# 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.
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 | 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 |

## 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