1985 National Panasonic Cup

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.

1985 NSWRL Midweek Cup

NSWRL National Panasonic Cup
Tournament details
Dates	6 March - 5 June 1985
Teams	16
Venue(s)	6 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Balmain (2nd title)
Runners-up	Cronulla-Sutherland
Tournament statistics
Matches played	15

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

• Scott Gale (Balmain)

Golden Try

• Garry Jack (Balmain)

Sources

• https://web.archive.org/web/20070929092832/http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~maajjs/aus/nsw/sum/nsw1985.htm