John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

'The better team drew!' Those were the famous words of Warren Ryan, coach of the Newtown Jets, after one of the most unusual games in Australian Rugby League football history. He was talking about the famous nil-all draw, played by the Newtown Jets and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on 28 March, 1982, at Henson Park in Sydney. Of course, next week marks the 30th anniversary of that game, the only nil-all draw in the Sydney first-grade rugby league competition's history.

The New South Wales Rugby Football League of 1982 was vastly different to the National Rugby League competition of today. The amalgamation of the Western Suburbs Magpies and the Balmain Tigers would have been those clubs' fans' worst nightmare. Parramatta and Canterbury both called Belmore Oval home, the Canberra Raiders and the Illawarra Steelers were playing in their inaugural seasons, there were no Brisbane Broncos, Gold Coast, North Queensland, Melbourne Storm, or Newcastle Knights in the competition, and the North Sydney Bears and the Newtown Jets were still stalwarts of the first-grade competition. The New South Wales Rugby League competition was by and large a Sydney suburban competition, played on Sydney suburban grounds on weekends. The year 1982 was the first year that the classic bronze statue of Norm Provan and Arthur Summons titled The Gladiators became the trophy awarded to the winner of the Grand Final. The Parramatta Eels dominated the competition that year, winning the minor premiership—four wins clear of second-placed Manly, followed by Norths, Easts and Wests. And 1982 was also the inaugural year of the first full three-match series of the modern State of Origin competition. But, despite those milestones in the history of Rugby League, 1982 was also the year of the game's only first-grade premiership nil-all draw. That result has never occurred before, nor has it since.

The previous lowest-scoring game in Rugby League premiership history also featured the Newtown Jets. In 1973 Newtown half-back Ken Wilson kicked a field goal to beat St George one-nil. Ken Wilson also played in the nil-all game of 1982 but, despite his best efforts, was not able to kick a field goal in the dying minutes of the 1982 clash. Newtown had been grand finalists in the previous year, 1981, but they were struggling in 1982, winning just one of their opening four matches. Canterbury on the other hand were on a roll and had won three out of four matches. The playing conditions were bad. The Sydney Morning Herald reported the game was marred by 'constant rain and gathering gloom'.

I spoke recently with Warren Ryan, who coached the Newtown Jets in 1982, about that day. He told me that the Newtown-Canterbury clashes were traditionally fierce. The teams were near neighbours and both played in blue-and-white colours. But, adding to the aggravation, John Singleton had become involved with Newtown and had purchased a litter of young Bulldogs for the Jets. This led to Canterbury noses being right out of joint and an even more spirited rivalry between the two teams.

But back to the match. Newtown had been winning possession and dominating territory for most of the game and tensions reached boiling point, without any score on the board, in the 74th minute when a fight erupted. Reports vary about the circumstances which led to the fight. The Sun reported it was following a ruck on the second tackle. The Telegraph said it was the fourth tackle. The Sydney Morning Herald said it was following a scrum. Everyone agreed Newtown was in possession, adjacent to their opponent's uprights, and just 10 metres out from their opponent's try line.

Out of the skirmish, Newtown prop Steve Bowden went down in spectacular fashion. Warren Ryan told me, 'Cassilles,' that is Peter Cassilles, 'belted my kid Wilson'—well he was not a kid then. The Telegraph agreed, reporting that Cassilles had punched Wilson, which led to Bowden along with Canterbury prop John Coveny getting involved in the fracas. The Sydney Morning Herald recorded that referee Barry Goldsworthy took reports from the touch judges, each of whom assigned blame to different sides. Referee Goldsworthy packed a scrum and ruled a turnover. As the Telegraph explained, this was basically a penalty against Newtown because they had possession of the ball. Even if Newtown were not given a shot at a penalty goal so close to the Canterbury goal line, they could have attempted a field goal in the remaining time available to them.

Both sides missed crucial opportunities to score points. In the 22nd minute the late Allan McMahon, then a centre three-quarter for Newtown, was stopped from scoring with a try-saving tackle on the line by Canterbury's second rower and later coach Steve Folkes. Three minutes later Newtown again looked like they would score but were denied this time by the referee, who ruled a forward pass. Both teams missed penalty goals and Canterbury's Steve Mortimer missed a field goal from 20 metres out in the 61st minute.

Mr President, 30 years after it was played, the Newtown versus Canterbury Rugby League football premiership scoreless draw remains one for the record books. It's a oncer; a oncer in 104 years of the Rugby League premiership. As Geoff Prenter, a respected Rugby League journalist of the time, said in the Sun newspaper, of course a newspaper that no longer exists:

… no sport in the world could have rivalled the drama, the tension, and the excitement of yesterday's history making scoreless draw between Canterbury and Newtown at Henson Park. This was rugby league at its most gripping best. A game to be savoured, a game to tell the children about. The date—28th of March, 1982.

Senate adjourned at 19:58