# 1980 Tooth Cup

The 1980 Tooth Cup was the 7th edition of the NSWRFL Midweek Cup, a NSWRFL-organised national club Rugby League tournament between the leading clubs and representative teams from the NSWRFL, the BRL, the CRL, the QRL and the NZRL.
A total of 16 teams from across Australia and New Zealand played 23 matches in a round-robin format with teams playing 2 games each with the top 8 teams advanced to a knockout stage, with the matches being held midweek during the premiership season.

## Qualified Teams

| Team | Nickname | League | Qualification | Participation (bold indicates winners) |
| St. George | Dragons | NSWRFL | Winners of the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership | 7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979) |
| Canterbury-Bankstown | Bulldogs | NSWRFL | Runners-Up in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership | 7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979) |
| Parramatta | Eels | NSWRFL | Third Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership | 7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979) |
| Cronulla-Sutherland | Sharks | NSWRFL | Fourth Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership | 7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979) |
| Western Suburbs | Magpies | NSWRFL | Fifth Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership | 7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979) |
| Balmain | Tigers | NSWRFL | Sixth Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership | 7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979) |
| Manly-Warringah | Sea Eagles | NSWRFL | Seventh Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership | 7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979) |
| Eastern Suburbs | Roosters | NSWRFL | Eighth Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership | 7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979) |
| South Sydney | Rabbitohs | NSWRFL | Ninth Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership | 7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979) |
| Penrith | Panthers | NSWRFL | Tenth Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership | 7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979) |
| Newtown | Jets | NSWRFL | Eleventh Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership | 7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979) |
| North Sydney | Bears | NSWRFL | Twelfth Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership | 7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979) |
| Brisbane | Poinsettias | BRL | League Representative Team | 2nd (Previous: 1979) |
| NSW Country | Kangaroos | CRL | Country League Representative Team | 2nd (Previous: 1979) |
| Queensland Country | Maroons | QRL | Country League Representative Team | 2nd (Previous: 1979) |
| Auckland | Falcons | NZRL | Winners of the 1979 New Zealand Rugby League Inter-District Premiership | 7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979) |

## Venues

| Sydney | Brisbane | Queanbeyan |
| Leichhardt Oval | Lang Park | Seiffert Oval |
| Capacity: 23,000 | Capacity: 45,000 | Capacity: 20,000 |

## Round 1

| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue |
| 2/04/80 | Eastern Suburbs | 14 | Combined Brisbane | 4 | Lang Park |
| 9/04/80 | St George | 16 | Balmain | 5 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 16/04/80 | Newtown | 22 | Manly-Warringah | 7 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 23/04/80 | Penrith | 26 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 14 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 30/04/80 | Parramatta | 20 | South Sydney | 7 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 7/05/80 | Western Suburbs | 40 | Auckland | 14 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 21/05/80 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 35 | NSW Country | 3 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 28/05/80 | North Sydney | 40 | QLD Country | 5 | Leichhardt Oval |

## Round 2

| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue |
| 14/05/80 | Eastern Suburbs | 11 | Newtown | 10 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 4/06/80 | Parramatta | 18 | Western Suburbs | 11 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 11/06/80 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 19 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 18 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 18/06/80 | Combined Brisbane | 27 | Manly-Warringah | 20 | Lang Park |
| 25/06/80 | South Sydney | 47 | Auckland | 5 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 25/06/80 | St George | 40 | North Sydney | 9 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 2/07/80 | Penrith | 18 | NSW Country | 9 | Seiffert Oval |
| 2/07/80 | Balmain | 45 | QLD Country | 5 | Lang Park |
| Club | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | For | Against | Diff. | Points |
| St George | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 14 | 42 | 4 |
| Penrith | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 23 | 21 | 4 |
| Parramatta | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 18 | 20 | 4 |
| Eastern Suburbs | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 14 | 11 | 4 |
| Canterbury-Bankstown | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 22 | 31 | 2 |
| South Sydney | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 54 | 25 | 29 | 2 |
| Balmain | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 21 | 29 | 2 |
| Western Suburbs | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 32 | 19 | 2 |
| Newtown | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 18 | 14 | 2 |
| North Sydney | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 45 | 4 | 2 |
| Combined Brisbane | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 34 | -3 | 2 |
| Cronulla-Sutherland | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 44 | -11 | 2 |
| Manly-Warringah | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 49 | -22 | 0 |
| NSW Country | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 53 | -41 | 0 |
| Auckland | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 87 | -68 | 0 |
| QLD Country | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 85 | -75 | 0 |

## Quarter finals

| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue |
| 9/07/80 | Eastern Suburbs | 20 | Penrith | 9 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 16/07/80 | Western Suburbs | 10 | St George | 4 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 23/07/80 | Parramatta | 16 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 7 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 30/07/80 | Balmain | 22 | South Sydney | 14 | Leichhardt Oval |

## Semi finals

| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue |
| 6/08/80 | Parramatta | 9 | Western Suburbs | 6 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 13/08/80 | Balmain | 18 | Eastern Suburbs | 8 | Leichhardt Oval |

## Final

| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue |
| 20/08/80 | Parramatta | 8 | Balmain | 5 | Leichhardt Oval |

### Player of the Series

* Peter Sterling (Parramatta)

### Golden Try

* John Dorahy (Manly-Warringah)

## Sources

* https://web.archive.org/web/20070927025237/http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~maajjs/aus/nsw/sum/nsw1980.htm