1979 NSWRFL season
| 1979 New South Wales Rugby Football League | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 12 |
| Premiers |
 St. George (15th title) |
| Minor premiers |
St. George (14th title) |
| Matches played | 138 |
| Points scored | 4466 |
| Attendance | 1500369 |
| Top points scorer(s) |
 Mick Cronin (253) |
| Player of the year |
Ray Price (Rothmans Medal) |
| Top try-scorer(s) |
Mitch Brennan (16) Tom Mooney (16) |
The 1979 NSWRFL season was the 72nd season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve New South Wales Rugby Football League clubs competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the St. George and Canterbury-Bankstown clubs. NSWRFL teams also competed in the 1979 Amco Cup.
Twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March till August, resulting in a top five of St. George, Parramatta, Cronulla-Sutherland, Western Suburbs and Canterbury-Bankstown who battled it out in the finals.
Parramatta's Ray Price was the 1979 season's Rothmans Medallist, and also won Rugby League Week's player of the year award.
The 1979 season also saw the retirement from the League of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Bob Fulton.
Twelve clubs, including six of 1908's foundation teams and another six from around Sydney competed for the NSWRFL premiership.
St. George finished 22 rounds as minor premiers with 17 wins and were straight into the Grand Final after defeating Parramatta in the major semi. Their Grand Final opponents Canterbury, qualified after defeating Wests, Cronulla and Parramatta.
The pre-game talk had been about the match-up of opposing half-backs Steve Morris and Steve Mortimer and the game didn't disappoint, beginning with a 40-metre flying break on a last tackle by Morris from deep in Dragons territory before he was cut down in a classic covering tackle by Mortimer.
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