	WES −3	PAR −40	NOR +8
St. George Dragons	MAN −14	WES −11	SOU −8	NOR +9	EAS −16	CRO −8	PAR −8	PEN +17	NEW 0	CBY +10	BAL +31	MAN +9	WES +10	SOU +1	X	EAS +14	CRO −12	NOR −14	PAR −17	PEN +1	NEW +31	CBY −4	BAL −8
Western Suburbs Magpies	EAS −5	STG +11	PEN +14	NEW +18	BAL −10	CBY +4	MAN +6	PAR +1	SOU 0	NOR +10	CRO +18	EAS +4	STG −10	PEN +13	NEW +19	BAL +28	CBY −2	X	MAN −6	PAR +20	SOU +3	NOR +1	CRO +1	X	CRO −4	X	MAN −7
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	F2R	F3	GF	GFR

Bold – Home game
X – Bye
Opponent for round listed above margin

Ladder

width=20 abbr="Position×"		width=230	Team	width=20 abbr="Played"	Pld	width=20 abbr="Won"	W	width=20 abbr="Drawn"	D	width=20 abbr="Lost"	L	width=20 abbr="Points for"	PF	width=20 abbr="Points against"	PA	width=20 abbr="Points difference"	PD	width=20 abbr="Points"	Pts
1	Western Suburbs	22	16	1	5	426	288	+138	33
2	Cronulla-Sutherland	22	15	0	7	418	261	+157	30
3	Manly-Warringah	22	15	0	7	427	287	+140	30
4	Parramatta	22	14	0	8	525	306	+219	28
5	Canterbury-Bankstown	22	13	2	7	307	273	+34	28
6	Eastern Suburbs	22	13	0	9	337	280	+57	26
7	South Sydney	22	12	1	9	298	300	-2	25
8	St. George	22	10	1	11	367	354	+13	21
9	Balmain	22	9	1	12	337	344	-7	19
10	Penrith	22	4	2	16	206	463	-257	10
11	North Sydney	22	4	1	17	325	439	-114	9
12	Newtown	22	2	1	19	199	577	-378	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.

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 22"	23
1		0	2	4	6	6	8	10	12	13	15	17	19	19	21	23	25	25	25	25	27	29	31	33
2		2	4	6	8	10	12	14	14	16	16	16	16	18	20	20	22	24	24	26	28	30	30	30
3		2	4	6	6	8	10	10	10	12	14	16	16	18	20	20	20	20	20	22	24	26	28	30
4		2	4	4	4	4	4	6	6	8	10	12	14	16	16	18	20	20	20	22	22	24	26	28
5		2	2	4	6	8	8	10	12	14	14	15	17	17	17	19	21	23	23	25	25	25	27	28
6		2	2	4	4	6	8	8	10	10	12	12	12	12	14	16	16	18	18	20	22	24	26	26
7		0	2	4	6	6	8	8	10	11	11	13	15	17	17	19	19	21	21	23	23	23	23	25
8		0	0	0	2	2	2	2	4	5	7	9	11	13	15	15	17	17	17	17	19	21	21	21
9		2	4	4	6	8	8	10	11	11	11	11	11	13	15	15	15	17	17	17	17	17	17	19
10		0	0	0	0	0	2	4	4	4	6	7	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10
11		0	0	0	0	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	5	7	7	9	9	9	9
12		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	3	3	3	3	3	5	5

Finals

Manly finished the regular season in the relatively strong position of equal second with Cronulla, three points behind minor premiers Wests. However after Cronulla beat Manly 17-12 in the qualifying final, every game from that point was a sudden-death fixture for the Sea Eagles.

The second week of finals saw Manly come from 3-13 behind Parramatta to draw 13-13 in the semi-final requiring a mid-week replay. Again in that match Parramatta led (11-2 this time), before Manly stormed home with three late tries in ten minutes to win 17-11. In the week following the game, Parramatta unsuccessfully attempted to have the match annulled and replayed due to Manly scoring a try on what was discovered to be a seventh tackle, a mistake by referee Greg Hartley.

Manly then had to back up a few days later to play a fresh Wests side in the preliminary final. Thus far the Magpies had only played one final to Manly's three. Wests had two tries disallowed by referee Greg Hartley. Manly coach Frank Stanton somehow coaxed a courageous effort out of his exhausted players and on field, five-eighth Alan Thompson was inspirational as they triumphed 14-7 and reached the grand final.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
width=17%	Date and Time	width=17%	Venue	width=11%	Referee	width=7%	Crowd
Qualifying Finals
align=left	Cronulla-Sutherland	17-12	align=left	Manly-Warringah	26 August 1978	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack Danzey	17,718
align=left	Parramatta	22-15	align=left	Canterbury-Bankstown	27 August 1978	Sydney Cricket Ground	Greg Hartley	24,967
Semi-finals
align=left	Western Suburbs	10-14	align=left	Cronulla-Sutherland	2 September 1978	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack Danzey	22,789
align=left	Manly-Warringah	13-13	align=left	Parramatta	3 September 1978	Sydney Cricket Ground	Greg Hartley	30,850
align=left	Manly-Warringah	17-11	align=left	Parramatta	6 September 1978	Sydney Cricket Ground	Greg Hartley	42,678
Preliminary final
align=left	Western Suburbs	7-14	align=left	Manly-Warringah	9 September 1978	Sydney Cricket Ground	Greg Hartley	27,345
Grand final
align=left	Cronulla-Sutherland	11-11	align=left	Manly-Warringah	16 September 1978	Sydney Cricket Ground	Greg Hartley	51,510
Grand final re-play
align=left	Cronulla-Sutherland	0-16	align=left	Manly-Warringah	19 September 1978	Sydney Cricket Ground	Greg Hartley	33,552

Chart

* - Indicates only the replay match, and not the match ending in a draw.

Grand final

Cronulla-Sutherland	Position	Manly-Warringah
Mick Mullane		Graham Eadie
	WG	2. Tom Mooney
3. Steve Rogers (c)		3. Russel Gartner
	CE	4. Stephen Knight
		5. Simon Booth
		6. Alan Thompson
	HB	7. Steve Martin
13. Gary Stares		13. Ian Thomson
		12. Max Krilich (c)
11. Paul Khan		11. John Harvey
10Eric Archer	SR	10. Bruce Walker
		9. Terry Randall
		8. Ian Martin
15. Rowland Beckett	Reserve
	Coach	Frank Stanton

In the grand final, Cronulla went to a 9-4 lead in the second half before Manly came back to hit the front 11-9. A Steve Rogers penalty goal squared the scores at 11-11 but he then missed a desperate late field-goal attempt and at full-time the scores remained locked. Thus, for the second consecutive season, the weary grand finalists were required to play a rematch. Although, on this occasion, the NSWRFL were forced to hold the replay three days later on the Tuesday instead of the following weekend due to the imminent 1978 Kangaroo tour, with the Australian team due to leave for England that weekend. The drawn grand final also forced the Australian Rugby League to hold off on naming the touring Kangaroos squad until after the replay, with as many as twelve players from Manly and Cronulla in contention to be selected.

Manly 11 (Tries: Mooney. Goals: Eadie 4.)

Cronulla 11 (Tries: Edmonds. Goals: Rogers 4.)

Grand final Replay

Cronulla-Sutherland	Position	Manly-Warringah
Rick Bourke		Graham Eadie
	WG	2. Tom Mooney
3. Steve Rogers (c)		3. Stephen Knight
	CE	4. Russel Gartner
		5. Simon Booth
		6. Alan Thompson
	HB	7. Steve Martin
		13. Ian Thomson
		12. Max Krilich (c)
		11. John Harvey
	SR	10. Bruce Walker
		9. Terry Randall
		8. Ian Martin
	Reserve	14. Wayne Springall
	Reserve	16. Ray Branighan
	Coach	Frank Stanton

The Tuesday rematch in front of 33,552 was Manly's sixth game in twenty-four days. It was the second Grand final in a row to end up going into a mid-week replay with the 1977 Grand final between St George and Parramatta also needing a re-match to decide the Premiers after the original game had been a 9-9 draw.

In the first half Cronulla had no answer to Graham Eadie's blind-side bursts. His display completely routed the hapless Sharks and Manly went to the break holding a 15-0 lead thanks to a try by Eadie in the scoreboard corner, one he set up for centre Russel Gartner in the same corner, and another 65 metre effort by Gartner after a sweeping backline movement saw him run into open space and easily outpace the Sharks’ defence to score in front of the Sheridan Stand.

The only point in the second half came from a field goal by Eadie.

In the replay, as throughout their extraordinary finals campaign, Manly were inspired by the leadership of captain Max Krilich and coach Frank Stanton, their iron-man Terry Randall who had required numerous pain killing injections before every game of the finals just to be able take the field in what Frank Stanton called sheer mind over matter, their cool five eighth Alan Thompson and classy fullback and Man of the Match Graham Eadie.

As of the 2019 NRL Grand final, no player since Eadie has scored the combination of a try, a goal and a field-goal in a grand final.

The refereeing of Greg "Hollywood" Hartley in the replay and throughout the 1978 Finals series attracted criticism from coaches Roy Masters, Jack Gibson and Terry Fearnley, all of whom appealed to the NSWRFL to prohibit Hartley from refereeing their clubs' matches the following season.^[3]

Manly-Warringah 16 (Tries: Gartner 2, Eadie. Goals: Eadie 3. Field Goal: Eadie.)

Cronulla-Sutherland 0

Man of the Match: Graham Eadie
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground
Attendance: 33,552
Referee: Greg Hartley

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
260	Mick Cronin	14	109	0
216	Peter Rowles	8	94	4
133	Barry Andrews	5	59	0
130	John Gray	4	59	0
127	Kevin Stevens	3	59	0
127	Peter Schofield	3	59	0

Top 5 try scorers

width=50	Tries	width=200	Player
24	Larry Corowa
14	Mick Cronin
14	Mitch Brennan
14	Peter Craig
12	Neville Glover
12	John Ribot

Top 5 goal scorers

width=50	Goals	width=200	Player
109	Mick Cronin
94	Peter Rowles
59	Barry Andrews
59	John Gray
59	Kevin Stevens
59	Peter Schofield

External links

• Rugby League Tables - Season 1978 Rugby League Tables
• Results: 1971-80 at rabbitohs.com.au
• 1978 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup at rleague.com
• NSWRFL season 1978 at rugbyleagueproject.org

Notes and References

1. Book: Middleton , David . League of Legends: 100 Years of Rugby League in Australia . National Museum of Australia . 2008 . 31 . 978-1-876944-64-3 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110317093000/http://www.nma.gov.au/shared/libraries/attachments/league_of_legends/rugby_league_a_work_in_progress/files/22453/F_RL_work_in_progress.pdf . 2011-03-17.
2. Lester, Gary and Pritchard, Greg; Bound for Glory: The Story of the Penrith Panthers; pp. 101-103
3. News: Coady . Ben . Grand final dramas . WA Today . Australia . Fairfax Digital . 2009-09-28 . 2010-01-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181004074123/http://blogs.watoday.com.au/executive-style/sportandstyle/bencoady/2009/09/28/grandfinaldra.html . 2018-10-04 . dead .