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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
Total attendance	3,352,927
Top points scorer	Matthew Ridge (257)
Wooden spoon	North Queensland (1st spoon)
Rothmans Medal	Paul Green
Top try-scorer	Steve Menzies (22)
← 1994 (NSWRL) 1996 →

The1995 ARL premiership was the 88th season of professionalrugby league football in Australia, and the first to be run by theAustralian Rugby League following the hand-over of the Premiership's administration by theNew South Wales Rugby League. For the first time since1988, the Premiership expanded again, with the addition of two new clubs fromQueensland:

• North Queensland Cowboys, based inTownsville
• South Queensland Crushers, based inBrisbane.

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

• Western Reds (later Perth Reds), based inPerth
• Auckland Warriors, based inAuckland

This saw a total of twenty teams, the largest number in the League's history, compete during the regular season for theJ J Giltinan Shield, which was followed by a series of play-off finals between the top eight teams that culminated in agrand final for theWinfield Cup between the re-brandedSydney Bulldogs andManly.

The 1995 season also saw the first major consequences of theSuper League war, with the ARL's refusal to select almost all players^[a] from the eight clubs who had aligned withNews Ltd's proposedSuper League^[b] forState of Origin orTest matches, including the1995 Rugby League World Cup.

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 withRothmans and the Winfield brand and consequently the final year that clubs competed for theWinfield Cup.

There had been a cloud over the league for some time in the form of rumours and speculation about theSuper League, but the ensuing dispute was more extensive than almost any commenters and analysts had predicted. The subsequentSuper 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 newSuper League venture were forbidden by the ARL from participating in the1995 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). In addition to the premiership, there was also the1995 Trans-Tasman Test series between theAustralian Rugby League's andNew Zealand Rugby League's national teams.

Cronulla-Sutherland's halfbackPaul Green was awarded the 1995Rothmans Medal. TheDally M Award was given to Canberra's five-eighth,Laurie Daley who was also namedRugby League Week's player of the year. Manly-Warringah'sSteve Menzies became the firstforward for 50 years to top the season's try-scoring list, while his teammateMatthew Ridge set a club point scoring record of 257 points^[c] 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]

1995 marked the final year of theNew South Wales Rugby League's sponsorship arrangement withRothmans andWinfield due to thefederal 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 withTina 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.

As in 1994 the New South Wales Rugby League and its advertising agency Hertz Walpole returned to the original 1989 recording ofThe Best by Turner to underscore the season launch advertisement. Footage from the studiobluescreen 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.

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 bySouth Queensland,North Queensland andPerth. The Australian Rugby League later announced that all three clubs had been accepted, taking the number of teams from 16 in1994 to 20 in 1995, the highest it had ever been and would ever be.

With the addition of theAuckland Warriors,North Queensland Cowboys,South Queensland Crushers andWestern Reds the 1995 season involved an unprecedented twenty clubs,^[8] including fiveSydney-based foundation teams, another six fromSydney, one fromNewcastle, one fromWollongong, two fromBrisbane, one fromGold Coast, one fromTownsville, one fromAuckland, one fromCanberra and one fromPerth, 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

With the storm that would be theSuper 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	North Syd. 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	South Syd. 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 (East. Sub. 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	West. Sub. Magpies 88th season Ground:Campbelltown Stadium Coach:Tommy Raudonikis Captain:Paul Langmack

	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(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	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	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.

• 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 Bulldogs	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	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 Tigers	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

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 andNewcastle) and four clubs who would join Super League's rebel ranks (Sydney Bulldogs,Canberra,Brisbane andCronulla 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

	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

1995 (1995) ARL Grand Final
An aerial view of theSydney Football Stadium, where the match was played
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)
Australian National anthem	Julie Anthony
Referee	Eddie Ward
Attendance	41,127
Broadcast partners
Broadcasters	Nine Network
Commentators	Ken Sutcliffe (host) Ray Warren Peter Sterling Paul Vautin Phil Gould Steve Roach (sideline)
← 1994 1996 →

Twelve Bulldogs players remained from the squad that played in the1994 Grand Final.^[11] Initially selected in the starting line-up, wingerBrett Dallas missed the decider due to a hamstring injury sustained in the preliminary final.^[12][13]Des Hasler andCliff Lyons both had previous Grand Final experience for Manly, playing in the1987 Grand Final, while ManlypropDavid Gillespie had played in the Bulldogs’1988 premiership win. ManlyfullbackMatthew Ridge started the match under an injury cloud, having sustained a rib injury during the finals series.^[11]

Julie Anthony performedAdvance Australia Fair before the match. The half time entertainment included a surreal commercial presentation from competition sponsorOptus Vision in which a large black television was left swinging above the turf until one side collapsed releasing a shower of balloons to fall to the ground. The mishap delayed the start of the second half of the match.^[15] Optus Vision CEO Geoff Cousins proclaiming "what happened was supposed to happen."^[16]

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.^[11]

The match kicked off in sunny conditions, with the forecast showers not eventuating.^[17]

An early chance to open the scoring from a penalty goal attempt was missed by Bulldogs goalkickerDaryl Halligan in the fourth minute, his kick falling short from approximately 39 metres from the posts. A few minutes later with Manly on the attack, Bulldogs captainTerry Lamb was sent to the sin bin following a professional foul.^[18] From the resulting penalty,Matthew Ridge converted his attempt at goal to give Manly a 2–0 advantage.^[11]

The Bulldogs scrambled in defence^[19] and were able to keep out Manly while down to 12-men.^[18] Following Lamb's return they were able to level the scores following a penalty against ManlywingJohn Hopoate. Following an error byTerry Hill that gave the Bulldogs field position, Bulldogslock forwardJim Dymock sparked an attack with his around-the-corner pass toSimon Gillies not ruled forward by the match officials, Gillies offloaded toSteve Price to score the first try of the Grand Final.^[11][16] Manly were able to cut the margin ten minutes from the break when Ridge converted a penalty goal attempt from 36 metres.^[18]

It had been a frentic and chaotic first half contest dominated by defence, with the Bulldogs ahead at half-time 6–4.^[17][16]

It was an erratic ten minutes to start the second half, with both teams guilty of handling errors.^[11] Then the biggest controversy of the match unfolded. The Bulldogs extended their lead to 10–4 whenGlen Hughes scored a try from what appeared to be the seventh tackle in attack. Dymock and Lamb engineering the play forDean Pay to bounce a looping pass to Hughes to score the try.^[11][16]

Chasing the match, further Manly errors gave the Bulldogs field position, with Lamb slotting a field goal in the 69th minute. They were denied a try a couple of minutes later whenMatthew Ryan reached to ground the ball over the line, only for the referee to rule a knock-on. They wouldn't be denied a final try throughRod Silva in the final minutes, the fullback running in support ofJohn Timu to score, again with a suspicion of a forward pass.^[11][16]

The Bulldogs had scored 11 unanswered points in the second half to secure the club's seventh premiership 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. CoachChris Anderson stating "we got away to a good start in the second half, but Manly can pull a try out of anything and I wasn't certain we'd won until Silva put the ball down over the line with a few minutes left."^[16] Manly stalwartCliff Lyons dubbed the match "our worst performance of the year by far."^[20]

At game's end Lamb enjoyed the rare honour of celebrating as a retiring victorious skipper,^[17] although he surprisingly returned for the1996 season. Lamb meanwhile had given his premiership winners' medal to injured winger Brett Dallas during the victory lap.^[13]

The performance of Eddie Ward, refereeing his NSWRL/ARL first grand final (Ward had previously officiated inBrisbane Rugby League grand finals including theinfamous 1990 decider), was subject to some post match controversy.^{[21][22][23][24]}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.^[25]

Despite the controversy, most pundits agreed that the better team ended up winning.^[19]

1995 ARL Winfield Cup Grand Final

Sunday, 24 September 15:00AEST (UTC+10)

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	4 – 17	Sydney Bulldogs
Goals:2 Ridge pen 7',pen 29'(2/2)	1st: 4–6 2nd: 0–11 [11]	Tries:3 Price 21' Hughes 61' Silva 78' Goals:2 Halligan pen 17',78'(2/5) Field goals:1 Lamb 69' Sin bin: Lamb 6' to 16'

Sydney Football Stadium,Sydney Attendance: 41,127 Referee:Eddie Ward Touch judges: Martin Weekes, Kevin Russell In-goal judges: Tom Peet, John McCormack Clive Churchill Medal:Jim Dymock[26] (Sydney Bulldogs)

Newcastle Knights won the reserve grade Grand Final 22–10 against Cronulla. The Knights opened the scoring in the 13th minute throughJohn Carlaw, before halfbackBrett Kimmorley scored two tries in the second half, including a 90 metre intercept try.^[27] The win was the club's first premiership in any competition.^[14]

After a Grand Final appearancethe previous season in which they lost to theCanberra Raiders, the Bulldogs rebranded from theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs to theSydney 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 toCanterbury Bulldogs in 1997 bySuper League, changed again toBulldogs RLFC in the 2000s and eventually reverted back to its original name in 2010.

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

• 1995 State of Origin series
• Super League war

• 1995 ARL Grand Final replay at NRL.com
• Rugby League Tables – Season 1995The World of Rugby League
• Australian Rugby League season 1995 at rleague.com^{[dead link]}
• ARL season 1995 at rugbyleagueproject.com
• Results: 1991-2000 at rabbitohs.com.au

• National Rugby League seasons
• 1995 in Australian rugby league
• 1995 in New Zealand rugby league

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