Parramatta Eels 38–6 Penrith Panthers — Minor Preliminary Semi-Final, 1985 NRL Finals Series
7 Sep 1985 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 18,939
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Minor Preliminary Semi-Final, 1985 NRL finals series: Parramatta Eels 38–6 Penrith Panthers, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW on 7 Sep 1985.
Sourcing caveat: Confirmed named scorers total only 22 of Parramatta's recorded 38 points (16 short, roughly 4 further tries). The research pass's own self-reported check claimed this reconciled, but that claim does not hold up arithmetically and was not trusted — independent verification found a genuine, unresolved gap, consistent with this project's practice of never trusting a self-reported check without re-running the arithmetic.
Scorers
| Parramatta Eels | Tries: Eric Grothe (2); Michael Cronin Goals: Michael Cronin (5/6) |
| Penrith Panthers | Tries: Craig Izzard Goals: Greg Alexander (1/1) |
Team sheets
| Parramatta Eels | Penrith Panthers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Taylor | Fullback | Brett Lobb | 1 |
| 2 | David Liddiard | Wing | Mark Robinson | 2 |
| 3 | Michael Cronin | Centre | Brad Izzard | 3 |
| 4 | Steve Ella | Centre | Ken Wolffe | 4 |
| 5 | Eric Grothe | Wing | Ben Gonzales | 5 |
| 6 | Brett Kenny | Five-Eighth | David Burnes | 6 |
| 7 | Peter Sterling | Halfback | Greg Alexander | 7 |
| 8 | Ray Price (c) | Lock | Greg Clements | 8 |
| 9 | Mark Laurie | Prop | Gary Howell | 9 |
| 11 | Steve Sharp | Second Row | Lew Zivanovic | 10 |
| 12 | Michael Moseley | Hooker | Matt Goodwin | 11 |
| 13 | Stan Jurd | Second Row | Royce Simmons (c) | 12 |
| 24 | Jeremy Lillis | Prop | Geoff Gerard | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 16 | Neil Hunt | Brandon Lee | 23 | |
| 14 | Mike Eden | Tony Trudgett | 19 | |
| 18 | Graeme Atkins | Warren Fenton | 21 | |
| 26 | Don Price | Craig Izzard | 25 | |
| John Monie | Coach | Tim Sheens | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Kevin Roberts |
Match report
Player of the Match: Brett Kenny. Parramatta's forwards jumped from jersey #9 to #11 on the source's lineup listing, with no #10 shown — reported as extracted, possibly reflecting a genuine vacancy on the day.