1989 NSWRL season

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.

1989 New South Wales Rugby League premiership
Teams	16
Premiers	Canberra (1st title)
Minor premiers	South Sydney (17th title)
Matches played	183
Points scored	5537
Attendance	2040375
Top points scorer(s)	Ricky Walford (146) Andy Currier (146)
Player of the year	Gavin Miller Mark Sargent (Rothmans Medal)
Top try-scorer(s)	Gary Belcher (17)
← 1988 1990 →

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.

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.

Balmain   82nd season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Warren Ryan Captain: Wayne Pearce	Brisbane   2nd season Ground: Lang Park Coach: Wayne Bennett Captain: Wally Lewis	Canberra   8th season Ground: Seiffert Oval Coach: Tim Sheens Captain: Mal Meninga	Canterbury-Bankstown   55th season Ground: Belmore Oval Coach: Phil Gould Captain: Peter Tunks
Cronulla-Sutherland   23rd season Ground: Caltex Field Coach: Allan Fitzgibbon Captain: David Hatch	Eastern Suburbs   82nd season Ground: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Russell Fairfax Captain: Hugh McGahan	Gold Coast Giants   2nd season Ground: Seagulls Stadium Coach: Bob McCarthy Captain: Ron Gibbs → Billy Johnstone	Illawarra   8th season Ground: Wollongong Stadium Coach: Ron Hilditch Captain: Chris Walsh
Manly-Warringah   43rd season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Alan Thompson Captain: Paul Vautin	Newcastle   2nd season Ground: Newcastle ISC Coach: Allan McMahon Captain: Sam Stewart	North Sydney   82nd season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Frank Stanton Captain: John Dorahy → Tony Rea	Parramatta   43rd season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: John Monie Captain: Peter Sterling
Penrith   23rd season Ground: Penrith Stadium Coach: Ron Willey Captain: Royce Simmons	South Sydney   82nd season Ground: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: George Piggins Captain: Mario Fenech	St. George   70th season Ground: Kogarah Oval Coach: Craig Young Captain: Brian Johnston	Western Suburbs   82nd season Ground: Orana Park Coach: John Bailey Captain: Cameron Blair → Ellery Hanley

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

	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.

	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
1	South Sydney Rabbitohs	0	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	16	18	20	22	24	24	26	28	30	30	32	34	36	37
2	Penrith Panthers	0	2	2	4	6	8	10	10	12	12	14	16	18	20	22	22	24	26	26	28	30	32	32
3	Balmain Tigers	2	4	6	6	6	8	8	10	10	10	10	12	12	14	16	18	20	20	22	24	26	27	29
4	Canberra Raiders	0	0	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	14	14	14	16	16	18	18	18	18	20	22	24	26	28
5	Brisbane Broncos	2	4	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	16	18	18	18	20	20	20	20	20	20	22	24	26	28
6	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	2	2	2	4	4	6	8	10	12	12	12	14	16	16	16	18	20	22	24	24	26	26	28
7	Newcastle Knights	2	2	4	4	4	6	8	10	10	10	12	12	12	12	14	16	16	18	18	18	18	20	22
8	Parramatta Eels	2	4	6	8	8	8	8	10	10	10	12	12	14	14	16	18	18	18	20	20	22	22	22
9	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	2	4	6	6	6	8	8	8	10	10	10	12	13	13	15	17	19	19	21	21	21	21	22
10	St. George Dragons	2	2	2	4	6	6	6	6	6	8	10	12	12	14	14	16	16	16	18	20	20	20	20
11	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	2	4	4	4	6	6	6	6	6	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	12	12	14	15	17	19
12	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	0	0	0	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	6	8	10	10	10	12	14	16	16	16	17	19
13	Western Suburbs Magpies	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	5	5	7	9	9	11	13	15	15	15	15	15
14	Gold Coast-Tweed Giants	0	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	5	7	9	11	11	11	13	13	13	13	15	15
15	North Sydney Bears	0	0	2	2	4	4	4	4	6	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	11	11	11	11
16	Illawarra Steelers	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
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Playoff
Brisbane	14–38	Cronulla-Sutherland	29 August 1989	Parramatta Stadium	Mick Stone	9,047
Qualifying Finals
Canberra	31–10	Cronulla-Sutherland	2 September 1989	Sydney Football Stadium	Bill Harrigan	18,186
Penrith	12–24	Balmain	3 September 1989	Sydney Football Stadium	Mick Stone	29,508
Semi-finals
Penrith	18–27	Canberra	9 September 1989	Sydney Football Stadium	Mick Stone	20,314
South Sydney	10–20	Balmain	10 September 1989	Sydney Football Stadium	Bill Harrigan	40,000
Preliminary final
South Sydney	16–32	Canberra	17 September 1989	Sydney Football Stadium	Bill Harrigan	31,469
Grand final
Balmain	14–19	Canberra	24 September 1989	Sydney Football Stadium	Bill Harrigan	40,500

Chart

	Qualifying final					Major semi-final					Preliminary final					Grand final
						1	South Sydney	10								Balmain		14
							Balmain	20								Canberra		19
	2	Penrith	12								South Sydney		16
	3	Balmain	24			Minor semi-final					Canberra		32
						Penrith		18
	4	Canberra	31			Canberra		27
	5	Cronulla-Sutherland	10

Grand final

Balmain	Position	Canberra
Garry Jack	FB	Gary Belcher
Steve O'Brien	WG	Matthew Wood
Tim Brasher	CE	Mal Meninga (c)
Andy Currier	CE	Laurie Daley
James Grant	WG	John Ferguson
Mick Neil	FE	Chris O'Sullivan
Gary Freeman	HB	Ricky Stuart
Steve Roach	PR	Brent Todd
Benny Elias	HK	Steve Walters
Steve Edmed	PR	Glenn Lazarus
Paul Sironen	SR	Dean Lance
Bruce McGuire	SR	Gary Coyne
Wayne Pearce (c)	LK	Bradley Clyde
Kevin Hardwick	Bench	Kevin Walters
Michael Pobjie	Bench	Steve Jackson
Shaun Edwards	Bench	Paul Martin
Warren Ryan	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

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 Points Player Tries Goals 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 Tries 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 Goals 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.

Footnotes

1. Clemes, Michael D. (2002). New Zealand Case Studies in Strategic Marketing. Thomson Learning Nelson. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-86469-419-5.
2. [Clarkson, The Greatest Games We Ever Played p133]
3. MacDonald, John (25 September 1992). "Shut your Eyes, plug your Ears, and cringe". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia: Fairfax. p. 75. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
4. "The pain of a grand final penalty". news.com.au. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
5. Keneally, Thomas (2001). The best ever Australian Sports Writing. Australia: Black Inc. pp. 350–253. ISBN 1-86395-266-7. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
6. Headon, David (October 1999). (PDF). Football Studies Volume 2, Issue 2. Football Studies Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2010.
7. D'Souza, Miguel. . wwos.ninemsn.com.au. Australian Associated Press. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2013.

External links

• [1] 1989 grand final highlights
• [2] 1989 Winfield Cup TVC
• 1989 J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup at rleague.com^{[dead link]}
• NSWRL season 1989 at rugbyleagueproject.com