NSWRL season 1989
| 1989 New South Wales Rugby League premiership | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 16 |
| Premiers |
 Canberra (1st title) |
| Minor premiers |
 South Sydney (17th title) |
| Matches played | 183 |
| Points scored | 5537 |
| Attendance | 2040375 |
| Top points scorer(s) |
 Ricky Walford (146) Andy Currier (146) |
| Player of the year |
 Gavin Miller & Mark Sargent (Rothmans Medal) |
| Top try-scorer(s) |
Gary Belcher (17) |
The 1989 NSWRL season was the 82nd season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs competed for the New South Wales Rugby League's J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup Premiership during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Canberra Raiders and Balmain Tigers. This season NSWRL teams also competed for the 1989 Panasonic Cup. This would be the last time a mid-season competition was played concurrent with the regular season. From 1990 it would become a pre-season competition.
Twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March till August, resulting in a top five of Souths, Penrith, Balmain, Canberra and Cronulla (who finished equal with Brisbane but beat them in a play-off for fifth) to battle it out in the finals.
This year Penrith forward Geoff Gerard set new record for most first-grade NSWRL permiership games at 320 before retiring at the end of the season.
The 1989 season's Rothmans Medal was shared by Cronulla-Sutherland forward Gavin Miller and Newcastle Knights front-rower Mark Sargent. Miller also won the Dally M Award and was named Rugby League Week's player of the year.
The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous season, with sixteen clubs contesting the premiership, including five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, two from greater New South Wales, two from Queensland, and one from the Australian Capital Territory.
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