1929 NSWRFL season
The 1929 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 22nd season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football competition, Australia's first. During the season, which lasted from April until September, nine teams from across Sydney contested the premiership, culminating in a South Sydney's win over Newtown in the final.[1]
| 1929 New South Wales Rugby Football League | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 9 |
| Premiers |  South Sydney (9th title) |
| Minor premiers | South Sydney (8th title) |
| Matches played | 75 |
| Points scored | 1942 |
| Top points scorer(s) |  Jim Craig (86) |
| Top try-scorer(s) | Alan Brady (11) |
Season summary
Half of the 1929 season was played without several of the League's top players who were selected to embark on the 1929–30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain. South Sydney won their ninth premiership and fifth in succession, defeating Newtown in the Final.
Teams
At the end of 1929 Glebe exited the League[2] because of a lack of a home ground, poor results and primarily because the area they represented was no longer big enough to support a club.
- Balmain, formed on January 23, 1908, at Balmain Town Hall
- Eastern Suburbs, formed on January 24, 1908, at Paddington Town Hall
- Glebe, formed on January 9, 1908
- Newtown, formed on January 8, 1908
- North Sydney, formed on February 7, 1908
- South Sydney, formed on January 17, 1908, at Redfern Town Hall
- St. George, formed on November 8, 1920, at Kogarah School of Arts
- Western Suburbs, formed on February 4, 1908
- University, formed in 1919 at Sydney University
 22nd season Ground: Birchgrove Oval Captain-Coach: Reg Latta |
Eastern Suburbs 22nd season Ground: RAS Showground Coach: George Boddington Captain: Arthur Oxford |
Glebe 22nd season Ground: Wentworth Park Coach: Chris McKivat Captain: Jack McMahon |
 22nd season Ground: Marrickville Oval Coach: Jack Chaseling[3] Captain(s): Tom Ellis, Fred Lind |
 22nd season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Leo O'Connor Captain: Les Carroll |
St. George 9th season Ground: Earl Park Coach: Frank Burge Captain: Arthur Justice |
| South Sydney 22nd season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Charlie Lynch Captain: Alf Blair |
 10th season Coach:Billy Kelly Captain: Sammy Ogg |
Western Suburbs 22nd season Ground: Pratten Park Captain-Coach: Jim Craig |
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Sydney |
16 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 296 | 104 | +192 | 31 |
| 2 |  St. George |
16 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 180 | 147 | +33 | 27 |
| 3 | Western Suburbs |
16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 258 | 153 | +105 | 26 |
| 4 |  Newtown |
16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 188 | 169 | +19 | 24 |
| 5 |  North Sydney |
16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 194 | 211 | -17 | 19 |
| 6 |  Balmain |
16 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 213 | 259 | -46 | 17 |
| 7 |  Eastern Suburbs |
16 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 203 | 269 | -66 | 14 |
| 8 |  Glebe |
16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 166 | 261 | -95 | 13 |
| 9 |  Sydney University |
16 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 157 | 282 | -125 | 9 |
Finals
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Minor Semi-Final | ||||||||
| Newtown |
8–7 | St. George |
7 September 1929 | Earl Park | 7,000 | |||
| Major Semi-Final | ||||||||
| South Sydney |
22–10 | Western Suburbs |
7 September 1929 | Sydney Sports Ground | Lal Deane | 14,774 | ||
| Final | ||||||||
| South Sydney |
30–10 | Newtown |
14 September 1929 | Sydney Sports Ground | Lal Deane | 16,360 | ||
Premiership final
| South Sydney | Position | Newtown |
|---|---|---|
| Albert Spillane | FB | Jim Gilmour |
| Benny Wearing | WG | George Casey |
| Oscar Quinlivan | CE | Carl Mork |
| Harry Eyres | CE | Charlie Hill |
| Reg Williams | WG | Jack Kessey (c) |
| Jack Jones | FE | Vince Hughes |
| Alf Blair (c) | HB | Hans Mork |
| Frank O'Connor | PR | Charlie Pendergast |
| Alf O'Connor | HK | Tom Leamy |
| Carl Eggen | PR | Ben Edwards |
| Alf Binder | SR | Dave Waters |
| David Watson | SR | Jack Davies |
| Jack Why | LK | T Walsh |
| Charlie Lynch | Coach | |
South Sydney took their fifth successive title outgunning Newtown 30–10 after leading 18–2 at half-time.
The Whiticker/Collis reference quotes Sydney's Labor Daily[4] in praise of Souths' win: "Newtown faced inevitable defeat, and while the margin was large, it hardly demonstrated South Sydney's superiority. They were on top from the start and gave a scintillating display both in combination and individual effort. Alf Blair played probably the greatest game in his long career".
Brothers Alf and Frank O'Connor both scored tries for the winning Rabbitohs. The next time two brothers would each score a try in a premiership decider was when Brett and Glenn Stewart scored for Manly-Warringah in their 2011 NRL Grand Final win over New Zealand.
South Sydney 30 (Tries: Alf Blair 3, Reg Williams 3, Frank O'Connor, Alf O'Connor. Goals: Alf Blair 2, Reg Williams)
defeated
Newtown 10 (Tries: Ben Edwards 2. Goals: George Casey 2)
References
- Premiership Roll of Honour Archived 2010-10-11 at the Wayback Machine at rl1908.com
- "History of the Premiership". centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au. Australian Rugby League. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
- History Of NSW Rugby League Finals. Stephen Hadden (ISBN 978 0 646 05098 0)
- "Whiticker & Collis p 35"
External links
- Whiticker, Alan & Collis, Ian (2006) The History of Rugby League Clubs, New Holland, Sydney
- Rugby League Tables - Season 1929 AFL Tables
- Results: 1921-30 at rabbitohs.com.au