1982 NSWRL Grand Final
Sunday, 26 September 1982 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales
1982 NSWRL Grand Final result: Parramatta def. Manly-Warringah, 21-8, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales on Sunday, 26 September 1982.
Sourcing caveat: This match was played under the pre-1983 scoring system, where a try was worth 3 points (not the 4-point try introduced from the 1983 season) — 5 tries × 3 + 3 goals × 2 = 21 for Parramatta, and 2 tries × 3 + 1 goal × 2 = 8 for Manly, both reconciling exactly under try=3; try=4 does not reconcile (would total 26).
Result
| Team | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | Parramatta | 21 |
| Runner-up | Manly-Warringah | 8 |
Attendance: 52,186
NRL 1982 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parramatta | 26 | 21 | 0 | 5 | 619 | 242 | +377 | 42 |
| 2 | Manly-Warringah | 26 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 530 | 411 | +119 | 34 |
| 3 | North Sydney | 26 | 16 | 1 | 9 | 399 | 360 | +39 | 33 |
| 4 | Eastern Suburbs | 26 | 15 | 2 | 9 | 437 | 304 | +133 | 32 |
| 5 | Western Suburbs | 26 | 16 | 0 | 10 | 412 | 349 | +63 | 32 |
| 6 | South Sydney | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 395 | 400 | -5 | 29 |
| 7 | Newtown | 26 | 13 | 2 | 11 | 406 | 309 | +97 | 28 |
| 8 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 26 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 399 | 361 | +38 | 27 |
| 9 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 26 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 400 | 336 | +64 | 27 |
| 10 | St. George | 26 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 408 | 402 | +6 | 24 |
| 11 | Balmain | 26 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 383 | 427 | -44 | 21 |
| 12 | Penrith | 26 | 7 | 1 | 18 | 375 | 441 | -66 | 15 |
| 13 | Illawarra Steelers | 26 | 6 | 0 | 20 | 344 | 572 | -228 | 12 |
| 14 | Canberra | 26 | 4 | 0 | 22 | 269 | 862 | -593 | 8 |
Qualified for the finals series — top 5 (“final five”) that season.
Finals series
Minor Preliminary Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Sep 1982 | Eastern Suburbs Roosters 11–7 Western Suburbs Magpies | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 21,167 |
Major Preliminary Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Sep 1982 | Manly-Warringah 26–3 North Sydney Bears | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 24,690 |
Minor Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Sep 1982 | Eastern Suburbs Roosters 12–10 North Sydney Bears | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 19,566 |
Major Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Sep 1982 | Manly-Warringah 20–0 Parramatta Eels | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 31,604 |
Preliminary Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Sep 1982 | Parramatta Eels 33–0 Eastern Suburbs Roosters | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 24,637 |
Grand Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Sep 1982 | Parramatta Eels 21–8 Manly-Warringah | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW |
Match officials
| Referee | John Gocher |
Scorers
| Parramatta | Tries: Brett Kenny — minute unconfirmed; Brett Kenny 62'; Steve Ella — minute unconfirmed; Eric Grothe — minute unconfirmed; Neil Hunt — minute unconfirmed Goals: Michael Cronin (3/5) |
| Manly-Warringah | Tries: Phil Blake — minute unconfirmed; Les Boyd — minute unconfirmed Goals: Graham Eadie (1/2) |
Teams
| Parramatta | Manly-Warringah | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Taylor | Fullback | Graham Eadie | 1 |
| 2 | Neil Hunt | Wing | John Ribot | 2 |
| 3 | Michael Cronin | Centre | Chris Close | 3 |
| 4 | Steve Ella | Centre | Michael Blake | 4 |
| 5 | Eric Grothe | Wing | Phil Carey | 5 |
| 6 | Brett Kenny | Five-eighth | Alan Thompson (c) | 6 |
| 7 | Peter Sterling | Halfback | Phil Blake | 7 |
| 8 | Ray Price | Lock | Paul McCabe | 8 |
| 9 | Steve Sharp | Second Row | Les Boyd | 14 |
| 10 | John Muggleton | Second Row | Paul Vautin | 10 |
| 11 | Chris Phelan | Front Row | Terry Randall | 11 |
| 12 | Steve Edge (c) | Hooker | Ray Brown | 12 |
| 13 | Geoff Bugden | Front Row | Geoff Gerard | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Peter Wynn | Bruce Walker | 9 | |
| 17 | Gary Martine | Max Krilich | 15 | |
| 19 | Mark Laurie | Ian Thomson | 18 | |
| 21 | Steve Halliwell | |||
| Jack Gibson | Coach | Ray Ritchie | ||
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
Twelve months after breaking their 35-year drought, Jack Gibson's Parramatta returned to the Sydney Cricket Ground to prove 1981 was no fluke, and did so emphatically. The Eels had dominated the season, claiming the minor premiership, and they carried that authority into the decider against Manly-Warringah before 52,186 fans. Manly actually struck first through livewire Phil Blake, but the response was withering. Parramatta's celebrated backline of Peter Sterling, Brett Kenny, Mick Cronin, Steve Ella and Eric Grothe cut Manly apart, and a devastating burst of three tries in the ten minutes before the interval blew the game open at 16-3 by half-time. Kenny, the elegant five-eighth, crossed twice, his second try in the 62nd minute finally killing off any thought of a Manly revival, while Ella, Grothe and Neil Hunt also scored and Cronin landed three goals. Les Boyd claimed a consolation try for the Sea Eagles, with Graham Eadie kicking a goal, but the 21-8 scoreline flattered nobody: Parramatta were rampant, and Kenny's two-try performance, repeating his double from the 1981 decider, confirmed his standing as the era's premier big-game player. Captain-hooker Steve Edge collected his second straight premiership as Parramatta skipper and third overall, while Gibson became the first coach to steer the Eels to consecutive titles. The win entrenched Parramatta as the glamour team of the early 1980s, their star-studded line-up, many of them products of the club's own junior nursery, now widely regarded as one of the finest backlines ever assembled. For Manly-Warringah, beaten Grand Finalists for the first time since their 1978 triumph, the afternoon began a painful sequence: they would return to the decider the following year against the same opponent, with the same result. Parramatta's back-to-back crowns set up the pursuit of a feat no club had managed since St. George's great dynasty, three premierships in succession, which the Eels would duly complete in 1983.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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