Teams

The lineup of clubs remained unchanged from the previous year, with thirteen 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

Balmain Tigers 78th season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Frank Stanton Captain: Wayne Pearce	Canberra Raiders 4th season Ground: Seiffert Oval Coach: Don Furner Captain: Dean Lance	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 51st season Ground: Belmore Oval Coach: Warren Ryan Captain: Steve Mortimer	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 19th season Ground: Ronson Field Coach: Terry Fearnley Captain: David Hatch	Eastern Suburbs Roosters 78th season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Arthur Beetson Captain: Ron Gibbs→John Tobin	Illawarra Steelers 4th season Ground: Wollongong Showground Coach: Brian Smith Captain: Brian Hetherington	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 39th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Bob Fulton Captain: Glen Ryan→Paul Vautin
North Sydney Bears 78th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Greg Hawick→Brian Norton[1] Captain: W. Honeywood→Fred Teasdell→Mark Graham	Parramatta Eels 39th season Ground: Belmore Oval Coach: John Monie Captain: Ray Price	Penrith Panthers 19th season Ground: Penrith Park Coach: Tim Sheens Captain: Royce Simmons	South Sydney Rabbitohs 78th season Ground: Redfern Oval Coach: Ron Willey Captain: David Boyle	St. George Dragons 65th season Ground: Kogarah Oval Coach: Roy Masters Captain: Craig Young	Western Suburbs Magpies 78th season Ground: Lidcombe Oval Coach: Ken Gentle Captain: Lee Crooks

Ladder

More information Team, Pld ...

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	St. George Dragons	24	18	2	4	2	470	264	+206	42
2	Balmain Tigers	24	18	0	6	2	494	304	+190	40
3	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	24	16	2	6	2	435	267	+168	38
4	Parramatta Eels	24	16	0	8	2	458	311	+147	36
5	Penrith Panthers	24	13	1	10	2	460	379	+81	31
6	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	24	13	1	10	2	404	345	+59	31
7	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	24	10	3	11	2	374	389	-15	27
8	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24	11	0	13	2	440	404	+36	26
9	South Sydney Rabbitohs	24	10	0	14	2	373	419	-46	24
10	Canberra Raiders	24	8	2	14	2	432	534	-102	22
11	North Sydney Bears	24	6	1	17	2	281	491	-210	17
12	Western Suburbs Magpies	24	5	2	17	2	311	661	-350	16
13	Illawarra Steelers	24	5	0	19	2	303	467	-164	14

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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.

More information Team ...

	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
1	St. George Dragons	2	4	6	8	10	11	13	15	15	17	19	19	21	21	23	25	27	27	29	31	32	34	36	38	40	42
2	Balmain Tigers	2	4	6	8	8	8	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	24	26	28	30	32	34	34	36	38	38	40
3	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	2	4	4	5	7	8	10	12	12	14	14	14	16	18	20	22	24	24	24	26	28	30	32	34	36	38
4	Parramatta Eels	0	2	4	6	8	8	10	12	14	14	16	16	18	20	22	24	26	26	28	28	30	30	32	32	34	36
5	Penrith Panthers	2	2	2	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	14	16	16	18	18	18	20	22	22	23	23	25	27	29	29	31
6	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	0	2	4	6	8	10	10	12	13	15	17	17	17	17	19	19	21	23	23	23	25	27	27	29	29	31
7	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	0	2	4	5	5	7	9	9	11	13	13	13	15	15	17	18	18	18	20	20	21	21	23	25	27	27
8	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	0	0	0	0	2	4	4	6	6	6	8	10	12	12	12	14	14	16	18	20	22	22	22	24	26	26
9	South Sydney Rabbitohs	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	6	6	8	10	10	12	12	12	12	14	14	16	18	20	22	22	24	24
10	Canberra Raiders	2	2	4	6	6	6	8	8	9	9	9	11	13	15	15	17	19	19	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	22
11	North Sydney Bears	0	2	2	2	4	6	6	6	8	8	8	10	10	10	10	10	10	12	14	15	15	17	17	17	17	17
12	Western Suburbs Magpies	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	6	8	8	8	10	10	11	11	13	15	16	16	16	16	16	16	16
13	Illawarra Steelers	0	0	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	8	10	10	10	10	10	10	12	12	12	14	14

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Chart

	Qualifying final					Major semi-final					Preliminary final					Grand final
						1	St. George	17								St. George		6
							Canterbury	6								Canterbury		7
	2	Balmain	8								Canterbury		26
	3	Canterbury	14			Minor semi-final					Parramatta		0
						Balmain		4
	4	Parramatta	38			Parramatta		32
	5	Penrith	6

Grand final

The 1985 grand final was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground before a crowd of 44,569.^[2] Canterbury continually put St George fullback Burgess under the test of the high-ball in his in-goal area, which, under the rules of the time, resulted in a line drop-out with the Bulldogs regaining possession. After felling St George's Graeme Wynn as a scrum broke up, Canterbury's prop Peter Kelly was surprising awarded a penalty and shortly thereafter Kelly used the blindside to send winger Peter Mortimer over out wide for a 6-0 half time lead.

Bulldogs half and skipper Steve Mortimer seized control of the match and centre Andrew Farrar clinched it with a field goal in the 72nd minute to take the score to 7-0. A last light of hope appeared for the Dragons when Steve Morris scored and Michael O'Connor converted with five minutes left on the clock. In the end a practised and clinical approach from Canterbury shut out the Dragons who had been the minor premiers.

Canterbury-Bankstown 7
Tries: P Mortimer. Goal: Farrar. Field Goal: Farrar.

St. George 6
Tries: Morris. Goal: O'Connor.

Man-of-the-match: Steve Mortimer