1985 National Panasonic Cup

1985 NSWRL Midweek Cup
NSWRL National Panasonic Cup
Tournament details
Dates6 March - 5 June 1985
Teams16
Venue(s)6 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
ChampionsBalmain (2nd title)
Runners-upCronulla-Sutherland
Tournament statistics
Matches played15
1984
1986

The 1985 National Panasonic Cup was the 12th edition of the NSWRL Midweek Cup, a NSWRL-organised national club Rugby League tournament between the leading clubs and representative teams from the NSWRL, the BRL, the CRL and the NZRL.

A total of 16 teams from across Australia and New Zealand played 15 matches in a straight knock-out format, with the matches being held midweek during the premiership season.

Qualified Teams

Team Nickname League Qualification Participation (bold indicates winners)
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs NSWRL Winners of the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership 12th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Parramatta Eels NSWRL Runners-Up in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership 12th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
St. George Dragons NSWRL Third Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership 12th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
South Sydney Rabbitohs NSWRL Fourth Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership 12th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles NSWRL Fifth Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership 12th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Canberra Raiders NSWRL Sixth Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership 4th (Previous: 1982, 1983, 1984)
Penrith Panthers NSWRL Seventh Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership 12th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Illawarra Steelers NSWRL Eighth Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership 4th (Previous: 1982, 1983, 1984)
Balmain Tigers NSWRL Ninth Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership 12th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks NSWRL Tenth Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership 12th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
North Sydney Bears NSWRL Eleventh Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership 12th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Eastern Suburbs Roosters NSWRL Twelfth Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership 12th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Western Suburbs Magpies NSWRL Thirteenth Place in the 1984 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership 12th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Brisbane Poinsettias BRL League Representative Team 7th (Previous: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
NSW Country Kangaroos CRL Country League Representative Team 7th (Previous: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)
Auckland Falcons NZRL Winners of the 1984 New Zealand Rugby League Inter-District Premiership 9th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984)

Venues

Sydney Lismore Tamworth Bathurst Wagga Wagga
Leichhardt Oval Redfern Oval Oakes Oval Scully Park Carrington Park Eric Weissel Oval
Capacity: 23,000 Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 13,000 Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 10,000

Round 1

Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue Man of the Match
6/03/85 Manly-Warringah (Shearer, Cleal, Brown, Close tries, Elwin 3 goals) 22 North Sydney (Teasdell, McKinnon tries, Dennis 3 goals) 12 Leichhardt Oval Glenn Ryan - Manly-Warringah
10/03/85 St George * (Wynn, Johnston tries, P.Morris goal) 10 South Sydney (Murphy try, Baker 2 goals) 8 Redfern Oval Craig Young - St George
13/03/85 Penrith (Alexander, Fenton, Gonzales tries, Levy 3 goals) 18 Parramatta (D.Price try, Cronin 3 goals) 10 Carrington Park Greg Alexander - Penrith
20/03/85 Illawarra (D.Moon, Hetherington, Greenland, Mackey tries, Dorahy 3 goals) 22 Eastern Suburbs (Leggett try, Portlock 3 goals) 10 Leichhardt Oval John Dorahy - Illawarra
27/03/85 Canterbury-Bankstown (C.Mortimer, P.Mortimer tries, C.Mortimer 3 goals, Lamb 2 field goals) 16 Canberra (Giteau 3 goals) 6 Eric Weissel Oval Steve Mortimer - Canterbury-Bankstown
3/04/85 Western Suburbs 32 Auckland (NZ) 10 Leichhardt Oval Leo Epifania - Western Suburbs
10/04/85 Cronulla-Sutherland (See 2, Merlo tries, Carney 6 goals) 24 NSW Country (Randall 2 goals) 4 Scully Park
17/04/85 Balmain (Brooks 2, Gale, Elias, Marketo tries, Conlon 6 goals, Gale field goal) 33 Combined Brisbane (Boys, Dwyer tries, Ribot 4 goals) 16 Leichhardt Oval Ben Elias - Balmain
* The St George V South Sydney game also functioned as the Charity Shield for this season.

Quarter finals

Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue Man of the Match
17/04/85 Western Suburbs (Harrigan, T.Cogger tries, Pearce goal) 10 Penrith (Howell try, Alexander goal) 6 Leichhardt Oval Mark Harrigan - Western Suburbs
1/05/85 Cronulla-Sutherland (Carney, D.Sorensen tries, Carney goal) 10 Canterbury-Bankstown 0 Leichhardt Oval Mark Wakefield - Cronulla-Sutherland
8/05/85 Balmain (Elias, Gale, John Davidson tries, Conlon 4 goals) 20 St George (Linnane, O’Connor, Cannon tries, O’Connor 3 goals) 18 Leichhardt Oval Wayne Pearce - Balmain
15/05/85 Manly-Warringah (Hegarty, Blake, Close, Hasler, Barkley tries, Melrose 5 goals) 30 Illawarra (Selby try, Dorahy goal) 6 Leichhardt Oval Tony Melrose - Manly-Warringah

Semi finals

Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue Man of the Match
22/05/85 Cronulla-Sutherland (Docking, Porter, K.Sorensen tries, Carney 2 goals) 16 Manly-Warringah 0 Oakes Oval Michael Porter - Cronulla-Sutherland
29/05/85 Balmain (Gale, Schofield tries, Conlon 2 goals) 12 Western Suburbs (Wigham, Fyvie tries, Crooks goal) 10 Leichhardt Oval Kevin Hardwick - Balmain

Final

Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue Man of the Match
5 June 1985 Balmain (Bridge, Gartner tries, Conlon 3 goals) 14 Cronulla-Sutherland (Carney, Wakefield tries, Carney 2 goals) 12 Leichhardt Oval Scott Gale - Balmain

Player of the Series

Golden Try

Sources