Competing teams: (38) the 12 Sydney teams, the 8 NSW Country divisional teams, the 8 Brisbane teams, 6 Queensland Country divisional teams (Central Queensland, Gold Coast, Ipswich, North Queensland, Toowoomba and Wide Bay), 2 New Zealand teams (Auckland and Wellington), Western Australia and Northern Territory.
The format changed slightly in 1978. The random draw used in 1977 had seen some of the better teams meet and eliminate each other in the early rounds, so a system was tried in which the stronger teams were seeded into latter rounds. It didn't work too well and was abandoned after 1978.
I am missing the results of 3 matches.
Round 1:
Gold Coast 18 beat North Queensland 16.
Illawarra 63 beat Wellington 5.
Toowoomba beat Ipswich.
Western Division 12 beat Southern Division 4.
Wide Bay 12 beat Central Queensland 3.
Western Australia 21 beat Northern Territory 18.
Round 2:
Southern Suburbs 10 beat Gold Coast 4.
Illawarra 35 beat Fortitude Valley 7.
North Coast 22 beat Toowoomba 13.
South Sydney beat Western Division.
Riverina 43 beat Wide Bay 4.
Newcastle 51 beat Western Australia 5.
Brisbane Western Suburbs 8 drew with Wynnum-Manly 8.
(Brisbane Western Suburbs advanced on penalties (5-3).)
Newtown 49 beat Past Brothers 0.
Round 3:
Western Suburbs 25 beat Southern Suburbs 5.
Illawarra 44 beat Northern Suburbs 5.
North Sydney 46 beat North Coast 3.
South Sydney 9 beat Northern Division 5.
Riverina 36 beat Penrith 2.
Cronulla Sutherland 57 beat Newcastle 5.
Brisbane Western Suburbs 4 beat Redcliffe 3.
Newtown 13 beat Canterbury Bankstown 4.
Round 4:
Eastern Suburbs 16 beat Western Suburbs 10.
Illawarra 19 beat Balmain 10.
Brisbane Eastern Suburbs 27 beat North Sydney 6.
Manly Warringah 11 beat South Sydney 9.
Auckland beat Riverina.
Cronulla Sutherland 15 beat Monaro 8.
Parramatta 28 beat Brisbane Western Suburbs 0.
St George 35 beat Newtown 11.
Quarterfinals:
Eastern Suburbs 12 beat Illawarra 2.
St George 27 beat Parramatta 9.
Manly Warringah 27 beat Brisbane Eastern Suburbs 10.
Cronulla Sutherland 22 beat Auckland 6.
Semifinals:
Eastern Suburbs 14 beat Manly Warringah 2.
St George 21 beat Cronulla Sutherland 7.
Final:
Eastern Suburbs 16 beat St George 4.
Player of the Series: Kevin Hastings (Eastern Suburbs).
The format changed in 1978. Instead of a knockout competition, the teams were divided into Northern and Southern zones, with each team playing each other team in their zone. The zone winners then met in a final. The new format was abandoned after 1979.
Round 1:
Newcastle 20 beat North Coast 5.
Northern Division 24 beat Western Division 17.
Illawarra 13 beat Monaro 3.
Southern Division 29 beat Riverina 22.
Round 2:
Newcastle 32 beat Northern Division 26.
Western Division 29 beat North Coast 23.
Illawarra 21 beat Riverina 14.
Monaro 26 beat Southern Division 10.
Round 3:
Northern Division 34 beat North Coast 9.
Western Division 13 beat Newcastle 12.
Illawarra 20 beat Southern Division 10.
Riverina 28 beat Monaro 23.
Group 1:
Newcastle 3 2 0 1 - 64 44 20
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Northern Division 3 2 0 1 - 84 68 16
Western Division 3 2 0 1 - 59 59 0
North Coast 3 0 0 3 - 37 83 -46
Group 2:
Illawarra 3 3 0 0 - 54 27 27
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Monaro 3 1 0 2 - 52 51 1
Riverina 3 1 0 2 - 64 73 -9
Southern Division 3 1 0 2 - 49 68 -19
Final:
Illawarra 32 beat Newcastle 15.
1 South Sydney 3 3 0 0 - 32 12 20 6
2 Canterbury Bankstown 3 3 0 0 - 37 21 16 6
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3 Manly Warringah 3 2 0 1 - 67 32 35 4
4 Western Suburbs 3 2 0 1 - 38 22 16 4
5 Eastern Suburbs 3 2 0 1 - 41 27 14 4
6 Parramatta 3 2 0 1 - 53 43 10 4
7 Newtown 3 1 0 2 - 29 35 -6 2
8 Penrith 3 1 0 2 - 16 30 -14 2
9 Cronulla Sutherland 3 1 0 2 - 45 67 -22 2
10 North Sydney 3 1 0 2 - 29 57 -28 2
11 St George 3 0 0 3 - 32 43 -11 0
12 Balmain 3 0 0 3 - 27 57 -30 0
Final:
South Sydney 10 beat Canterbury Bankstown 3.
1 Western Suburbs 22 16 1 5 - 426 288 138 33
2 Cronulla Sutherland 22 15 0 7 - 418 261 157 30
3 Manly Warringah 22 15 0 7 - 427 287 140 30
4 Parramatta 22 14 0 8 - 525 306 219 28
5 Canterbury Bankstown 22 13 2 7 - 307 273 34 28
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6 Eastern Suburbs 22 13 0 9 - 337 280 57 26
7 South Sydney 22 12 1 9 - 298 300 -2 25
8 St George 22 10 1 11 - 367 354 13 21
9 Balmain 22 9 1 12 - 337 344 -7 19
10 Penrith 22 4 2 16 - 206 463 -257 10
11 North Sydney 22 4 1 17 - 325 439 -114 9
12 Newtown 22 2 1 19 - 199 577 -378 5
Preliminary Semifinals:
Cronulla Sutherland 17 beat Manly Warringah 12.
Parramatta 22 beat Canterbury Bankstown 15.
Semifinals:
Cronulla Sutherland 14 beat Western Suburbs 10.
Manly Warringah 13 drew with Parramatta 13.
(Manly Warringah won the relay 17-11.)
Preliminary Final:
Manly Warringah 14 beat Western Suburbs 7.
Grand Final:
Manly Warringah 11 drew with Cronulla Sutherland 11.
(Manly Warringah won the relay 16-0.)
This was a one off competition played between the seven sides that failed to make the finals and the first team eliminated from them (Canterbury Bankstown). It was played at the same time as the final series, and naturally enough failed to attract much public interest. North Sydney won it after finishing second last.
Round 1:
Balmain 7 beat Eastern Suburbs 2.
South Sydney 12 beat St George 10.
North Sydney 22 beat Penrith 17.
Canterbury Bankstown 14 beat Newtown 5.
Semifinals:
South Sydney 7 beat Balmain 5.
North Sydney 14 beat Canterbury Bankstown 9.
Final:
North Sydney 23 beat South Sydney 14.