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1983 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams	14
Premiers	Parramatta (3rd title)
Minor premiers	Manly-Warringah (5th title)
Matches played	189
Points scored	7,296
Attendance	1,458,144
Top points scorer(s)	Michael Eden (256)
Rothmans Medal	Michael Eden
Top try-scorer(s)	Phil Blake (27)
← 19821984 →

The 1983 NSWRFL season was the 76th season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Fourteen teams competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated in a replay of the previous year's grand final between the Parramatta and Manly-Warringah clubs. During the season, NSWRFL teams also competed for the 1983 KB Cup.

1983 was the final season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership for Sydney-based foundation club Newtown Jets, and the first reduction in the number of teams in the competition since Sydney University's departure at the end of the 1937 NSWRFL season. It was also the first season that was played with four-point tries.

Season summary

For the first time, the number of points awarded for scoring a try was raised from three to four. There was also the introduction of a handover if a team was caught in possession six times, which had the effect of killing the traditional scrum but attracted many new followers to a game that had seen attendances decline by fifty percent since the record year of 1968. To counter a lucrative illegal betting market, legal betting via FootyTAB was introduced and was a regarded as a success.

Twenty-six regular season rounds were played from February till August, resulting in a top five of Manly-Warringah, Parramatta, Canterbury-Bankstown, Balmain and St. George, who battled it out in the finals. Manly-Warringah managed 23 wins from 28 matches in 1983 – at the time the most wins in a season by a club in NSWRFL premiership history alongside Parramatta's 23 in 1982.

The 1983 season's Rothmans Medallist was Eastern Suburbs’ back, Michael Eden and the Dally M Award went to Western Suburbs’ half, Terry Lamb. Rugby League Week gave their player of the year award to Manly-Warringah winger, Phil Sigsworth. This season the Cocal-Cola Coach-of-the-year award was voted for by the coaches in the League and was awarded to rookie coach Laurie Freier.

This was also the last year in the first-grade competition for foundation club Newtown, who were dropped at the season's end.

Teams

The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous season, with fourteen clubs competing in total, including six Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, one from greater New South Wales and one from the Australian Capital Territory. It was the last season for the Newtown club.

Balmain Tigers 76th season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Frank Stanton Captain: Wayne Pearce	Canberra Raiders 2nd season Ground: Seiffert Oval Coach: Don Furner Captain: Allan McMahon	Canterbury Bulldogs 48th season Ground: Belmore Oval Coach: Ted Glossop Captain: Chris Anderson	Cronulla Sharks 17th season Ground: Endeavour Field Coach: Terry Fearnley Captain: Gavin Miller	Eastern Suburbs Roosters 76th season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Laurie Freier Captain: Royce Ayliffe	Illawarra Steelers 2nd season Ground: Wollongong Stadium Coach: Allan Fitzgibbon Captain: John Dorahy	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 37th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Bob Fulton Captain: Max Krilich
Newtown Jets 76th season Ground: Henson Park, Orana Park Coach: Brian Moore Captain: Ken Wilson, Dean Lance	North Sydney Bears 76th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: John Hayes, Greg Hawick Captain: Mark Graham, John Adam	Parramatta Eels 37th season Ground: Belmore Oval Coach: Jack Gibson Captain: Steve Edge	Penrith Panthers 17th season Ground: Penrith Stadium Coach: John Peard Captain: Royce Simmons	South Sydney Rabbitohs 76th season Ground: Redfern Oval Coach: Ron Willey Captain: Ziggy Niszczot	St. George Dragons 63rd season Ground: Kogarah Oval Coach: Roy Masters Captain: Craig Young, John Jansen	Western Suburbs Magpies 76th season Ground: Lidcombe Oval Coach: Len Stacker Captain: Warren Boland

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Manly	26	22	0	4	690	361	+329	44
2	Parramatta	26	18	0	8	639	293	+346	36
3	Canterbury	26	18	0	8	531	409	+122	36
4	Balmain	26	17	0	9	525	438	+87	34
5	St. George	26	14	1	11	551	450	+101	29
6	Eastern Suburbs	26	14	1	11	579	492	+87	29
7	North Sydney	26	13	1	12	435	446	-11	27
8	South Sydney	26	12	1	13	439	495	-56	25
9	Cronulla	26	12	0	14	450	520	-70	24
10	Canberra	26	9	0	17	495	614	-119	18
11	Penrith	26	9	0	17	476	647	-171	18
12	Illawarra	26	8	0	18	451	644	-193	16
13	Newtown	26	7	2	17	373	591	-218	16
14	Western Suburbs	26	5	2	19	394	628	-234	12

Finals

Home	Score	Away	Match information
			Date and time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Playoff
St. George Dragons	44-16	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	30 August 1983	Sydney Cricket Ground	B. Barnes	17,981
Qualifying Finals
Balmain Tigers	14-17	St. George Dragons	3 September 1983	Sydney Cricket Ground	Kevin Roberts	24,652
Parramatta Eels	30-22	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	4 September 1983	Sydney Cricket Ground	B. Barnes	22,311
Semi-finals
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	26-24	St. George Dragons	10 September 1983	Sydney Cricket Ground	John Gocher	27,867
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	19-10	Parramatta Eels	11 September 1983	Sydney Cricket Ground	Kevin Roberts	28,921
Preliminary final
Parramatta Eels	18-4	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	18 September 1983	Sydney Cricket Ground	Kevin Roberts	27,726
Grand final
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	6-18	Parramatta Eels	25 September 1983	Sydney Cricket Ground	Kevin Roberts	40,285

Chart

	Qualifying final					Major semi-final					Preliminary final					Grand final
						1	Manly	19								Manly		6
							Parramatta	10								Parramatta		18
	2	Parramatta	30								Parramatta		18
	3	Canterbury	22			Minor semi-final					Canterbury		4
						Canterbury		26
	4	Balmain	14			St. George		24
	5	St. George	17

Grand final

Parramatta powered over Manly for the second year straight to claim their third successive title. The 18–6 win saw Brett Kenny claim a unique achievement in scoring two tries in three successive grand finals. Kenny opened the scoring and the Eels raced to a 10–0 lead after 13 minutes when Eric Grothe steamrolled burly Manly fullback Graham Eadie.

Parramatta 18 (Tries: Brett Kenny 2, Eric Grothe; Goals: Cronin 3)

defeated

Manly-Warringah 6 (Tries: Phil Sigsworth; Goals: Graham Eadie)

Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 26:

Top 5 point scorers Points Player Tries Goals Field Goals 244 Michael Eden 11 99 2 214 Graham Eadie 7 93 0 202 Mick Cronin 4 93 0 193 Ron Giteau 5 86 1 192 Ross Conlon 7 82 0 Top 5 try scorers Tries Player 26 Phil Blake 20 Neil Hunt 19 Chris Anderson 18 Steve Morris 18 Shane McKellar

Top 5 goal scorers Goals Player 99 Michael Eden 93 Graham Eadie 93 Mick Cronin 86 Ron Giteau 82 Ross Conlon

References

1. AFL Tables – Rugby League Crowds summary
2. Clarkson, Alan (21 September 1983). "Coach-of-year newcomer surprised by his voting rivals". the Sydney Morning Herald. Australia. p. 47. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
3. "History of the Premiership". centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au. Australian Rugby League. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2013.

External links

• Rugby League Tables - Season 1983 The World of Rugby League
• Results: 1981-90 at rabbitohs.com.au
• 1983 J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup at rleague.com
• NSWRFL season 1983 at rugbyleagueproject.org

• New South Wales Rugby League premiership
• 1983 in Australian rugby league