1995 ARL season

Not to be confused with 1995 AFL season.

The 1995 ARL premiership was the 88th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the first to be run by the Australian Rugby League following the hand-over of the Premiership's administration by the New South Wales Rugby League. For the first time since 1988, the Premiership expanded again, with the addition of two new clubs from Queensland:

• North Queensland Cowboys, based in Townsville
• South Queensland Crushers, based in Brisbane.

1995 Australian Rugby League
Teams	20
Premiers	Sydney Bulldogs (7th title)
Minor premiers	Manly Sea Eagles (7th title)
Matches played	229
Points scored	5,370
Average attendance	14,642
Attendance	3,352,927
Top points scorer(s)	Matthew Ridge (257)
Wooden spoon	North Queensland (1st spoon)
Rothmans Medal	Paul Green
Top try-scorer(s)	Steve Menzies (22)
← 1994 (NSWRL) 1996 →

For the first time ever, clubs were also added from outside the borders of New South Wales and Queensland, and indeed, Australia:^[1]

• Western Reds (later called Perth Reds)^[a], based in Perth
• Auckland Warriors, based in Auckland.

This saw a total of twenty teams, the largest number in the League's history, compete during the regular season for the J J Giltinan Shield, which was followed by a series of play-off finals between the top eight teams that culminated in a grand final for the Winfield Cup between the re-branded Sydney Bulldogs and Manly.

The 1995 season also saw the first major consequences of the Super League war, with the ARL's refusal to select almost all players^[b] from the eight clubs who had aligned with News Ltd's proposed Super League^[c] for State of Origin or Test matches, including the 1995 Rugby League World Cup.

Season summary

1995 would prove to be a year of massive change for the League. In addition to the introduction of four new teams, it was the last year of the premiership's association with Rothmans and the Winfield brand and consequently the final year that clubs competed for the Winfield Cup.

There had been a cloud over the league for some time in the form of rumours and speculation about the Super League, but the ensuing dispute was more extensive than almost any commenters and analysts had predicted. The subsequent Super League war would have massive impacts on the sport in Australia and would substantially harm the league's popular support and grassroots structures.^[5]

The 1995 season was played in front of a background of legal actions which did large damage to interpersonal relations within the league, with players and managers jockeying for position. Players who had signed with the new Super League venture were forbidden by the ARL from participating in the 1995 State of Origin. Selectors from New South Wales and Queensland were limited to selecting players only from ARL-aligned clubs, plus certain defectors from Super League.

The usual twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March till August. However the large number of teams meant a resulting top eight would battle it out in the finals rather than the usual five. These were Manly, Canberra, Brisbane, Cronulla, Newcastle, Sydney Bulldogs, St. George and North Sydney (who made it in due to Auckland being penalised for an interchange infringement).

Cronulla-Sutherland's halfback Paul Green was awarded the 1995 Rothmans Medal. The Dally M Award was given to Canberra's five-eighth, Laurie Daley who was also named Rugby League Week's player of the year. Manly-Warringah's Steve Menzies became the first forward for 50 years to top the season's try-scoring list, while his teammate Matthew Ridge set a club point scoring record of 257 points^[d] to be the league's leading point scorer for the year.

By the end of the regular season, the ARL's inaugural 20-team competition had set a new record for aggregate match attendances of 3,061,338.^[6]

Advertising

1995 marked the final year of the New South Wales Rugby League's sponsorship arrangement with Rothmans and Winfield due to the federal government's blanket ban on cigarette advertising in Australia effective from 1 January 1996. It was consequently the final year of a seven-year association with Tina Turner and the end of an era in Australian sports marketing.

With a lock-up-your-daughters, kick-off your suspenders, red-blooded Tina Turner marketing blitz, the ARL had stuck it right up the other footy codes.

— Ray Martin, 1999^[7]

As in 1994 the New South Wales Rugby League and its advertising agency Hertz Walpole returned to the original 1989 recording of The Best by Turner to underscore the season launch advertisement. Footage from the studio bluescreen shoot taken during Turner's 1993 Sydney visit was used in the final advertisements. The enduring images are of Turner performing the song on an elevated stage in front of the fluttering banners of the 20 clubs that would participate in 1995's expanded competition.

Teams

When the Australian Rugby League began taking bids for additional teams to begin playing in 1995, it was expected that only two teams would enter. Auckland were the first club to be accepted, with the final place being fought for by South Queensland, North Queensland and Perth. The Australian Rugby League later announced that all three clubs had been accepted, taking the number of teams from 16 in 1994 to 20 in 1995, the highest it had ever been and would ever be.

With the addition of the Auckland Warriors, North Queensland Cowboys, South Queensland Crushers and Western Reds the 1995 season involved an unprecedented twenty clubs,^[8] including five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, one from Newcastle, one from Wollongong, two from Brisbane, one from Gold Coast, one from Townsville, one from Auckland, one from Canberra and one from Perth, who all contested the premiership, making it the largest competition in terms of participation in Australia's history.

We haven't brought these teams into the Winfield Cup just to see them dropped after one season

— Australian Rugby League boss, Ken Arthurson, 1995^[9]

With the storm that would be the Super League war already brewing in the background, three clubs based in Sydney suburbs, in an effort to position themselves favourably as battle lines were being drawn up, re-branded themselves for the 1995 season with less geographically distinct names: the Balmain Tigers became the 'Sydney Tigers', the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs became the 'Sydney Bulldogs', and the Eastern Suburbs Roosters became the 'Sydney City Roosters'.

Auckland Warriors 1st season Ground: Ericsson Stadium Coach: John Monie Captain: Dean Bell	Brisbane Broncos 8th season Ground: ANZ Stadium Coach: Wayne Bennett Captain: Allan Langer	Canberra Raiders 14th season Ground: Bruce Stadium Coach: Tim Sheens Captain: Ricky Stuart	Cronulla Sharks 29th season Ground: Endeavour Park Coach: John Lang Captain: Andrew Ettingshausen	Gold Coast Seagulls 8th season Ground: Seagulls Stadium Coach: John Harvey Captain: Craig Coleman
Illawarra Steelers 14th season Ground: Wollongong Stadium Coach: Graham Murray→Allan Fitzgibbon Captain: John Cross	Manly Sea Eagles 49th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Bob Fulton Captain: Geoff Toovey	Newcastle Knights 8th season Ground: Marathon Stadium Coach: Malcolm "Mal" Reilly Captain: Mark Sargent → Paul Harragon	North Qld Cowboys 1st season Ground: Stockland Stadium Coach: Grant Bell Captain: various	Norths Bears 88th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Peter Louis Captain: Jason Taylor
Parramatta Eels 49th season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Ron Hilditch Captain: Paul Dunn	Penrith Panthers 29th season Ground: Penrith Stadium Coach: Royce Simmons Captain: John Cartwright	South Qld Crushers 1st season Ground: Suncorp Stadium Coach: Bill Gardner → Bob Lindner Captain: Mario Fenech → Trevor Gillmeister	Souths Rabbitohs 88th season Ground: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Ken Shine Captain: Lee Jackson → Craig Field	St. George Dragons 75th season Ground: Kogarah Oval Coach: Brian Smith Captain: Mark Coyne
Sydney Bulldogs (Canterbury Bulldogs) 61st season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Chris Anderson Captain: Terry Lamb	Sydney City Roosters (Easts Roosters) 88th season Ground: Sydney Football Stadium Coach: Phil Gould Captain: Sean Garlick	Sydney Tigers (Balmain Tigers) 88th season Ground: Parramatta Stadium Coach: Wayne Pearce Captain: Paul Sironen	Western Reds 1st season Ground: WACA Ground Coach: Peter Mulholland Captain: Brad Mackay	Wests Magpies 88th season Ground: Campbelltown Stadium Coach: Tommy Raudonikis Captain: Paul Langmack

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Manly Sea Eagles	22	20	0	2	687	248	+439	40
2	Canberra Raiders	22	20	0	2	634	255	+379	40
3	Brisbane Broncos	22	17	0	5	600	364	+236	34
4	Cronulla Sharks	22	16	0	6	516	287	+229	32
5	Newcastle Knights	22	15	0	7	549	396	+153	30
6	Sydney Bulldogs (Canterbury Bulldogs) (P)	22	14	0	8	468	352	+116	28
7	St. George Dragons	22	13	0	9	583	382	+201	26
8	North Sydney Bears	22	11	2	9	542	331	+211	24
9	Sydney City Roosters (Eastern Suburbs Roosters)	22	12	0	10	466	406	+60	24
10	Auckland Warriors	22	13	0	9	544	493	+51	24
11	Western Reds	22	11	0	11	361	549	-188	22
12	Illawarra Steelers	22	10	1	11	519	431	+88	21
13	Western Suburbs Magpies	22	10	0	12	459	534	-75	20
14	Penrith Panthers	22	9	0	13	481	484	-3	18
15	Sydney Tigers (Balmain Tigers)	22	7	0	15	309	591	-282	14
16	South Queensland Crushers	22	6	1	15	303	502	-199	13
17	Gold Coast Seagulls	22	4	1	17	350	628	-278	9
18	South Sydney Rabbitohs	22	4	1	17	319	686	-367	9
19	Parramatta Eels	22	3	0	19	310	690	-380	6
20	North Queensland Cowboys	22	2	0	20	269	660	-391	4

• Auckland Warriors were stripped of 2 competition points due to exceeding the replacement limit in round 3.

Ladder progression

• Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 8.
• Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
• Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round

	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
1	Manly	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	28	30	30	32	32	34	36	38	40
2	Canberra	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	18	20	22	24	26	26	28	30	32	34	36	38	40
3	Brisbane	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	14	16	18	18	18	20	22	22	22	24	26	28	30	32	34
4	Cronulla	0	2	2	4	6	8	8	10	12	12	14	16	16	16	18	20	22	24	26	28	30	32
5	Newcastle	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	18	20	22	24	24	26	28	28	28	30	30	30	30
6	Sydney (B)	2	4	6	6	8	8	8	10	10	12	12	14	14	16	18	20	20	22	24	24	26	28
7	St George	0	0	0	2	2	2	4	4	6	8	8	8	10	12	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	26
8	North Sydney	2	4	4	6	6	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	12	14	16	16	16	18	20	22	23	24
9	Sydney City (Eastern Suburbs)	0	2	2	4	4	6	8	8	10	12	14	14	14	14	14	16	16	18	20	22	22	24
10	Auckland	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	6	6	8	10	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	22	24	24	24
11	Western	2	2	4	4	4	6	6	8	8	8	8	10	10	12	14	14	16	18	18	20	22	22
12	Illawarra	0	2	2	4	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	9	9	9	9	11	13	15	15	17	19	21
13	Western Suburbs	2	2	2	4	6	6	8	10	10	12	14	16	16	18	18	18	20	20	20	20	20	20
14	Penrith	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	8	10	12	12	14	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	18
15	Sydney (T)	2	2	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	8	8	10	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	14	14
16	South Qld	0	0	0	0	2	2	3	5	5	7	7	7	9	9	9	11	11	11	13	13	13	13
17	Gold Coast	0	0	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	6	8	8	8	8	8	9
18	South Sydney	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	8	8	8	8	8	9	9
19	Parramatta	0	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
20	North Qld	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4

Finals

A new finals system involving eight teams instead of the previous five was introduced for the expanded 1995 competition.^[10] The final eight was to be made of four clubs who would ultimately prove loyal to the Australian Rugby League (Manly, St. George, North Sydney and Newcastle) and four clubs who would join Super League's rebel ranks (Sydney Bulldogs, Canberra, Brisbane and Cronulla Sharks). The Grand Final was played out by a team from each faction, being the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and the Sydney Bulldogs.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Quarter-finals
Newcastle Knights	20–10	North Sydney Bears	1 September 1995	Parramatta Stadium	David Manson	14,174
Canberra Raiders	14–8	Brisbane Broncos	2 September 1995	Suncorp Stadium	Kelvin Jeffes	40,187
Sydney Bulldogs	12–8	St. George Dragons	2 September 1995	Sydney Football Stadium	Eddie Ward	26,835
Manly Sea Eagles	24–20	Cronulla Sharks	3 September 1995	Sydney Football Stadium	Paul McBlane	32,795
Semi-finals
Cronulla Sharks	18–19	Newcastle Knights	9 September 1995	Sydney Football Stadium	Eddie Ward	26,061
Brisbane Broncos	10–24	Sydney Bulldogs	10 September 1995	Sydney Football Stadium	David Manson	34,087
Preliminary finals
Canberra Raiders	6–25	Sydney Bulldogs	16 September 1995	Sydney Football Stadium	Eddie Ward	36,894
Manly Sea Eagles	12–4	Newcastle Knights	17 September 1995	Sydney Football Stadium	David Manson	38,874
Grand final
Manly Sea Eagles	4–17	Sydney Bulldogs	24 September 1995	Sydney Football Stadium	Eddie Ward	41,127

Chart

	Qualifying and elimination finals					Semi-finals					Preliminary finals					Grand final
	3 Sept, Sydney Football Stadium
	1	Manly Sea Eagles	24
	4	Cronulla Sharks	20			9 Sept, Sydney Football Stadium
						Cronulla Sharks		18
	1 Sept, Parramatta Stadium					Newcastle Knights		19			17 Sept, Sydney Football Stadium
	5	Newcastle Knights	20								Manly Sea Eagles		12
	8	North Sydney Bears	10								Newcastle Knights		4			24 Sept, Sydney Football Stadium
																Manly Sea Eagles		4
	2 Sept, Sydney Football Stadium										16 Sept, Sydney Football Stadium					Sydney Bulldogs		17
	6	Sydney Bulldogs	12								Canberra Raiders		6
	7	St. George Dragons	8			10 Sept, Sydney Football Stadium					Sydney Bulldogs		25
						Brisbane Broncos		10
	2 Sept, Suncorp Stadium					Sydney Bulldogs		24
	2	Canberra Raiders	14
	3	Brisbane Broncos	8

Grand final

1995 (1995) ARL Grand Final
Manly Sea Eagles Sydney Bulldogs 4 17
1 2 Total MAN 4 0 4 SYB 6 11 17
Date	24 September 1995
Stadium	Sydney Football Stadium
Location	Sydney
Clive Churchill Medal	Jim Dymock (SYB)
Referee	Eddie Ward
Attendance	41,127
Broadcast partners
Broadcasters	Nine Network
Commentators	Ray Warren Peter Sterling

An aerial view of the Sydney Football Stadium (1988), where the match was played

Having finished in sixth place at the end of the regular season, the Bulldogs managed a history-making finals surge, winning three sudden death matches to make the grand final. Canterbury were ahead at half-time 6–4 after a tight contest dominated by defence in the opening half.

The Bulldogs scored 11 unanswered points in the second half to secure the club's seventh NSWRL/ARL title and their first of the decade. The Bulldogs won despite losing the scrum count 3–5 and the penalty count 9–10. Manly's 22–3 season win–loss record remains the best not to have secured the premiership.

At game's end Lamb enjoyed the rare honour of celebrating as a retiring victorious skipper, although he surprisingly returned for the 1996 season.

The performance of Eddie Ward, refereeing his NSWRL/ARL first grand final (Ward had previously officiated in Brisbane Rugby League grand finals including the infamous 1990 decider), was subject to some post match controversy.^[11][12][13] Rugby League Week commented:

Two of Canterbury's three tries appeared to have resulted from borderline passes, another came on the seventh tackle, and a fourth – which in fact was a fair try – was disallowed^[14]

Sydney Bulldogs 17 (Tries: Price, Hughes, Silva. Goals: Halligan 2/5. Field Goal: Lamb.)

Manly-Warringah 4 (Goals: Ridge 2/2.)

Clive Churchill Medallist: Jim Dymock^[15]

Manly Sea Eagles	Position	Sydney Bulldogs
Matthew Ridge	FB	Rod Silva
2. Craig Hancock	WG	18. Jason Williams
3. Danny Moore	CE	3. John Timu
4. Terry Hill	CE	4. Matthew Ryan
5. John Hopoate	WG	5. Daryl Halligan
6. Cliff Lyons	FE	6. Terry Lamb (c)
7. Geoff Toovey (c)	HB	7. Craig Polla-Mounter
8. David Gillespie	PR	8. Darren Britt
9. Des Hasler	HK	9. Jason Hetherington
10. Mark Carroll	PR	10. Dean Pay
11. Steve Menzies	SR	11. Steve Price
12. Ian Roberts	SR	12. Simon Gillies
13 Nik Kosef	LK	13. Jim Dymock
14. Owen Cunningham	Res.	25. Jason Smith
15. Daniel Gartner	Res.	27. Glen Hughes
16. Solomon Haumono	Res.	28. Mitch Newton
Bob Fulton	Coach	Chris Anderson

Title and the Sydney Bulldogs name

After a grand final appearance the previous season in which they lost to Canberra, the Bulldogs rebranded from the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs to the Sydney Bulldogs in 1995. This short-lived rebrand saw the club capture its seventh title in its first season under the new name, before it was altered to Canterbury Bulldogs in 1997 by Super League, changed again to Bulldogs RLFC in the 2000s and eventually reverted back to its original name in 2010.

Player statistics

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

Top 5 point scorers

Points	Player	Tries	Goals	Field Goals
239	Matthew Ridge	10	99	1
192	David Furner	10	76	0
190	Daryl Halligan	12	71	0
186	Julian O'Neill	8	76	2
184	Mat Rogers	13	66	0

Top 5 try scorers

Tries	Player
21	Steve Menzies
20	John Hopoate
19	Sean Hoppe
16	Jamie Ainscough
15	Jason Croker
15	Steve Renouf

Top 5 goal scorers

Goals	Player
99	Matthew Ridge
83	Jason Taylor
78	Andrew Johns
76	David Furner
76	Julian O'Neill

See also

• 1995 State of Origin series
• Super League war

Notes

1. Later called "Perth Reds"
2. Excluding Canberra, most of these clubs contained a handful of players who did not sign with the new league or attempted to defect back to the ARL, of whom the Broncos' Gavin Allen,^[2] the Reds' Brad Mackay, Penrith's Brad Fittler and Matt Sing, and Canterbury's Brett Dallas,^[3] Jason Smith^[4] and Dean Pay did play in the State of Origin series, while Cronulla's Aaron Raper played in the October Test matches.
3. These included every club that had won the premiership since 1988 — the Bulldogs in 1988, Canberra in 1989, 1990 and 1994, Penrith in 1991 and Brisbane in 1992 and 1993
4. 11 tries, 106 goals and 1 field goal