1994 NSWRL season


The 1994 NSWRL season was the eighty-seventh season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs competed for the J J Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a grand final match for the Winfield Cup trophy between the Canberra Raiders and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

Season summary

On the first of June, the previous season's premiers, the Broncos played in the 1994 World Club Challenge match in Brisbane against British champions Wigan. Wigan defeated the Broncos 20 to 14 at ANZ Stadium in front of 54,220 spectators. On 14 July the North Sydney Bears were fined $87,000 for breaching the salary cap. In total, twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March till August, resulting in a top five of Canterbury-Bankstown, North Sydney, Canberra, Manly-Warringah and Brisbane who went on to battle it out in the finals. The 1994 season's Rothmans Medallist was North Sydney forward David Fairleigh. The Dally M Award went to Manly-Warringah's five-eighth, Cliff Lyons who was also named as Rugby League Week's player of the year. 1994 was the last premiership season to be administered by the New South Wales Rugby League. At the end of the season control of the Winfield Cup would be passed on to the Australian Rugby League and re-branded as such, as part of the move to become a more national competition. This season was also the last in the Premiership for future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee and coach, Mal Meninga. At the end of the 1994 season a squad of players from the NSWRL Premiership went on the 1994 Kangaroo tour.

Teams

The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous season, with sixteen clubs contesting the premiership, including five inner Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from greater Sydney, two from greater New South Wales, two from Queensland, and one from the Australian Capital Territory.
Balmain Tigers
87th season
Ground: Leichhardt Oval
Coach: Wayne Pearce
Captain: Ben Elias
Brisbane Broncos
7th season
Ground: ANZ Stadium
Coach: Wayne Bennett
Captain: Allan Langer
Canberra Raiders
13th season
Ground: Bruce Stadium
Coach: Tim Sheens
Captain: Mal Meninga
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
60th season
Ground: Belmore Oval
Coach: Chris Anderson
Captain: Terry Lamb
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
28th season
Ground: Endeavour Park
Coach: John Lang
Captain: Dan Stains
Eastern Suburbs Roosters
87th season
Ground: Sydney Football Stadium
Coach: Mark MurrayArthur Beetson
Captain: Craig Salvatori
Gold Coast Seagulls
7th season
Ground: Seagulls Stadium
Coach: John Harvey
Captain: Craig Coleman
Illawarra Steelers
13th season
Ground: Wollongong Stadium
Coach: Graham Murray
Captain: John Cross
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

48th season
Ground: Brookvale Oval
Coach: Bob Fulton
Captain: Geoff Toovey
Newcastle Knights
7th season
Ground: Marathon Stadium
Coach: David Waite
Captain: Mark Sargent
North Sydney Bears
87th season
Ground: North Sydney Oval
Coach: Peter Louis
Captain: Jason Taylor
Parramatta Eels
48th season
Ground: Parramatta Stadium
Coach: Ron Hilditch
Captain: Paul Dunn
Penrith Panthers
28th season
Ground: Penrith Stadium
Coach: Phil GouldRoyce Simmons
Captain: John Cartwright
South Sydney Rabbitohs
87th season
Ground: Sydney Football Stadium
Coach: Ken Shine
Captain: Dean Schifilliti
St. George Dragons
74th season
Ground: Kogarah Oval
Coach: Brian Smith
Captain: Mark Coyne
Western Suburbs Magpies
87th season
Ground: Campbelltown Stadium
Coach: Wayne Ellis
Captain: Paul LangmackJim Serdaris

Advertising

In 1994 the League and its advertising agency Hertz Walpole returned to the original 1989 recording of "The Best" by Tina Turner to underscore the season launch ad. Footage had been shot of Turner's performance at the 1993 Grand Final and a studio bluescreen shoot also took place during that visit ensuring a store of images that could be used in flexible adaptations for the final two years of Turner's association with the competition and the Winfield Cup.
The 1994 advertisement used the performance and superimposed studio footage of Turner into crowd and stadium scenes that replicated the Sydney Football Stadium. The closing scenes of the commercial made it appear that Turner was singing the song high up in the Sydney Football Stadium's stands in front of its identifiable stretched-sail roofing.

Ladder

Ladder progression

Team12345678910111213141516171819202122
1 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs224681012141618202020222426283030323436
2 North Sydney Bears2468101214141414151719212325272931333335
3 Canberra Raiders02446810121214161618182022242628303234
4 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles013557791113151719212323252729313333
5 Brisbane Broncos11135579911111313151517192123232527
6 Illawarra Steelers0134444689111113151719192123232325
7 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks244688881012121414161818181820202224
8 Penrith Panthers135557991112121414141416181818202222
9 South Sydney Rabbitohs00013357911131517171719191919191919
10 Newcastle Knights22222468810101214161818181818181818
11 St. George Dragons224681010101010101012121414141416161818
12 Parramatta Eels1113333333557777999111315
13 Western Suburbs Magpies2444444555688101010121212141414
14 Eastern Suburbs Roosters000024677777777991111111113
15 Gold Coast Seagulls13333333557777777911111111
16 Balmain Tigers0244444466666666666888

Finals

Chart

Grand Final

The Canberra Raiders were confident in the lead up, despite their one-point loss to the Bulldogs in the Major Semi-final, and everything played into their hands from the whistle. Canterbury veteran prop Martin Bella dropped the ball from the kick-off and before too long Canberra had posted two tries.
Canberra legend Mal Meninga was given a champion's farewell as his "Green Machine" swamped the Bulldogs. Canberra's Paul Osborne also enjoyed a fairytale day. On the outer for most of the year, Osborne won a reprieve, playing at after team-mate John Lomax was suspended for a high tackle in the Preliminary Final against North Sydney. Osborne, playing in his 135th and last career game before retirement, rose to the occasion by setting up the first two Raiders tries in the opening sixteen minutes.
Meninga's 166th and final match for the Raiders ended perfectly when he scored the last try of the day after intercepting a pass from Jason Smith. Meninga then outlasted the cover defence, running almost 40 metres and palming off his opposite Jarrod McCracken to score the try beside the posts, sending the 42,234 strong crowd at the Sydney Football Stadium into raptures. Despite being a goal kicker for most of his career, Meninga declined to take what would have been an easy conversion of his own try, instead leaving the kick to regular team kicker, Clive Churchill Medallist David Furner.
The Canberra Raiders had claimed their third premiership, amassing the highest score in a Grand Final since Eastern Suburbs defeated St. George 38-0 in 1975. It was the highest-scoring Grand Final since 1951 when South Sydney defeated Manly 42-14.
Canberra Raiders 36
Tries: Nagas 2, Furner, Daley, Nadruku, Croker, Meninga
Goals: Furner 4/7
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 12
Tries: Williams, Hetherington
Goals: Halligan 2/2