1977 Amco Cup
The 1977 Amco Cup was a rugby league football tournament featuring teams from around the Australian states of New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, Northern Territory as well as New Zealand. The tournament was played from March to August 1977, culminating in the final between Sydney clubs Western Suburbs and Eastern Suburbs.
Format
The format of the fourth midweek cup competition operated on a straight knock-out format consisting of 37 teams. 2 new teams were introduced. They were Central Queensland and Western Australia.
The competition was composed of the 12 Sydney premiership teams (Balmain, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cronulla-Sutherland, Eastern Suburbs, Manly-Warringah, Newtown, North Sydney, Parramatta, Penrith, St George, South Sydney and Western Suburbs), Ryde-Eastwood (Second Division premiers), 8 Brisbane Premiership teams (Brothers, Easts BRL, Fortitude Valley, Ipswich, Norths BRL, Redcliffe, Souths BRL, Wests BRL), the 8 New South Wales divisional teams (Illawarra, Monaro, Newcastle, North Coast, Northern Division, Riverina, Southern Division and Western Division), Auckland, Canterbury NZ, Central Queensland, North Queensland, Northern Territory, Toowoomba, Western Australia and Wide Bay.
10 teams played in a Preliminary (or qualifying) round. They were Central Queensland, Ipswich, Monaro, Newcastle, North Coast, Northern Division, Northern Territory, Southern Division and Western Australia and Wide Bay.
Preliminary round
| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27/03/77 | Western Australia | 23 | Northern Territory | 18 | Perth |
| 30/03/77 | Central Queensland* | 7 | Wide Bay | 7 | Browne Park |
| 27/04/77 | Northern Division | 26 | Newcastle | 17 | Newcastle ISC |
| 4/05/77 | North Coast | 40 | Ipswich | 22 | North Ipswich Reserve |
| 11/5/77 | Monaro | 18 | Southern Division | 15 | Seiffert Oval |
Round 1
| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30/03/77 | Brothers | 16 | Wynnum-Manly | 15 | Lang Park |
| 30/03/77 | St George | 22 | Balmain | 12 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 30/03/77 | Toowoomba | 31 | North Queensland | 13 | Athletic Oval |
| 6/04/77 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 75 | Central Queensland | 3 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 6/04/77 | Redcliffe | 19 | Wests BRL | 10 | Lang Park |
| 13/04/77 | Western Suburbs | 60 | Norths BRL | 0 | Lang Park |
| 20/04/77 | Parramatta | 21 | North Sydney | 7 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 27/04/77 | Penrith | 36 | Western Division | 5 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 4/05/77 | Fortitude Valley | 19 | Illawarra | 10 | Lang Park |
| 4/05/77 | Eastern Suburbs | 16 | Manly-Warringah | 8 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 11/05/77 | South Sydney | 39 | Western Australia | 10 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 18/05/77 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 20 | North Coast | 7 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 25/05/77 | Monaro | 21 | Easts BRL | 18 | Lang Park |
| 25/05/77 | Newtown | 32 | Riverina | 3 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 25/05/77 | Northern Division | 23 | Auckland | 2 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 4/05/77 | Souths BRL | 20 | Canterbury NZ | 12 | Lang Park |
Round 2
| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/06/77 | St George | 18 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 17 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 1/06/77 | Fortitude Valley | 13 | Brothers | 9 | Lang Park |
| 8/06/77 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 25 | Toowoomba | 15 | Athletic Oval |
| 8/06/77 | Western Suburbs | 20 | Redcliffe | 2 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 15/06/77 | Monaro | 12 | South Sydney | 3 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 22/06/77 | Penrith | 18 | Newtown | 16 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 29/06/77 | Northern Division | 34 | Souths BRL | 20 | Lang Park |
| 29/06/77 | Eastern Suburbs | 19 | Parramatta | 2 | Leichhardt Oval |
Quarter finals
| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/07/77 | Western Suburbs | 27 | St George | 7 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 13/07/77 | Penrith | 17 | Northern Division | 10 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 20/07/77 | Eastern Suburbs | 35 | Fortitude Valley | 2 | Lang Park |
| 27/07/77 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 33 | Monaro | 10 | Leichhardt Oval |
Semi finals
| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3/08/77 | Eastern Suburbs | 18 | Penrith | 7 | Leichhardt Oval |
| 10/08/77 | Western Suburbs | 8 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 7 | Leichhardt Oval |
Final
| Date | Winner | Score | Loser | Score | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17/08/77 | Western Suburbs | 6 | Eastern Suburbs | 5 | Leichhardt Oval |
- *- Advanced on penalty count-back