1986 NSWRL Grand Final

Result

Attendance: 45,843

NRL 1986 — full season ladder & finals series

Qualified for the finals series — top 5 (“final five”) that season.

Finals series

Playoff

Minor Preliminary Semi-Final

Major Preliminary Semi-Final

Minor Semi-Final

Major Semi-Final

Preliminary Final

Grand Final

Permalink to this season's ladder page →

Match officials

Scorers

Teams

Clive Churchill Medal

Peter Sterling (Parramatta). The inaugural Clive Churchill Medal, instituted in 1986 in honour of the late South Sydney and Australian great.

Match context

A rematch of the 1984 decider between the two great powers of the early 1980s, the 1986 Grand Final produced one of the most extraordinary statistical curiosities in premiership history: it remains the only tryless Grand Final ever played. Before 45,843 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Parramatta beat Canterbury-Bankstown at their own game, defence-first trench warfare, and won the battle of attrition 4-2 on penalty goals alone. The brutality began early, when a high shot from Andrew Farrar knocked out Eels winger Mick Delroy, and the referee was kept busy throughout: Bulldogs prop Peter Kelly was sin-binned for a high tackle on Parramatta's veteran lock Ray Price, who was targeted relentlessly all afternoon. Michael Cronin, whose goal-kicking had been unreliable all season, landed the only points of the first half from a penalty to lead 2-0 at the break, and Terry Lamb levelled with a penalty goal for Canterbury after the resumption before Cronin's second penalty restored the lead. Parramatta's Brett Kenny twice had tries disallowed, one for failing to ground the ball cleanly, another for a double movement, as the Bulldogs' scrambling defence kept the match agonisingly alive. Late in the game came another slice of history: Canterbury's Phil Sigsworth was sent off for a high shot on Kenny, becoming the first player ever dismissed in a Grand Final. Halfback Peter Sterling, whose kicking game and control steered the Eels through the arm-wrestle, was awarded the inaugural Clive Churchill Medal, instituted that year in honour of the late South Sydney and Australian great to recognise the Grand Final's best player. The 4-2 scoreline was among the lowest of any Grand Final in the modern era, and the victory carried heavy emotional freight: champions Cronin and Price both retired after the match, going out as premiers, while coach John Monie delivered the title in the post-Jack Gibson era. It was Parramatta's fourth premiership in six seasons, completing the golden age of 1981-83, yet, remarkably, the club has not won another since, making this dour, tryless afternoon at the old Cricket Ground the most recent premiership in Eels history.

Sources

• Wikipedia - 1986 NSWRL season
• Rugby League Project - 1986 NSWRL Grand Final
• NRL.com - 1986 grand final rewind