1979 NSWRFL season explained

Year:	1979
Competition:	New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams:	12
Count:	15th
Mpcount:	14th
Matches:	138
Points:	4466
Attendance:	1,500,369
Top Point Scorer:	Mick Cronin (253)
Top Try Scorer:	Mitch Brennan (16) Tom Mooney (16)
Player Of The Year:	Ray Price (Rothmans Medal)
Prevseason Link:	1978 NSWRFL season
Prevseason Year:	1978
Nextseason Link:	1980 NSWRFL season
Nextseason Year:	1980

The 1979 NSWRFL season was the 72nd season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve New South Wales Rugby Football League clubs competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the St. George and Canterbury-Bankstown clubs. NSWRFL teams also competed in the 1979 Amco Cup.

Season summary

Twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March till August, resulting in a top five of St. George, Parramatta, Cronulla-Sutherland, Western Suburbs and Canterbury-Bankstown who battled it out in the finals.

Parramatta's Ray Price was the 1979 season's Rothmans Medallist, and also won Rugby League Week’s player of the year award.

The 1979 season also saw the retirement from the League of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Bob Fulton.

Teams

Twelve clubs, including six of 1908's foundation teams and another six from around Sydney competed for the NSWRFL premiership.

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	GF
Balmain Tigers	EAS +22	WES −10	CRO +9	CBY −13	STG +7	NEW +4	MAN +5	PEN 0	NOR +15	PAR −35	SOU +10	EAS +28	WES −2	X	CBY −2	STG +13	NEW +4	MAN −16	PEN +7	NOR +4	PAR −1	CRO −3	SOU −1
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	PEN +11	NOR +8	PAR −1	BAL +13	EAS +3	WES +6	CRO −2	SOU +9	STG −13	NEW +28	MAN −9	PEN −5	NOR +9	PAR +1	BAL +2	EAS −8	WES +1	CRO −2	SOU +6	STG −8	NEW +32	X	MAN −12	WES +14	CRO +15	PAR +6	STG −4
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	NOR +27	PAR +25	BAL −9	EAS −11	WES +7	SOU +9	CBY +2	STG +7	NEW +20	MAN −5	PEN −6	NOR +14	PAR −15	X	EAS +22	WES +10	SOU −15	CBY +2	STG +5	NEW −14	MAN +19	BAL +3	PEN 0	PAR −20	CBY −15
Eastern Suburbs Roosters	BAL −22	SOU −4	WES −9	CRO +11	CBY −3	STG −13	NEW +5	MAN 0	PEN +32	NOR −7	PAR −5	BAL −28	SOU +5	WES +5	CRO −22	CBY +8	STG −25	NEW +7	MAN −22	PEN +11	NOR +14	X	PAR −9
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	STG −25	NEW +4	SOU +11	PEN +15	NOR −3	PAR −15	BAL −5	EAS 0	WES −7	CRO +5	CBY +9	STG −7	NEW +6	X	PEN +5	NOR +7	PAR −17	BAL +16	EAS +22	WES −8	CRO −19	SOU −18	CBY +12
Newtown Jets	SOU +1	MAN −4	PEN −9	NOR +1	PAR −18	BAL −4	EAS −5	WES −3	CRO −20	CBY −28	STG −5	SOU +24	MAN −6	PEN +26	NOR +19	PAR −13	BAL −4	EAS −7	WES −17	CRO +14	CBY −32	X	STG −12
North Sydney Bears	CRO −27	CBY −8	STG −17	NEW −1	MAN +3	PEN −8	SOU −7	PAR −31	BAL −15	EAS +7	WES −11	CRO −14	CBY −9	X	NEW −19	MAN −7	PEN −4	SOU −6	PAR −38	BAL −4	EAS −14	STG −3	WES −12
Parramatta Eels	WES −11	CRO −25	CBY +1	STG −6	NEW +18	MAN +15	PEN +9	NOR +31	SOU +11	BAL +35	EAS +5	WES −18	CRO +15	CBY −1	STG −1	NEW +13	MAN +17	PEN +3	NOR +38	SOU +14	BAL +1	X	EAS +9	CRO +20	STG −4	CBY −6
Penrith Panthers	CBY −11	STG +3	NEW +9	MAN −15	SOU −30	NOR +8	PAR −9	BAL 0	EAS −32	WES −1	CRO +6	CBY +5	STG −22	NEW −26	MAN −5	SOU −17	NOR +4	PAR −3	BAL −7	EAS −11	WES −8	X	CRO 0
South Sydney Rabbitohs	NEW −1	EAS +4	MAN −11	WES −14	PEN +30	CRO −9	NOR +7	CBY −9	PAR −11	STG −21	BAL −10	NEW −24	EAS −5	X	WES +2	PEN +17	CRO +15	NOR +6	CBY −6	PAR −14	STG −8	MAN +18	BAL +1
St. George Dragons	MAN +25	PEN −3	NOR +17	PAR +6	BAL −7	EAS +13	WES +15	CRO −7	CBY +13	SOU +21	NEW +5	MAN +7	PEN +22	X	PAR +1	BAL −13	EAS +25	WES +1	CRO −5	CBY +8	SOU +8	NOR +3	NEW +12	X	PAR +4	X	CBY +4
Western Suburbs Magpies	PAR +11	BAL +10	EAS +9	SOU +14	CRO −7	CBY −6	STG −15	NEW +3	MAN +7	PEN +1	NOR +11	PAR +18	BAL +2	EAS −5	SOU −2	CRO −10	CBY −1	STG −1	NEW +17	MAN +8	PEN +8	X	NOR +12	CBY −14
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	GF

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

Ladder

width=20 abbr="Position×"		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	St. George	22	17	0	5	476	309	+167	34
2	Parramatta	22	16	0	6	490	317	+173	32
3	Cronulla-Sutherland	22	14	1	7	367	270	+97	29
4	Western Suburbs	22	14	0	8	396	312	+84	28
5	Canterbury-Bankstown	22	13	0	9	379	310	+69	26
6	Balmain	22	12	1	9	358	313	+45	25
7	Manly-Warringah	22	11	1	10	341	353	-12	23
8	Eastern Suburbs	22	9	1	12	250	321	-71	19
9	South Sydney	22	9	0	13	286	329	-43	18
10	Penrith	22	6	2	14	311	473	-162	14
11	Newtown	22	6	0	16	321	423	-102	12
12	North Sydney	22	2	0	20	302	547	-245	4

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	2	2	4	6	6	8	10	10	12	14	16	18	20	20	22	22	24	26	26	28	30	32	34
2	0	0	2	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	16	18	18	18	20	22	24	26	28	30	30	32
3	2	4	4	4	6	8	10	12	14	14	14	16	16	16	18	20	20	22	24	24	26	28	29
4	2	4	6	8	8	8	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	20	20	20	20	20	22	24	26	26	28
5	2	4	4	6	8	10	10	12	12	14	14	14	16	18	20	20	22	22	24	24	26	26	26
6	2	2	4	4	6	8	10	11	13	13	15	17	17	17	17	19	21	21	23	25	25	25	25
7	0	2	4	6	6	6	6	7	7	9	11	11	13	13	15	17	17	19	21	21	21	21	23
8	0	0	0	2	2	2	4	5	7	7	7	7	9	11	11	13	13	15	15	17	19	19	19
9	0	2	2	2	4	4	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	8	10	12	14	14	14	14	16	18
10	0	2	4	4	4	6	6	7	7	7	9	11	11	11	11	11	13	13	13	13	13	13	14
11	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	6	8	10	10	10	10	10	12	12	12	12
12	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4

Finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
width=17%	Date and Time	width=17%	Venue	width=11%	Referee	width=7%	Crowd
Minor semi-finals
align=left	Parramatta	24–4	align=left	Cronulla-Sutherland	1 September 1979	Sydney Cricket Ground	Gary Cook	28,335
align=left	Western Suburbs	6–20	align=left	Canterbury-Bankstown	2 September 1979	Sydney Cricket Ground	Greg Hartley	22,104
Major semi-finals
align=left	St. George	15–11	align=left	Parramatta	8 September 1979	Sydney Cricket Ground	Gary Cook	38,531
align=left	Cronulla-Sutherland	15–30	align=left	Canterbury-Bankstown	9 September 1979	Sydney Cricket Ground	Greg Hartley	24,132
Preliminary final
align=left	Parramatta	14–20	align=left	Canterbury-Bankstown	15 September 1979	Sydney Cricket Ground	Greg Hartley	33,291
Grand final
align=left	St. George	17–13	align=left	Canterbury-Bankstown	22 September 1979	Sydney Cricket Ground	Greg Hartley	50,911

Grand final

St. George	Position	Canterbury-Bankstown
Brian Johnson		Stan Cutler
	WG	2. Chris Anderson
		3. Chris Mortimer
	CE	4. Peter Mortimer
		5. Steve Gearin
		6. Garry Hughes
	HB	7 Steve Mortimer
		13. Greg Cook
		12. George Peponis (c)
11. Craig Young (c)		11. Peter Smith
	SR	10. Graeme Hughes
		9. Peter Cassilles
		8. Steve Folkes
	Res.	14. Mark Hughes
	Res.
	Coach	Ted Glossop

St. George finished 22 rounds as minor premiers with 17 wins and were straight into the grand final after defeating Parramatta in the major semi. Their Grand final opponents Canterbury, qualified after defeating Wests, Cronulla and Parramatta.

Television Coverage Dispute

Under agreements in place at the time, the broadcast rights to the season saw one to two games on ABC TV on Saturday and/or Sunday afternoons, and a Sunday Night primetime replay and highlights of other matches on ATN-7 (part of the Seven's Big League programming). Under this agreement, the networks had rights to each broadcast and/or simulcast all six of the finals series games, under which they could either accept or decline the matches.

The scene was set by an industrial relations dispute between camera and production crews and commercial broadcasting networks towards the end of 1979. This forced ATN-7 and the ABC into a shared feed arrangement using ABC production crew, but separate network commentary teams calling the game.

ATN-7, wore the financial costs as the designated broadcaster of the preliminary final, and provided the ABC with a clean feed of the match as agreed. However, the ABC refused to offer a clean feed to ATN-7 for the grand final, which caused massive controversy. ATN-7 then exercised their right as the primary broadcaster of the competition to broadcast the match between St George and Canterbury exclusively, deciding to source their own freelance crew and cover the match. The ABC then sued ATN-7, and the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal became involved, but ultimately the match remained exclusive to Seven's Big League.

Match

The pre-game talk had been about the match-up of opposing half-backs Steve Morris and Steve Mortimer and the game didn't disappoint, beginning with a 40-metre flying break on a last tackle by Morris from deep in Dragons territory before he was cut down in a classic covering tackle by Mortimer.

The first half belonged to St. George with new fullback Brian Johnson scoring an easy opening try after taking a pass 10 metres out from the Canterbury line. Soon after, Rod Reddy, who was subduing his opponents with his experience and ruthlessness, put Morris into a gap. “Slippery” kicked ahead and the race was on. Mortimer had a head start and got there first but Morris tackled him into touch.

Soon afterwards Canterbury put a bomb up and toward the St. George in-goal. Brian Johnson was on hand to field the ball and returned it with a 60-metre run ended by a copybook tackle from his opposing fullback Stan Cutler. However the defence was opening up and it wasn't long before the Dragons scored their second try, with winger Mitch Brennan venturing infield and finding a gap courtesy of centre Robert Finch who slipped a short ball to Brennan 30 metres out. The strapping winger made a powerful run to score. By now, Saints were carving Canterbury up with Morris, on his 20-metre line, putting Graeme Wynn into a gap. The lanky back rower ran 40 metres, leaving defenders in his wake. Next it was “Rocket” Reddy's turn when Morris, Wynn and Reddy combined down the right flank and exposed the Bulldogs defence. 'Rocket' handled twice in scoring a try under the posts. At half time the score was St George 17 – Canterbury 2.

Canterbury fought back gamely after the break. Steve Gearin and then Peter Mortimer crossed, with two further tries being disallowed. The St. George defence rallied and held from that point until Stan Cutler scored a third try out wide late in the match. St. George's goal-kicking second rower George Grant was the difference on the day, kicking four to ensure a 17–13 victory. Grant had kicked brilliantly all season, scoring 211 points in 1979.

The Dave Brown Medal for the best player on field, went to Steve Morris.

St. George 17 (Tries: Johnson, Brennan, Reddy. Goals: Grant 4.)

Canterbury-Bankstown 13 (Tries: Gearin, Mortimer, Cutler. Goals: Gearin 2.)

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
229	Mick Cronin	13	95	0
206	Steve Gearin	10	88	0
203	George Grant	1	100	0
155	Graham Eadie	6	68	1
145	John Dorahy	6	63	1

Top 5 try scorers

width=50	Tries	width=200	Player
16	Tom Mooney
14	Mitch Brennan
14	Larry Corowa
13	Steve Morris
13	Mick Cronin
13	Garry Dowling
13	Steve Edmonds
13	Wayne Smith
13	Wayne Wigham
13	Stephen Martin

Top 5 goal scorers

width=50	Goals	width=200	Player
100	George Grant
95	Mick Cronin
88	Steve Gearin
68	Graham Eadie
65	Rod Henniker