1985 NSWRL season

The regular season commenced in March with reigning premiers Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs winning 18–4 against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. Bulldogs forward Paul Langmack scored the first try of the season. Parramatta played their round 2 match against the Canberra at Orana Park following the opening of a new 1.25m grandstand. It was the first match played at the venue since 1983. • Rugby League Week Player of the Year — Ray Price (Parramatta Eels) Teams The lineup of clubs remained unchanged from the previous year, with 13 clubs contesting the 1985 premiership, including five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, one from greater New South Wales and one from the Australian Capital Territory. ==Regular season==

Bold – Home game X – Bye •  – Extra time game Opponent for round listed above margin Ladder Ladder progression • Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 5. • Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round. • Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round. • Underlined numbers indicate that the team had a bye during that round. ==Finals==

Teams Aiming for back-to-back premierships, Canterbury-Bankstown's team featured 12 players who had played in the 1984 Grand Final, including replacements Mark Bugden and Greg Mullane. Michael Hagan replaced an injured Terry Lamb at five-eighth. The three Mortimer brothers and Steve Folkes also played in the 1979, 1980, 1984 and 1985 matches. St. George captain Craig Young, Steve Morris and Graeme Wynn had all played in the Dragons' 1979 premiership victory. St. George and goalkicker Michael O'Connor was injured in the first few minutes of the match and was in the hands of medical staff for a number of minutes before returning to his position. Canterbury's Steve Folkes was also struggling with a rib injury following the early exchanges. Farrar slotted the conversion attempt for a 6–0 lead, which held to half time after O'Connor missed a penalty goal attempt four minutes from the break. Described as a "dour match which featured heavy defence," Canterbury coach Ryan said that his team maintained "cruel, ruthless control" over the contest. Dragons coach Roy Masters, also embroiled in a bitter feud with Ryan, Scoreboard Other matches St. George had teams in each of the three grand finals, winning the Under-23s decider 24–20 against Parramatta, and the reserve grade grand final 22–16 against the Canberra Raiders. Hooker Chris Guider became the first and only player to play in all three grand finals on the same day, starting in the Under-23s match before being used as a replacement in the reserve grade and first grade matches. ==Player statistics==

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 26. Top 5 point scorers Top 5 try scorers Top 5 goal scorers ==References==