With the departure from the first grade competition of Sydney foundation club the Newtown Jets at the close of the previous season, 1984 saw thirteen teams compete for the J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Canterbury-Bankstown and Parramatta clubs.

[1] This included five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, one from greater New South Wales and one from the Australian Capital Territory.

The ruthless game plan of coach Warren Ryan saw Canterbury trump Parramatta in a grueling encounter.

Parramatta had a 4-0 half-time lead after Mick Cronin scored from a neat Peter Sterling pass.

Canterbury-Bankstown 6Tries: BugdenGoals: Chris Mortimer Parramatta 4 Tries: Cronin Man-of-the-match: Peter Kelly[2] The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 26.