1976 Amco Cup

1976 NSWRFL Midweek Cup

NSWRFL Amco Cup
Tournament details
Dates	31 March - 18 August 1976
Teams	35
Venue(s)	9 (in 8 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Balmain (1st title)
Runners-up	North Sydney
Tournament statistics
Matches played	34
← 1975 1977 →

The 1976 Amco Cup was the 3rd edition of the NSWRFL Midweek Cup, a NSWRFL-organised national Rugby League tournament between the leading clubs and representative teams from the NSWRFL, the BRL, the CRL, the QRL, the NZRL and the Northern Territory.

A total of 35 teams from across Australia and New Zealand played 34 matches in a straight knock-out format, with the matches being held midweek during the premiership season.

Qualified Teams

Team	Nickname	League	Qualification	Participation (bold indicates winners)
Enter in Round 2
Eastern Suburbs	Roosters	NSWRFL	Winners of the 1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
St. George	Dragons	NSWRFL	Runners-Up in the 1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Manly-Warringah	Sea Eagles	NSWRFL	Third Place in the 1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Parramatta	Eels	NSWRFL	Fourth Place in the 1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Canterbury-Bankstown	Berries	NSWRFL	Fifth Place in the 1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Western Suburbs	Magpies	NSWRFL	Sixth Place in the 1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Balmain	Tigers	NSWRFL	Seventh Place in the 1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Cronulla-Sutherland	Sharks	NSWRFL	Eighth Place in the 1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
North Sydney	Bears	NSWRFL	Ninth Place in the 1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Newtown	Jets	NSWRFL	Tenth Place in the 1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Penrith	Panthers	NSWRFL	Eleventh Place in the 1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
South Sydney	Rabbitohs	NSWRFL	Twelfth Place in the 1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Western Suburbs	Panthers	BRL	Winners of the 1975 Brisbane Rugby League Premiership	1st
Redcliffe	Dolphins	BRL	Runners-Up in the 1975 Brisbane Rugby League Premiership	1st
Northern Suburbs	Devils	BRL	Third Place in the 1975 Brisbane Rugby League Premiership	2nd (Previous: 1975)
Eastern Suburbs	Tigers	BRL	Fifth Place in the 1975 Brisbane Rugby League Premiership	1st
Past Brothers	Leprechauns	BRL	Sixth Place in the 1975 Brisbane Rugby League Premiership	2nd (Previous: 1975)
Southern Suburbs	Magpies	BRL	Seventh Place in the 1975 Brisbane Rugby League Premiership	2nd (Previous: 1975)
Fortitude Valley	Diehards	BRL	Eighth Place in the 1975 Brisbane Rugby League Premiership	2nd (Previous: 1975)
Riverina	Bulls	CRL	Winners of the 1975 Country Rugby League Championship	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Illawarra	Flametrees	CRL	Runners-Up in the 1975 Country Rugby League Championship	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
North Coast	Dolphins	CRL	Third Place in the 1975 Country Rugby League Championship	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Southern Division	Bulls	CRL	Fourth Place in the 1975 Country Rugby League Championship	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Monaro	Colts	CRL	Fifth Place in the 1975 Country Rugby League Championship	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Western Division	Rams	CRL	Sixth Place in the 1975 Country Rugby League Championship	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Northern Division	Tigers	CRL	Seventh Place in the 1975 Country Rugby League Championship	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Newcastle	Rebels	CRL	Eighth Place in the 1975 Country Rugby League Championship	2nd (Previous: 1975)
Canterbury	Reds	NZRL	Winners of the 1975 New Zealand Rugby League Inter-District Premiership	1st
Auckland	Falcons	NZRL	Runners-Up in the 1975 New Zealand Rugby League Inter-District Premiership	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Enter in Round 1
Ryde-Eastwood	Hawks	NSWRFL	Winners of the 1975 NSWRFL Metropolitan League	3rd (Previous: 1974, 1975)
Ipswich	Diggers	QRL	Queensland Country Regional Team	2nd (Previous: 1975)
North Queensland	Marlins	QRL	Queensland Country Regional Team	1st
Toowoomba	Clydesdales	QRL	Queensland Country Regional Team	2nd (Previous: 1975)
Wide Bay	Bulls	QRL	Queensland Country Regional Team	1st
Northern Territory	Bulls	NTRL	State Representative Team	1st

Venues

Sydney		Brisbane	Newcastle	Queanbeyan	Tamworth	Lismore	Rockhampton	Toowoomba
Leichhardt Oval	Penrith Park	Lang Park	Newcastle International Sports Centre	Seiffert Oval	Scully Park	Oakes Oval	Browne Park	Athletic Oval
Capacity: 23,000	Capacity: 22,500	Capacity: 45,000	Capacity: 33,000	Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 13,000	Capacity: 12,000	Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 10,000

Round 1

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Score	Venue
31/03/76	Toowoomba	39	Northern Territory	7	Athletic Oval
31/03/76	Ryde-Eastwood	29	Ipswich	13	Athletic Oval
31/03/76	North Queensland	21	Wide Bay	11	Browne Park

Round 2

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Score	Venue
31/03/76	Manly-Warringah	35	Newcastle	17	Newcastle International Sports Centre
31/03/76	South Sydney	17	Souths BRL	8	Lang Park
7/04/76	North Sydney	5	Eastern Suburbs	4	Leichhardt Oval
7/04/76	Brothers	19	Penrith	8	Lang Park
7/04/76	Canterbury-Bankstown	40	North Queensland	0	Lang Park
14/04/76	Auckland	30	Redcliffe	5	Lang Park
14/04/76	Cronulla-Sutherland	28	Toowoomba	5	Lang Park
21/04/76	Western Suburbs	21	Monaro	9	Seiffert Oval
21/04/76	Easts BRL	38	Canterbury NZ	7	Lang Park
21/04/76	Newtown	32	Ryde-Eastwood	6	Leichhardt Oval
21/04/76	Parramatta	20	North Coast	4	Oakes Oval
28/04/76	Riverina	36	Fortitude Valley	2	Lang Park
28/04/76	Balmain	26	Southern Division	9	Leichhardt Oval
5/05/76	St George	34	Western Division	16	Leichhardt Oval
5/05/76	Northern Division	16	Illawarra	9	Scully Park
5/05/76	Wests BRL	17	Norths BRL	2	Lang Park

Round 3

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Score	Venue
12/05/76	North Sydney	19	Newtown	7	Leichhardt Oval
19/05/76	Brothers	12	Northern Division	6	Leichhardt Oval
26/05/76	Riverina	16	South Sydney	11	Leichhardt Oval
2/06/76	St George	17	Cronulla-Sutherland	12	Leichhardt Oval
9/06/76	Manly-Warringah	24	Wests BRL	8	Lang Park
16/06/76	Balmain	28	Auckland	8	Leichhardt Oval
23/06/76	Parramatta	22	Western Suburbs	2	Penrith Park
30/06/76	Canterbury-Bankstown	13	Easts BRL	7	Leichhardt Oval

Quarter finals

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Score	Venue
7/07/76	North Sydney	44	Riverina	15	Leichhardt Oval
14/07/76	Balmain	19	Brothers	3	Leichhardt Oval
21/07/76	Canterbury-Bankstown	8	Manly-Warringah	7	Leichhardt Oval
28/07/76	Parramatta	22	St George	20	Leichhardt Oval

Semi finals

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Score	Venue
4/08/76	Balmain	11	Canterbury-Bankstown	10	Lang Park
11/08/76	North Sydney	10	Parramatta	9	Leichhardt Oval

Final

Date	Winner	Score	Loser	Score	Venue
18 August	Balmain	21	North Sydney	7	Leichhardt Oval

The final attracted a ground record of 21,670 to Leichhardt Oval. Balmain's second-rower Dennis Tutty was named man-of-the-match.

Awards

Player of the Series

• John Gray (North Sydney)

Golden Try

• Paul Hayward (Newtown)

Sources

• http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~maajjs/aus/nsw/sum/nsw1976.htm