1992 NSWRL season

1992 New South Wales Rugby League
Teams	16
Premiers	Brisbane (1st title)
Minor premiers	Brisbane (1st title)
Matches played	182
Points scored	5,993
Average attendance	12,540
Attendance	2,282,194
Top points scorer(s)	Daryl Halligan (168)
Rothmans Medal	Allan Langer
Top try-scorer(s)	Mark Bell (16) Tim Brasher (16)
← 1991 1993 →

The 1992 New South Wales Rugby League Premiership season was the eighty-fifth season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen teams competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield during the season which culminated in a grand final for the Winfield Cup between the Brisbane Broncos, making their grand final debut, and the St. George Dragons.^[1]

The 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand also took place during the season. Having decided in May that a team from Auckland would join the premiership in 1995, the NSWRL announced in November that three more new clubs – from Townsville, Perth and a second team from Brisbane – will also be invited.

Twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March till August, resulting in a top five of Brisbane, St. George, Illawarra, Newcastle and Wests, who battled it out in the finals. The 3rd-place finish for the Illawarra Steelers would be the best season they ever had in its time as a standalone club.

The 1992 season's Rothmans Medallist was the Brisbane Broncos' halfback and captain, Allan Langer. The Dally M Award went to Eastern Suburbs' halfback, Gary Freeman, while Western Suburbs forward Paul Langmack was named Rugby League Week's player of the year.

The 1992 season also saw the retirement from the League of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Wally Lewis.

The grand finals:

• Brisbane Broncos vs St George Dragons (Senior Grade)
• North Sydney Bears vs Balmain Tigers (Reserve Grade)
• Western Suburbs Magpies vs St George Dragons (Under-21s Grade)

The winners in all grades were:

• Brisbane Broncos (Senior Grade)
• North Sydney Bears (Reserve Grade)
• Western Suburbs Magpies (Under-21s Grade)

The Test Match Series

• Australia vs Great Britain

The State of Origin Series

• Queensland vs New South Wales

The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the fourth consecutive season, with sixteen clubs contesting the 1992 premiership, including five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, two from regional New South Wales, two from Queensland, and one from Australian Capital Territory.

Balmain 85th season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Alan Jones Captain: Steve Roach	Brisbane 5th season Ground: Lang Park Coach: Wayne Bennett Captain: Allan Langer	Canberra 11th season Ground: Bruce Stadium Coach: Tim Sheens Captain: Mal Meninga	Canterbury 58th season Ground: Belmore Oval Coach: Chris Anderson Captain: Terry Lamb
Cronulla 26th season Ground: Endeavour Park Coach: Arthur Beetson Captain: Dan Stains	Eastern Suburbs 85th season Ground: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Mark Murray Captain: Craig Salvatori	Gold Coast 5th season Ground: Seagulls Stadium Captain: Wally Lewis Coach: Wally Lewis	Illawarra 11th season Ground: Wollongong Stadium Coach: Graham Murray Captain: John Cross
Manly 46th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Graham Lowe Captain: Michael O'Connor	Newcastle 5th season Ground: Marathon Stadium Coach: David Waite Captain: Michael Hagan	North Sydney 85th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Steve Martin Captain: Peter Jackson	Parramatta 45th season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Mick Cronin Captain: Peter Sterling → Brett Kenny
Penrith 26th season Ground: Penrith Stadium Coach: Phil Gould Captain: Greg Alexander → John Cartwright	South Sydney 85th season Ground: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Frank Curry Captain: Michael Andrews	St George 72nd season Ground: Kogarah Oval Coach: Brian Smith Captain: Michael Beattie	Western Suburbs 85th season Ground: Campbelltown Stadium Coach: Warren Ryan Captain: Joe Thomas → Paul Langmack

Riding the consistent Australian popularity of "The Best" since its 1989 release, due partially to its use and association with the NSWRL, Tina Turner went into a Los Angeles recording studio in early 1992 with Jimmy Barnes to record a duet version specifically for Australian release.^[2] The production capitalised on the complementary vocal styles of Turner and Barnes and also features Barnes' brother-in-law Johnny Diesel on guitar.

A simple black-and-white film clip shot around the recording sessions was produced and the track was released and renamed "Simply the Best" to coincide with the 1992 NSWRL season. That year the track peaked at #13 on the Australian charts.

In 1992 and 1993 the League and its advertising agency Hertz Walpole would use the new duet performance of the song in the season launch ads. Excerpts from the black-and-white film clip start the 1992 ad with firstly Tina and then Barnes in wistful solo shots before coming together and displaying a camaraderie that's intended to capture the good times they appear to have had in recording the track. Diesel also appears in the black-and-white footage before the ad bursts into colour with the standard fare of big hits and previous season action.

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Brisbane (P)	22	18	0	4	506	311	+195	36
2	St. George	22	15	0	7	401	283	+118	30
3	Illawarra	22	13	1	8	318	259	+59	27
4	Newcastle	22	12	2	8	363	267	+96	26
5	Western Suburbs	22	12	1	9	356	327	+29	25
6	Eastern Suburbs	22	12	0	10	392	319	+73	24
7	Canterbury	22	10	2	10	423	417	+6	22
8	Manly	22	10	2	10	334	335	-1	22
9	Penrith	22	11	0	11	274	309	-35	22
10	Balmain	22	10	1	11	402	398	+4	21
11	North Sydney	22	10	1	11	376	381	-5	21
12	Canberra	22	10	0	12	435	409	+26	20
13	Cronulla	22	8	0	14	284	395	-111	16
14	South Sydney	22	7	0	15	429	533	-104	14
15	Parramatta	22	6	1	15	276	491	-215	13
16	Gold Coast	22	6	1	15	288	423	-135	11

• Gold Coast Seagulls were docked 2 points due to exceeding the replacement limit in one game.
  Had this not occurred, Parramatta Eels would have won the wooden spoon due to an inferior for and against record.

A great advertisement for the expansion of the game was the appearance of three non-Sydney teams in the final five - Brisbane, Illawarra and Newcastle - all of whom had only been admitted to the NSWRL within the previous decade. The "steel-city cousins", Illawarra and Newcastle, both won their first semi-finals from their initial attempt, Illawarra defeating St George, and Newcastle downing Wests.

An all non-Sydney decider was a real possibility, with Illawarra and St George meeting a second time in the preliminary final, with Brisbane waiting to play the winner in the grand final.

The Dragons played two of the lowest scoring matches in finals history as they beat Newcastle 3–2 in the semi-final, and Illawarra 4–0 in the preliminary final.

The preliminary final saw four disallowed tries, with Saints denied once in the first half and Illawarra three times in the second half. Illawarra looked as though they were going to finish on top and began opening up the St George defence after the half-time break, only to be denied twice by referee Greg McCallum for forward passes. A late attacking movement from the Steelers saw winger Alan McIndoe excitedly appeal for a try off a John Simon grubber kick, but was denied by the in-goal touch judge. St George held on to win 4-0 and ensure a Sydney club appeared in the grand final once again (with this Sydney representation in grand finals being maintained until the Brisbane-Melbourne decider of 2006).

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Qualifying Finals
St. George Dragons	16–18	Illawarra Steelers	5 September 1992	Sydney Football Stadium	Graeme Annesley	28,521
Newcastle Knights	21–2	Western Suburbs Magpies	6 September 1992	Sydney Football Stadium	Greg McCallum	28,571
Semi-finals
St. George Dragons	3–2	Newcastle Knights	12 September 1992	Sydney Football Stadium	Graeme Annesley	38,772
Brisbane Broncos	22–12	Illawarra Steelers	13 September 1992	Sydney Football Stadium	Greg McCallum	38,859
Preliminary final
Illawarra Steelers	0–4	St. George Dragons	20 September 1992	Sydney Football Stadium	Greg McCallum	38,928
Grand final
Brisbane Broncos	28-8	St. George Dragons	27 September 1992	Sydney Football Stadium	Greg McCallum	41,560

In just their fifth year in the competition, Brisbane finally put together the right combination to reach the grand final. Their big names in Allan Langer, twins Kevin and Kerrod Walters, Steve Renouf, Michael Hancock and Glenn Lazarus had been unstoppable all year and helped the club power their way straight through to the finals as minor premiers, losing just four games in the regular season, and easily winning their only semi-final. This meant the Broncos went into the grand final as runaway favourites.^[3]

The 1992 grand final was played on the afternoon of Sunday, 27 September at the Sydney Football Stadium before a crowd of 41,560.^[4] For the pre-match entertainment, Debbie Byrne sang I Still Call Australia Home in a duet with the late Peter Allen, thanks to video on the big screen. Yothu Yindi also performed, and Jodie Gillies sang the national anthem.^[5]

Brisbane Broncos	Position	St. George Dragons
Julian O'Neill	FB	Mick Potter
2. Michael Hancock	WG	2. Ricky Walford
3. Steve Renouf	CE	3. Mark Coyne
4. Chris Johns	CE	4. Michael Beattie (c)
5. Willie Carne	WG	5. Ian Herron
6. Kevin Walters	FE	6. Peter Coyne
7. Allan Langer (c)	HB	7. Noel Goldthorpe
8. Glenn Lazarus	PR	8. Tony Priddle
9. Kerrod Walters	HK	9. Wayne Collins
10. Gavin Allen	PR	10. Neil Tierney
11. Trevor Gillmeister	SR	11. David Barnhill
12. Alan Cann	SR	12. Scott Gourley
13. Terry Matterson	LK	13. Jeff Hardy
15. Tony Currie	Bench	14. Tony Smith
20. John Plath	Bench	15. Rex Terp
21. Andrew Gee	Bench	19. Brad Mackay
22. Mark Hohn	Bench	21. Matt Elliott
Wayne Bennett	Coach	Brian Smith

Referee Greg McCallum blew time on and, early in the first half, St. George came very close to scoring first when Ricky Walford dived over in the corner, but had only just slipped into touch. Around the ten-minute mark, Brisbane were on the attack when, on the last tackle, Allan Langer cleverly stepped and passed inside to Gavin Allen who charged at the line. Allen drew the defence before flicking the ball back to the little half off the head of the Dragons fullback Mick Potter. Langer then nipped in to score untouched between the posts. Terry Matterson kicked the simplest of conversions to make it 6–0 in favour of the Broncos.

The Dragons hit back about five minutes later when Scott Gourley charged from just within his own half and produced a remarkable off-load for Michael Beattie in support,^[6] who then passed it out for Walford to race off and score in the right-hand corner.^[7] Ian Herron hooked the conversion attempt wide, so Brisbane remained in the lead at 6–4. Both sides then came close to scoring from kicks but no further points were posted before half-time.

In the second half, the Broncos ran away with the game. About ten minutes after the break, following a scrum win close to the Dragons’ try-line, Langer scurried through the defence from dummy-half and reached out to put the ball down. Matterson kicked the extras and Brisbane's lead was now 12–4. A few minutes later, they scored again when, from about thirty metres out, the Broncos again decided to run on the fifth tackle, the ball reaching Alan Cann who beat several defenders to ground the ball before celebrating the try by throwing it down, inadvertently into the forehead of an exhausted and demoralised Potter.^[8] Matterson once again kicked the extras to give Brisbane an 18–4 lead.

Around the midpoint of the second half, after Willie Carne did well to return a kick from his own in-goal area to get back into the field of play before being tackled, the Broncos decided to swing the ball left, out to centre Steve Renouf, who outpaced Walford on a 90-metre run to the try-line. This try became a defining moment in the game, the Broncos' season and Renouf’s career.^[9] Matterson missed the conversion attempt so the score remained at 22–4. About five minutes later, Cann scored a second try when he ran from over twenty metres out, stepping past tired and lazy defence to score untouched. The extras were kicked successfully this time by Matterson, giving the Bronocos a lead of 28–4.

In the seventy-ninth minute, St. George got a consolation try when Gourley crossed in the right corner and as the full-time siren sounded. Herron's kick from the sideline was unsuccessful, leaving the final score Brisbane 28, St. George 8.^[10]

Brisbane Broncos 28
Tries: Langer 2, Cann 2, Renouf
Goals: Matterson 4/5

St. George Dragons 8
Tries: Walford, Gourley
Goals: Herron 0/2

The win enabled Brisbane captain Allan Langer, in his first year in the role, to hoist the Winfield Cup and ring the trophy and title back to Queensland. As a result of his two-try performance, Langer also became the first Queenslander to be awarded the Clive Churchill Medal. Brisbane thus became the second non-New South Wales team to win the premiership after the Canberra Raiders’ previous victories in 1989 and 1990.

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22.

The 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australasia was a tour by the Great Britain national rugby league team, nicknamed the 'Lions', of Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand which took place between May and July 1992. The tour was the last of such length undertaken by the Great Britain team, and included a test match against Papua New Guinea, a three-test series against Australia for The Ashes, and a two-test series against New Zealand for the Baskerville Shield, all interspersed with matches against local club and representative teams.

The British team was coached by two-time premiership winner with Manly-Warringah, Mal Reilly, who had toured as a player in 1970 and was coach of the 1988 team. The team captain was Ellery Hanley who was making his third Lions tour as a player, though injury to Hanley would see the Lions captained by Garry Schofield in The Ashes tests.

Taking place following the conclusion of England's 1991–92 Rugby Football League season and during Australia's 1992 Winfield Cup premiership season, the tour led to friction between the Great Britain team's management and the Australian Rugby League over match scheduling and promotion. For the first time ever, a Lions tour was shown live on television in the United Kingdom through Sky Sports. The commentators for the tour were Eddie Hemmings and former Lions World Cup hooker Mike Stephenson who had a greater insight into the Australian game having spent most of the 1970s and 1980s, playing, coaching and commentating in the Sydney premiership.^[12] The Lions finished the tour with thirteen wins and four losses and a profit of £244,645. Unfortunately for the Lions, three of their losses came in the Test matches, two against Australia and one against New Zealand with the other loss coming against Sydney club side Parramatta.^[13]

Game	Date	Result	Venue	Attendance
1	2 June	Great Britain Lions def. Queensland Residents 14–10	Townsville Sports Reserve, Townsville	4,181
2	6 June	Great Britain Lions def. Canberra Raiders 24–12	Bruce Stadium, Canberra	4,728
3	9 June	Great Britain Lions def. Illawarra Steelers 11–10	Steelers Stadium, Wollongong	9,500
4	12 June	Australia def.  Great Britain 22–6	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	40,141
5	16 June	Great Britain Lions def. NSW Country 24–6	Pioneer Oval, Parkes	8,014
6	19 June	Parramatta Eels def. Great Britain Lions 26–12	Parramatta Stadium, Sydney	18,220
7	23 June	Great Britain Lions def. Newcastle Knights 22–0	Marathon Stadium, Newcastle	9,758
8	26 June	Great Britain def.  Australia 33–10	Princes Park, Melbourne	31,005
9	30 June	Great Britain Lions def. Gold Coast Seagulls 28–10	Seagulls Stadium, Tweed Heads	6,700
10	3 July	Australia def.  Great Britain 16–10	Lang Park, Brisbane	32,313

On 31 October the Broncos travelled to England to play in the World Club Challenge against British champions, Wigan. Brisbane became the first team since 1975's premiers, Eastern Suburbs, to defeat the English champions, and the first to do so on English soil, winning the match 22 - 8 in front of 17,460 spectators.

The regular season attendances for the 1992 season aggregated to a total of 2,282,194 at an average of 12,540 per game. Each of the top ten most attended games of the season were home games for either the Brisbane Broncos or the Newcastle Knights, with the two highest attended games featuring both clubs.

The highest ten regular season match attendances:^[14]

Crowd	Venue	Home Team	Opponent	Round
28,828	Lang Park	Brisbane Broncos	Newcastle Knights	Round 21
28,821	Marathon Stadium	Newcastle Knights	Brisbane Broncos	Round 6
25,867	Lang Park	Brisbane Broncos	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Round 20
24,902	Lang Park	Brisbane Broncos	Balmain Tigers	Round 12
24,884	Marathon Stadium	Newcastle Knights	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Round 2
24,192	Lang Park	Brisbane Broncos	Canberra Raiders	Round 1
23,906	Lang Park	Brisbane Broncos	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	Round 14
23,617	Marathon Stadium	Newcastle Knights	Canberra Raiders	Round 22
23,192	Lang Park	Brisbane Broncos	Gold Coast Seagulls	Round 2
22,258	Marathon Stadium	Newcastle Knights	Penrith Panthers	Round 17

• 1992 State of Origin series

• Rugby League Tables - Season 1992 The World of Rugby League
• [1] Tina Turner & Jimmy Barnes 1992 "Simply the Best" clip
• NSWRL season 1992 at rugbyleagueproject.com
• Results: 1991-2000 at rabbitohs.com.au