For the first time, the number of points awarded for scoring a try was raised from six to seven. There was also the introduction of a handover if a team was caught in possession six times, which had the effect of killing the traditional
scrum but attracted many new followers to a game that had seen attendances decline by fifty percent since the record year of 1968. To counter a lucrative illegal
betting market, legal betting via
FootyTAB was introduced and was a regarded as a success. Twenty-six regular season rounds were played from February till August, resulting in a top five of Manly-Warringah, Parramatta, Canterbury-Bankstown, Balmain and St. George, who battled it out in the finals.
Manly-Warringah managed 23 wins from 28 matches in 1983 – at the time the most wins in a season by a club in NSWRFL premiership history alongside
Parramatta's 23 in 1982. The 1983 season's
Rothmans Medallist was Eastern Suburbs’ back,
Michael Eden and the
Dally M Award went to Western Suburbs’ half,
Terry Lamb.
Rugby League Week gave their player of the year award to Manly-Warringah winger,
Phil Sigsworth. This season the Coca-Cola Coach-of-the-year award was voted for by the coaches in the League and was awarded to rookie coach
Laurie Freier. This was also the last year in the first-grade competition for foundation club
Newtown, who were dropped at the season's end. The Round 2 game between
Illawarra and Manly-Warringah at the
Wollongong Showground was refereed by
French Rugby League Federation referee
Julien Rascagnères who had refereed the
Ashes series during the
1982 Kangaroo tour.
Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous season, with fourteen clubs competing in total, including six
Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, one from greater
New South Wales and one from the
Australian Capital Territory. It was the last season for the Newtown club.
Ladder ==Finals==