1978 New South Wales Rugby Football League
DurationMarch 25 – September 19, 1978
Teams12
Premiers Manly-Warringah (4th title)
Minor premiers Western Suburbs (5th title)
Matches played140
Points scored4375
Attendance1582914
Top points scorer(s) Mick Cronin (282)
Player of the year Mick Cronin (Rothmans Medal)
Top try-scorer(s) Larry Corowa (24)

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

Balmain

71st season
Ground: Leichhardt Oval
Coach: Ron Willey
Captain: Trevor Ryan

Canterbury-Bankstown

44th season
Ground: Belmore Sports Ground
Coach: Ted Glossop
Captain: George Peponis

Cronulla-Sutherland

12th season
Ground: Endeavour Field
Coach: Norm Provan
Captain: Greg Pierce

Eastern Suburbs

71st season
Ground: Sydney Sports Ground
Captain-Coach: Arthur Beetson

Manly-Warringah

32nd season
Ground: Brookvale Oval
Coach: Frank Stanton
Captain: Max Krilich

Newtown

71st season
Ground: Henson Park
Coach: John Raper
Captain: Col Casey

North Sydney

71st season
Ground: North Sydney Oval
Captain-Coach: Bill Hamilton

Parramatta

32nd season
Ground: Cumberland Oval
Coach: Terry Fearnley
Captain: Ray Price

Penrith

12th season
Ground: Penrith Park
Coach: Don Parish
Captain: Ken Wilson

South Sydney

71st season
Ground: Redfern Oval
Coach: Jack Gibson
Captain: Paul Sait?Darrel Bampton

St. George

58th season
Ground: Kogarah Oval
Coach: Harry Bath
Captain: Steve Edge

Western Suburbs

71st season
Ground: Lidcombe Oval
Coach: Roy Masters
Captain: Tom Raudonikis

Ladder

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Western Suburbs 221615426288+13833
2 Cronulla-Sutherland 221507418261+15730
3 Manly-Warringah 221507427287+14030
4 Parramatta 221408525306+21928
5 Canterbury-Bankstown 221327307273+3428
6 Eastern Suburbs 221309377280+5726
7 South Sydney 221219298300-225
8 St. George 2210111367354+1321
9 Balmain 229112337344-719
10 Penrith 224216206463-25710
11 North Sydney 224117325439-1149
12 Newtown 222119199577-3785

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

Chart

Qualifying finalMajor semi-finalPreliminary finalGrand final
1 Western Suburbs10 Cronulla-Sutherland0*
Cronulla-Sutherland14 Manly16*
2 Cronulla-Sutherland17 Western Suburbs7
3 Manly12Minor semi-final Manly14
Manly17*
4 Parramatta22 Parramatta11*
5 Canterbury15

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

Grand final

Cronulla-Sutherland Position Manly-Warringah
  1. Mick Mullane
FB
  1. Graham Eadie
2. Rick BourkeWG2. Tom Mooney
3. Steve Rogers (c)CE3. Russel Gartner
6. Dave ChamberlinCE4. Stephen Knight
5. Steve EdmondsWG5. Simon Booth
8. Barry AndrewsFE6. Alan Thompson
7. Steve HansardHB7. Steve Martin
13. Gary StaresPR13. Ian Thomson
12. John McMartinHK12. Max Krilich (c)
11. Paul KhanPR11. John Harvey
10Eric ArcherSR10. Bruce Walker
9. Steve KneenSR9. Terry Randall
18. John GlossopLK8. Ian Martin
15. Rowland BeckettReserve
Norm ProvanCoachFrank 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
  1. Rick Bourke
FB
  1. Graham Eadie
2. Chris GardnerWG2. Tom Mooney
3. Steve Rogers (c)CE3. Stephen Knight
4. Dave ChamberlinCE4. Russel Gartner
5. Steve EdmondsWG5. Simon Booth
6. Martin RafteryFE6. Alan Thompson
7. Steve HansardHB7. Steve Martin
13. Paul KhanPR13. Ian Thomson
12. Rowland BeckettHK12. Max Krilich (c)
11. Peter RyanPR11. John Harvey
10. Steve KneenSR10. Bruce Walker
9. Eric ArcherSR9. Terry Randall
8. John GlossopLK8. Ian Martin
Reserve14. Wayne Springall
Reserve16. Ray Branighan
Norm ProvanCoachFrank 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.

References

  1. Middleton, David (2008). League of Legends: 100 Years of Rugby League in Australia (PDF). National Museum of Australia. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-876944-64-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-03-17.
  2. Lester, Gary and Pritchard, Greg; Bound for Glory: The Story of the Penrith Panthers; pp. 101-103 ISBN 9780949853486
  3. Coady, Ben (2009-09-28). "Grand final dramas". WA Today. Australia: Fairfax Digital. Archived from the original on 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2010-01-15.
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