1995 ARL Grand Final
Sunday, 24 September 1995 · Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales
1995 ARL Grand Final result: Canterbury-Bankstown def. Manly-Warringah, 17-4, at Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales on Sunday, 24 September 1995.
Sourcing caveat: An earlier version of the site's prose credited only 2 Canterbury tries (Price, Hughes); research for this Tier-1 entry independently confirmed a third, late try to Rod Silva (via Wikipedia and an NRL.com archival report) which is required to reconcile the 17-4 final score.
Result
| Team | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | Canterbury-Bankstown | 17 |
| Runner-up | Manly-Warringah | 4 |
Attendance: 41,127
NRL 1995 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 22 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 687 | 248 | +439 | 40 |
| 2 | Canberra Raiders | 22 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 634 | 255 | +379 | 40 |
| 3 | Brisbane Broncos | 22 | 17 | 0 | 5 | 600 | 364 | +236 | 34 |
| 4 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 516 | 287 | +229 | 32 |
| 5 | Newcastle Knights | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 549 | 396 | +153 | 30 |
| 6 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 468 | 352 | +116 | 28 |
| 7 | St George Dragons | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 583 | 382 | +201 | 26 |
| 8 | North Sydney Bears | 22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 542 | 331 | +211 | 24 |
| 9 | Sydney City Roosters | 22 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 466 | 406 | +60 | 24 |
| 10 | Auckland Warriors | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 544 | 493 | +51 | 24 |
| 11 | Western Reds | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 361 | 549 | -188 | 22 |
| 12 | Illawarra Steelers | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 519 | 431 | +88 | 21 |
| 13 | Western Suburbs Magpies | 22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 459 | 534 | -75 | 20 |
| 14 | Penrith Panthers | 22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 481 | 484 | -3 | 18 |
| 15 | Balmain Tigers | 22 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 309 | 591 | -282 | 14 |
| 16 | South Queensland Crushers | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 303 | 502 | -199 | 13 |
| 17 | Gold Coast Seagulls | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 350 | 628 | -278 | 9 |
| 18 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 319 | 686 | -367 | 9 |
| 19 | Parramatta Eels | 22 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 310 | 690 | -380 | 6 |
| 20 | North Queensland Cowboys | 22 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 269 | 660 | -391 | 4 |
Qualified for the finals series — top 8 that season.
Finals series
Qualifying Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Sep 1995 | Newcastle Knights 20–10 North Sydney Bears | Parramatta Stadium, Parramatta, NSW | 14,174 |
| 2 Sep 1995 | Canberra Raiders 14–8 Brisbane Broncos | Brisbane, Queensland (venue name as commonly used in this era's records is unconfirmed) | 40,187 |
| 2 Sep 1995 | Canterbury-Bankstown 12–8 St. George | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, NSW | 26,835 |
| 3 Sep 1995 | Manly-Warringah 24–20 Cronulla-Sutherland | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, NSW | 32,795 |
Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Sep 1995 | Newcastle Knights 19–18 Cronulla-Sutherland | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, NSW | 26,061 |
| 10 Sep 1995 | Canterbury-Bankstown 24–10 Brisbane Broncos | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, NSW | 34,087 |
Preliminary Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 Sep 1995 | Canterbury-Bankstown 25–6 Canberra Raiders | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, NSW | 36,894 |
| 17 Sep 1995 | Manly-Warringah 12–4 Newcastle Knights | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, NSW | 38,874 |
Grand Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Sep 1995 | Canterbury-Bankstown 17–4 Manly-Warringah | Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, NSW |
Match officials
| Referee | Eddie Ward |
Scorers
| Canterbury-Bankstown | Tries: Steve Price — minute unconfirmed; Glen Hughes — minute unconfirmed; Rod Silva — minute unconfirmed (late in the match) Goals: Daryl Halligan (2/5) Drop goals: Terry Lamb (1, 69') |
| Manly-Warringah | Goals: Matthew Ridge (2/2, both penalty goals) Sin bin: Terry Lamb 5' (10 minutes, professional foul) |
Teams
| Canterbury-Bankstown | Manly-Warringah | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rod Silva | Fullback | Matthew Ridge | 1 |
| 2 | Jason Williams | Wing | Craig Hancock | 2 |
| 3 | John Timu | Centre | Terry Hill | 3 |
| 4 | Matthew Ryan | Centre | Danny Moore | 4 |
| 5 | Daryl Halligan | Wing | John Hopoate | 5 |
| 6 | Terry Lamb (c) | Five-eighth | Cliff Lyons | 6 |
| 7 | Craig Polla-Mounter | Halfback | Geoff Toovey (c) | 7 |
| 8 | Darren Britt | Prop | David Gillespie | 8 |
| 9 | Jason Hetherington | Hooker | Des Hasler | 9 |
| 10 | Dean Pay | Prop | Mark Carroll | 10 |
| 11 | Steve Price | Second Row | Steve Menzies | 11 |
| 12 | Simon Gillies | Second Row | Ian Roberts | 12 |
| 13 | Jim Dymock | Lock | Nik Kosef | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| — | Jason Smith | Owen Cunningham | 14 | |
| — | Glen Hughes | Daniel Gartner | 15 | |
| — | Mitch Newton | Solomon Haumono | 16 | |
| — | — not identified in sources found | — not identified in sources found | — | |
| Chris Anderson | Coach | Bob Fulton | ||
Clive Churchill Medal
Jim Dymock (Canterbury-Bankstown).
Match context
Playing under the newly rebranded Australian Rugby League banner for the first time, Canterbury-Bankstown (competing that season under the club's temporary 'Sydney Bulldogs' identity) reached the decider after an improbable finals campaign, having finished just sixth in the regular season before winning three consecutive sudden-death matches to book a grand final berth against a fancied Manly-Warringah outfit. Manly opened the scoring through a Matthew Ridge penalty goal, but Canterbury hit back after a penalty against Sea Eagles fullback John Hopoate, and prop Steve Price crashed over from close range following a pass to Simon Gillies that Manly players felt was forward, giving the Bulldogs a narrow 6-4 halftime lead. The contest turned firmly in Canterbury's favour in the second half when Glen Hughes extended the lead to 10-4 with a try awarded on what replays suggested may have been the seventh tackle of the set, a decision that sparked considerable post-match controversy and debate about the officiating. Champion five-eighth Terry Lamb, in the twilight of a decorated career, added a field goal in the 69th minute to push the margin further, and the Bulldogs closed out the contest with eleven unanswered second-half points, sealing a 17-4 victory. Manly, chasing what would have been a first premiership since 1987, went scoreless in tries and could not overcome the Bulldogs' dominant kicking game and defensive line speed. Halfback Jim Dymock was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for his composed generalship and tactical kicking. The win delivered Canterbury-Bankstown's seventh premiership and their first since 1988, a triumph made all the sweeter by the unlikely route through three straight sudden-death finals, though the match would be remembered as much for its refereeing controversies, the disputed seventh-tackle try chief among them, as for the Bulldogs' gritty, resourceful title defence.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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