The first half of the Grand Final was a tight contest as Balmain led 6–4 scoring due to a mistake from Canterbury Jason Alchin. In the 26th minute, Hanley was wrapped up low by Andrew Farrar, and as he want to offload the ball, Terry Lamb hit Hanley with a high tackle that went unnoticed by the referee. He hit the ground in an awkward position and was concussed. He played no further part in the match, and his side went on to lose the game 24–12. Lamb said he was only looking to wrap the ball up and there was no intention. Lamb commented in his 1992 book that Balmain had key players such as Wayne Pearce, Ben Elias, Paul Sironen and Garry Jack that there was no chance to target one individual.