1980 Tooth Cup

The 1980 Tooth Cup was the 7th edition of the NSWRFL Midweek Cup, a NSWRFL-organised national club Rugby League tournament between the leading clubs and representative teams from the NSWRFL, the BRL, the CRL, the QRL and the NZRL.

1980 NSWRFL Midweek Cup

NSWRFL Tooth Cup
Tournament details
Dates	2 April - 20 August 1980
Teams	16
Venue(s)	3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Parramatta (1st title)
Runners-up	Balmain
Tournament statistics
Matches played	23

A total of 16 teams from across Australia and New Zealand played 23 matches in a round-robin format with teams playing 2 games each with the top 8 teams advanced to a knockout stage, with the matches being held midweek during the premiership season.

Qualified Teams

Team	Nickname	League	Qualification	Participation (bold indicates winners)
St. George	Dragons	NSWRFL	Winners of the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979)
Canterbury-Bankstown	Bulldogs	NSWRFL	Runners-Up in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979)
Parramatta	Eels	NSWRFL	Third Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979)
Cronulla-Sutherland	Sharks	NSWRFL	Fourth Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979)
Western Suburbs	Magpies	NSWRFL	Fifth Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979)
Balmain	Tigers	NSWRFL	Sixth Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979)
Manly-Warringah	Sea Eagles	NSWRFL	Seventh Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979)
Eastern Suburbs	Roosters	NSWRFL	Eighth Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979)
South Sydney	Rabbitohs	NSWRFL	Ninth Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979)
Penrith	Panthers	NSWRFL	Tenth Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979)
Newtown	Jets	NSWRFL	Eleventh Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979)
North Sydney	Bears	NSWRFL	Twelfth Place in the 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979)
Brisbane	Poinsettias	BRL	League Representative Team	2nd (Previous: 1979)
NSW Country	Kangaroos	CRL	Country League Representative Team	2nd (Previous: 1979)
Queensland Country	Maroons	QRL	Country League Representative Team	2nd (Previous: 1979)
Auckland	Falcons	NZRL	Winners of the 1979 New Zealand Rugby League Inter-District Premiership	7th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979)

Venues

Sydney	Brisbane	Queanbeyan
Leichhardt Oval	Lang Park	Seiffert Oval
Capacity: 23,000	Capacity: 45,000	Capacity: 20,000

Round 1

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Score	Venue
2/04/80	Eastern Suburbs	14	Combined Brisbane	4	Lang Park
9/04/80	St George	16	Balmain	5	Leichhardt Oval
16/04/80	Newtown	22	Manly-Warringah	7	Leichhardt Oval
23/04/80	Penrith	26	Cronulla-Sutherland	14	Leichhardt Oval
30/04/80	Parramatta	20	South Sydney	7	Leichhardt Oval
7/05/80	Western Suburbs	40	Auckland	14	Leichhardt Oval
21/05/80	Canterbury-Bankstown	35	NSW Country	3	Leichhardt Oval
28/05/80	North Sydney	40	QLD Country	5	Leichhardt Oval

Round 2

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Score	Venue
14/05/80	Eastern Suburbs	11	Newtown	10	Leichhardt Oval
4/06/80	Parramatta	18	Western Suburbs	11	Leichhardt Oval
11/06/80	Cronulla-Sutherland	19	Canterbury-Bankstown	18	Leichhardt Oval
18/06/80	Combined Brisbane	27	Manly-Warringah	20	Lang Park
25/06/80	South Sydney	47	Auckland	5	Leichhardt Oval
25/06/80	St George	40	North Sydney	9	Leichhardt Oval
2/07/80	Penrith	18	NSW Country	9	Seiffert Oval
2/07/80	Balmain	45	QLD Country	5	Lang Park

Club	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	For	Against	Diff.	Points
St George	2	2	0	0	56	14	42	4
Penrith	2	2	0	0	44	23	21	4
Parramatta	2	2	0	0	38	18	20	4
Eastern Suburbs	2	2	0	0	25	14	11	4
Canterbury-Bankstown	2	1	1	0	53	22	31	2
South Sydney	2	1	1	0	54	25	29	2
Balmain	2	1	1	0	50	21	29	2
Western Suburbs	2	1	1	0	51	32	19	2
Newtown	2	1	1	0	32	18	14	2
North Sydney	2	1	1	0	49	45	4	2
Combined Brisbane	2	1	1	0	34	34	-3	2
Cronulla-Sutherland	2	1	1	0	33	44	-11	2
Manly-Warringah	2	0	2	0	27	49	-22	0
NSW Country	2	0	2	0	12	53	-41	0
Auckland	2	0	2	0	19	87	-68	0
QLD Country	2	0	2	0	10	85	-75	0

Quarter finals

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Score	Venue
9/07/80	Eastern Suburbs	20	Penrith	9	Leichhardt Oval
16/07/80	Western Suburbs	10	St George	4	Leichhardt Oval
23/07/80	Parramatta	16	Canterbury-Bankstown	7	Leichhardt Oval
30/07/80	Balmain	22	South Sydney	14	Leichhardt Oval

Semi finals

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Score	Venue
6/08/80	Parramatta	9	Western Suburbs	6	Leichhardt Oval
13/08/80	Balmain	18	Eastern Suburbs	8	Leichhardt Oval

Final

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Score	Venue
20/08/80	Parramatta	8	Balmain	5	Leichhardt Oval

Player of the Series

• Peter Sterling (Parramatta)

Golden Try

• John Dorahy (Manly-Warringah)

Sources

• https://web.archive.org/web/20070927025237/http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~maajjs/aus/nsw/sum/nsw1980.htm