The 1982 New Zealand rugby league season was the 75th season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand.

International competitions

New Zealand toured Australia and Papua New Guinea. The Kiwis lost the series 0–2 to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

but defeated Papua New Guinea 56–5. New Zealand were coached by

Ces Mountford Cecil Ralph Mountford (16 June 1919 – 19 July 2009), also known by the nickname of "The Blackball Bullet", was a New Zealand rugby league footballer and Coach (sport), coach. Mountford was one of ten siblings, he and four of his brothers pl ...

and included; Gary Kemble, Gary Prohm,

James Leuluai A'au James Leuluai (born 4 February 1957) is a New Zealand former international rugby league . Background He is the father of former Widnes Vikings player Macgraff Leuluai and Wigan Warriors and New Zealand international Thomas Leuluai, and th ...

Olsen Filipaina Olsen Orekewa Filipaina (23 April 1957 – 10 February 2022) was a professional rugby league footballer who represented both New Zealand and Western Samoa. He played for the Balmain Tigers, Eastern Suburbs, and North Sydney Bears during his New ...

Dane O'Hara Dane Bradford Mark O'Hara is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand. At the time of his retirement he held the record for most international matches for New Zealand. Early years O'Hara attended St. Paul's Colle ...

, Fred Ah Kuoi,

Gordon Smith Gordon Smith may refer to: In politics *Gordon H. Smith (born 1952), former U.S. Senator from Oregon, and current Area Authority for the LDS Church * Gordon Elsworth Smith (1918–2005), Canadian politician * Gordon Smith (academic) (1927–2009), ...

, Howie and

Kevin Tamati Kevin Ronald Tamati (born 21 September 1953) is a New Zealand former rugby league representative player and coach. He played at representative level for New Zealand, New Zealand Māori, Auckland, Central Districts and Wellington, and professio ...

Mark Broadhurst Mark Broadhurst (20 June 1974 in Barnsley, Yorkshire, England) is a former English right arm fast bowler and right-handed batsman, who played for Yorkshire from 1991 to 1994. He also appeared for Nottinghamshire in 1996. Broadhurst took pa ...

, PNG Test captain Graeme West, Bruce Gall, Australian Test captain Mark Graham, John Whittaker,

Hugh McGahan Hugh Joseph McGahanMcGAHAN, Hugh Joseph 1982 - 90 - Kiwi #566

, Kevin Fisher, Clayton Friend, Owen Wright and

Tony Coll Anthony Peter Coll ( – 14 May 2020) was a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer and coach who represented New Zealand in three World Cups. Early life and family Coll grew up on the West Coast. He was the son of Peter Coll—a West ...

. Mark Graham won the New Zealand Rugby League's player of the year award.

National competitions

Rugby League Cup

Wellington held the

Rugby League Cup The Rugby League Cup is a New Zealand rugby league trophy that is contested between districts on a challenge basis. The trophy used to be known as the Northern Union Challenge Cup. It is the oldest rugby league competition in New Zealand. Histo ...

at the end of the season after they defeated Canterbury 26–12. Canterbury had earlier successfully defended it against the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

39–16.

Inter-district competition

Central Districts won the Inter-Districts competition.Sky Rugby League Annual '98 ''New Zealand Rugby League'', 1998 Central Districts defeated Auckland 10–9.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909–2009'', 2009. .

National Club competition

Petone won the Wrangler Cup, defeating Randwick 16–14 in the final. Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987. Otahuhu defeated Addington and Western Suburbs (Taranaki) before losing to Petone 9–8 in a semifinal. Randwick had defeated Glenora 8–5 in the first round.

Australasian competition

The

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

were eliminated after two Rounds of the KB Cup after losing 47–15 to the Canberra Raiders and 34–3 to the Brisbane Broncos.

Club competitions

Auckland

Mount Albert won the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

's Fox Memorial Trophy, defeating Otahuhu 18–8 in the final.Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1990 ''New Zealand Rugby League'', 1990. p. 72 Otahuhu won the Roope Rooster, Stormont Shield and Kiwi Shield. Glenora won the Rukutai Shield and Norton Cup. Mangere East won the Sharman Cup.

Hugh McGahan Hugh Joseph McGahanMcGAHAN, Hugh Joseph 1982 - 90 - Kiwi #566

(Otahuhu) won the Lipscombe Cup and Bert Humphries Memorial (forward), Owen Wright (Otahuhu) won the

Rothville Trophy The Auckland Rugby League competition has been competed for since 1909 when the first organised match was played between North Shore and City Rovers (won 44–22 by North Shore). The following year an official champion was crowned for the first tim ...

, Clayton Friend (Manukau) won the Bert Humphries Memorial (back), Fred Muller (Otahuhu) won the Tetley Trophy, Billy Kem (Glenora) won the Painter Rosebowl Trophy while Ian Gorden (Otahuhu) won the Hyland Memorial Cup.

Mark Bourneville Mark Trevor "Horse" Bourneville (born 30 June 1963) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer. He represented both New Zealand and France in international rugby league and is the only dual-international the two countries share. ...

played for Mount Albert. The

Hibiscus Coast Raiders The Hibiscus Coast Raiders are a rugby league club based on the Hibiscus Coast, New Zealand. They compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition and between 2000 and 2005 were also involved in the Bartercard Cup competition. History ...

were formed in 1982.

Wellington

Petone won the

Wellington Rugby League Wellington Rugby League is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of Rugby league in the Greater Wellington region. It is responsible for the local competition of the same name, as well as its representative team, the Wellingto ...

's Appleton Shield.

played for Randwick.

Canterbury

Addington won the Canterbury Rugby League's Pat Smith Challenge Trophy, defeating Hornby 11–10 in the Grand Final. Frank Endacott coached Addington while Wayne Wallace played for Hornby.''Lion Red Rugby League Annual '96'', New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1996. p. 198.

Other Competitions

Western Suburbs defeated the Waitara Bears 14–4 in the Taranaki Rugby League grand final.

John Griffin John Griffin may refer to: Lawyers *John Griffin (judge) (1774/1779 – after 1823), American jurist and member of the Michigan Territorial Supreme Court, 1806–1823 *John Bowes Griffin (1903–1992), British lawyer, Chief Justice of Uganda and f ...

was the West Coast Rugby League player of the year in 1982.Player of the Year
''West Coast Rugby Football League Inc.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1982 New Zealand Rugby League Season New Zealand rugby league seasons Rugby league season