1981 Tooth Cup

1981 NSWRFL Midweek Cup

NSWRFL Tooth Cup
Tournament details
Dates	18 March - 12 August 1981
Teams	16
Venue(s)	3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	South Sydney (1st title)
Runners-up	Cronulla-Sutherland
Tournament statistics
Matches played	23
← 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.

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)
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

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

Round 1

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

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

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

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

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

• Steve Rogers (Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks)

Golden Try

• Mitch Brennan (South Sydney)

Sources

• http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/