1976 NSWRFL Grand Final
Saturday, 18 September 1976 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales
1976 NSWRFL Grand Final result: Manly-Warringah def. Parramatta, 13-10, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales on Saturday, 18 September 1976.
Sourcing caveat: In 1976 a try was worth 3 points (the 4-point try was not introduced until 1983); the scoring breakdown above reconciles exactly to 13-10 under that rule (Manly: Phil Lowe try = 3, plus Graham Eadie 5/6 goals = 10, totalling 13; Parramatta: Jim Porter and Geoff Gerard tries = 6, plus John Peard 2/3 and Mark Levy 0/1 goals = 4, totalling 10). Exact try minutes could not be confirmed from sources found — only relative sequence is known (Porter opened the scoring, Lowe levelled before half-time, Gerard scored early in the second half).
Result
| Team | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | Manly-Warringah | 13 |
| Runner-up | Parramatta | 10 |
Attendance: 57,343
NRL 1976 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manly-Warringah | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 499 | 252 | +247 | 32 |
| 2 | Parramatta | 22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 347 | 238 | +109 | 30 |
| 3 | St. George | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 328 | 298 | +30 | 28 |
| 4 | Eastern Suburbs | 22 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 399 | 250 | +149 | 27 |
| 5 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 22 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 361 | 337 | +24 | 27 |
| 6 | Balmain | 22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 318 | 287 | +31 | 25 |
| 7 | Western Suburbs | 22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 379 | 313 | +66 | 24 |
| 8 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 22 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 378 | 393 | -15 | 19 |
| 9 | Penrith | 22 | 8 | 1 | 13 | 352 | 333 | +19 | 17 |
| 10 | South Sydney | 22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 297 | 421 | -124 | 16 |
| 11 | North Sydney | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 272 | 526 | -254 | 13 |
| 12 | Newtown | 22 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 264 | 546 | -282 | 6 |
Qualified for the finals series — top 5 (“final five”) that season.
Finals series
Major Preliminary Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Aug 1976 | Parramatta Eels 31–6 St. George | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 28,264 |
Minor Preliminary Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Aug 1976 | Canterbury-Bankstown 22–13 Eastern Suburbs Roosters | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 27,203 |
Major Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Sep 1976 | Parramatta Eels 23–17 Manly-Warringah | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 30,999 |
Minor Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Sep 1976 | Canterbury-Bankstown 25–9 St. George | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 27,261 |
Preliminary Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Sep 1976 | Manly-Warringah 15–12 Canterbury-Bankstown | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 31,381 |
Grand Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 Sep 1976 | Manly-Warringah 13–10 Parramatta Eels | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW |
Match officials
| Referee | Gary Cook |
Scorers
| Manly-Warringah | Tries: Phil Lowe — minute unconfirmed Goals: Graham Eadie (5/6) |
| Parramatta | Tries: Jim Porter — minute unconfirmed; Geoff Gerard — minute unconfirmed Goals: John Peard (2/3); Mark Levy (0/1) |
Teams
| Manly-Warringah | Parramatta | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Graham Eadie | Fullback | Mark Levy | 1 |
| 2 | Tom Mooney | Wing | Jim Porter | 2 |
| 3 | Russell Gartner | Centre | Ed Sulkowicz | 3 |
| 4 | Bob Fulton (c) | Centre | John Moran | 4 |
| 5 | Rod Jackson | Wing | Neville Glover | 5 |
| 6 | Alan Thompson | Five-eighth | John Peard | 6 |
| 7 | Gary Stephens | Halfback | John Kolc | 7 |
| 8 | John Harvey | Prop | Graham Olling | 8 |
| 9 | Max Krilich | Hooker | Ron Hilditch | 9 |
| 10 | Terry Randall | Prop | Denis Fitzgerald | 10 |
| 11 | Steve Norton | Second Row | Geoff Gerard | 11 |
| 12 | Phil Lowe | Second Row | Ray Higgs (c) | 12 |
| 13 | Ian Martin | Lock | Ray Price | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Gary Thoroughgood | Graeme Atkins | 14 | |
| 17 | Mark Willoughby | John Baker | 15 | |
| Frank Stanton | Coach | Terry Fearnley | ||
Clive Churchill Medal
The Clive Churchill Medal was first awarded in 1986; no official best-on-ground medal existed for this Grand Final.
Match context
The 1976 Grand Final carried enormous emotional weight for the western suburbs of Sydney: Parramatta had reached the premiership decider for the first time in their history since entering the competition in 1947. Standing in their way at the Sydney Cricket Ground, before 57,343 fans, were Manly-Warringah, the glamour club of the decade, chasing a third premiership in five seasons after their 1972 and 1973 titles. Parramatta struck first, winger Jim Porter crossing to help establish a 5-0 lead before a Graham Eadie penalty goal pulled the margin back to 5-2. Manly's only try of the afternoon came when five-eighth Alan Thompson sidestepped through the defence and sent English international second-rower Phil Lowe over, and the sides went to the interval locked at 7-7. Early in the second half Geoff Gerard scored an unconverted try to edge the Eels ahead, but Eadie's boot, he finished with five goals from six attempts against John Peard's two for Parramatta, kept dragging Manly back, and the Sea Eagles ground their way to 13-10. The match turned on one of the most agonising moments in Grand Final history: with ten minutes remaining and the tryline wide open barely fifteen metres away, Parramatta winger Neville Glover dropped John Moran's pass with the premiership-winning try begging, a spilt ball that has haunted Eels folklore ever since. At the other end of the emotional spectrum, the day was a fairytale farewell for Manly captain Bob Fulton, playing his final match for the club after ten brilliant seasons; contemporary accounts credited the victory largely to his experience and big-game composure. Eadie's marksmanship and Fulton's generalship gave Manly a third title of the 1970s and reinforced their reputation as the era's pre-eminent big-match side. For Terry Fearnley's Parramatta, defeat was crushing but formative: the club had announced itself as a genuine power, and the near-miss began a sequence of Grand Final heartbreaks, falling again in 1977, before the Eels finally broke through for their maiden premiership in 1981. The 1976 decider is still remembered as the day the Sea Eagles' poise, and one dropped pass, decided a premiership.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
← Rugby League · Champions list · All-time records · World Cup · All competitions · Venues · Teams · Players