1981 Tooth Cup

1981 NSWRFL Midweek Cup
NSWRFL Tooth Cup
Tournament details
Dates18 March - 12 August 1981
Teams16
Venue(s)3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
ChampionsSouth Sydney (1st title)
Runners-upCronulla-Sutherland
Tournament statistics
Matches played23
← 1980
1982 →

The 1981 Tooth Cup was the 8th 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.

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

Qualified Teams

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Team Nickname League Qualification Participation (bold indicates winners)
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs NSWRFL Winners of the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership 8th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Eastern Suburbs Roosters NSWRFL Runners-Up in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership 8th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Western Suburbs Magpies NSWRFL Third Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership 8th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
St. George Dragons NSWRFL Fourth Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership 8th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
South Sydney Rabbitohs NSWRFL Fifth Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership 8th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Parramatta Eels NSWRFL Sixth Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership 8th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles NSWRFL Seventh Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership 8th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Newtown Jets NSWRFL Eighth Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership 8th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks NSWRFL Ninth Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership 8th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Balmain Tigers NSWRFL Tenth Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership 8th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
North Sydney Bears NSWRFL Eleventh Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership 8th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Penrith Panthers NSWRFL Twelfth Place in the 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership 8th (Previous: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)
Brisbane Poinsettias BRL League Representative Team 3rd (Previous: 1979, 1980)
NSW Country Kangaroos CRL Country League Representative Team 3rd (Previous: 1979, 1980)
Queensland Country Maroons QRL Country League Representative Team 3rd (Previous: 1979, 1980)
Central Districts Falcons NZRL Winners of the 1980 New Zealand Rugby League Inter-District Premiership 1st

Venues

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Sydney Brisbane Lismore
Leichhardt Oval Lang Park Oakes Oval
Capacity: 23,000 Capacity: 45,000 Capacity: 12,000

Round 1

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Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue
18/03/81 Cronulla-Sutherland 21 North Sydney 5 Leichhardt Oval
25/03/81 South Sydney 24 Parramatta 17 Leichhardt Oval
1/04/81 Canterbury-Bankstown 20 Eastern Suburbs 14 Leichhardt Oval
8/04/81 Western Suburbs 20 Penrith 8 Leichhardt Oval
15/04/81 St George 29 Balmain 11 Oakes Oval
22/04/81 Manly-Warringah 51 Central Districts 11 Leichhardt Oval
29/04/81 Newtown 23 Combined Brisbane 19 Lang Park
20/05/81 Manly-Warringah 24 QLD Country 2 Lang Park

Round 2

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Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue
6/05/81 St George 21 South Sydney 15 Leichhardt Oval
13/05/81 Penrith 31 Central Districts 5 Leichhardt Oval
27/05/81 Western Suburbs 23 NSW Country 14 Leichhardt Oval
27/05/81 Canterbury-Bankstown 19 Parramatta 18 Leichhardt Oval
3/06/81 Balmain 21 Eastern Suburbs 5 Leichhardt Oval
10/06/81 Newtown 33 QLD Country 7 Lang Park
10/06/81 Cronulla-Sutherland 25 Combined Brisbane 5 Lang Park
17/06/81 North Sydney 13 NSW Country 9 Leichhardt Oval
Club Played Won Lost Drawn For Against Diff. Points
Manly-Warringah 2 2 0 0 75 13 62 4
Cronulla-Sutherland 2 2 0 0 46 10 36 4
Newtown 2 2 0 0 56 26 30 4
Western Suburbs 2 2 0 0 43 22 21 4
St George 2 2 0 0 50 26 24 4
Canterbury-Bankstown 2 2 0 0 39 32 7 4
Penrith 2 1 1 0 39 25 14 2
South Sydney 2 1 1 0 39 38 1 2
Balmain 2 1 1 0 32 34 -2 2
North Sydney 2 1 1 0 18 30 -12 2
Parramatta 2 0 2 0 35 43 -8 0
NSW Country 2 0 2 0 23 36 -13 0
Eastern Suburbs 2 0 2 0 19 41 -22 0
Combined Brisbane 2 0 2 0 24 48 -24 0
QLD Country 2 0 2 0 9 57 -48 0
Central Districts (NZ) 2 0 2 0 16 82 -66 0

Quarter finals

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Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue
24/06/81 Newtown 22 Canterbury-Bankstown 7 Leichhardt Oval
1/07/81 Cronulla-Sutherland 23 Penrith 19 Leichhardt Oval
8/07/81 Manly-Warringah 16 Western Suburbs 13 Leichhardt Oval
15/07/81 South Sydney 23 St George 9 Leichhardt Oval

Semi finals

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Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue
22/07/81 Cronulla-Sutherland 19 Newtown 2 Leichhardt Oval
5/08/81 South Sydney 24 Manly-Warringah 13 Leichhardt Oval

Final

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Date Winner Score Loser Score Venue
12/08/81 South Sydney 10 Cronulla-Sutherland 2 Leichhardt Oval

The 1981 Tooth Cup Final attracted a still standing (as of 2020) Leichhardt Oval attendance record of 23,000.

Player of the Series

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Golden Try

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Sources

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