Balmain Tigers 14–7 North Sydney Bears — Playoff, 1986 NRL Finals Series
2 Sep 1986 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 10,788
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Playoff, 1986 NRL finals series: Balmain Tigers 14–7 North Sydney Bears, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW on 2 Sep 1986.
Sourcing caveat: North Sydney's scoresheet reconciles only to 6 of the recorded 7 points (John McArthur try, Paul Conlon goal). Repeated re-checks either found nothing to account for the missing point or, once, surfaced a 'Mark Cannon field goal' that did not reappear on other passes — consistent with the extraction-reliability issue flagged in earlier rounds, so it is not reported as fact. This is an honest, unresolved 1-point gap.
Scorers
| Balmain Tigers | Tries: John Davidson; Scott Gale Goals: Ross Conlon (2/6) Drop goals: Ben Elias (2) |
| North Sydney Bears | Tries: John McArthur Goals: Paul Conlon (1/2) |
Team sheets
| Balmain Tigers | North Sydney Bears | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garry Jack | Fullback | Paul Conlon | 1 |
| 2 | John Davidson | Wing | Les Kiss | 2 |
| 3 | Ross Conlon | Centre | Stephen Casey | 3 |
| 4 | Garry Schofield | Centre | Brett French | 4 |
| 5 | Russel Gartner | Wing | Andrew Simons | 5 |
| 6 | Gary Bridge | Five-Eighth | Mark Cannon (c) | 6 |
| 7 | Scott Gale | Halfback | John McArthur | 7 |
| 8 | Kevin Hardwick | Lock | Richard Smith | 21 |
| 9 | David Brooks | Prop | Gavin Jones | 9 |
| 10 | Paul Sironen | Prop | Peter Martin | 10 |
| 11 | Steve Roach | Second Row | Martin Bella | 11 |
| 12 | Ben Elias (c) | Hooker | Fred Teasdell | 12 |
| 13 | Kerry Hemsley | Second Row | Don McKinnon | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 16 | Paul Beaven | Olsen Filipaina | 16 | |
| 26 | Michael Marketo | Clayton Friend | 17 | |
| Simon Brockwell | 18 | |||
| Steve Hanson | 25 | |||
| Frank Stanton | Coach | Brian Norton | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Mick Stone |