1954 NSWRFL season
The 1954 NSWRFL season was the forty-seventh season of the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership competition, based in Sydney. Ten rugby league football teams from across the city competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in the first “mandatory” Grand Final played between South Sydney and Newtown.
| 1954 New South Wales Rugby Football League | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 10 |
| Premiers |  South Sydney (15th title) |
| Minor premiers |  Newtown (5th title) |
| Matches played | 94 |
| Points scored | 3613 |
| Top points scorer(s) |  Ron Rowles (221) |
| Top try-scorer(s) | Ray Preston (34) |
Season summary
During the pre-season, Queensland and Australian international representative forward, Harold "Mick" Crocker signed a then record one-year deal for an Australian to move south and play for Sydney club Parramatta.[1] 1954 marked the first season when a Grand Final was scheduled to determine the premiership winner. Prior to that the season victors were either the minor premiers or decided by a final that followed two semi-finals. A Grand Final was only played if the minor-premier was defeated in a semi-final or final and exercised their right to challenge via a Grand Final. Since 1954 a Grand Final has been played every year to determine the premiership winner.
This season, in a New South Wales versus England match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, referee Aub Oxford watched in disbelief the players fighting around him like street-brawlers before turning his back and walking from the field. Oxford never refereed again and the match remains the only top-level game ever abandoned in rugby league history.
Teams
 47th season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Norm Robinson Captain: Jack Fifield |
 20th season Ground: Belmore Sports Ground Coach: Jack Hampstead Captain: Leo Trevena |
Eastern Suburbs 47th season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Captain-Coach: Ferris Ashton |
Manly-Warringah 8th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Ray Norman Captain: Roy Bull |
 47th season Ground: Henson Park Coach : Col Geelan Captain: Col Geelan, Jim Evans |
 47th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Rex Harrison Captain: Bob Sullivan |
Parramatta 8th Season Ground: Cumberland Oval Captain-Coach: Charlie Gill |
South Sydney 47th season Ground: Redfern Oval Captain-coach: Jack Rayner |
| St. George 34th season Ground: Jubilee Oval Captain-Coach: Ken Kearney |
Western Suburbs 47th season Ground: Pratten Park Captain-Coach: Keith Holman |
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newtown |
18 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 439 | 215 | +224 | 32 |
| 2 | South Sydney |
18 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 473 | 255 | +218 | 29 |
| 3 |  St. George |
18 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 345 | 292 | +53 | 23 |
| 4 |  North Sydney |
18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 415 | 320 | +95 | 22 |
| 5 | Manly |
18 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 391 | 343 | +48 | 21 |
| 6 |  Balmain |
18 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 346 | 345 | +1 | 19 |
| 7 |  Western Suburbs |
18 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 287 | 374 | -87 | 13 |
| 8 |  Canterbury |
18 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 233 | 465 | -232 | 8 |
| 9 |  Eastern Suburbs |
18 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 257 | 493 | -236 | 7 |
| 10 |  Parramatta |
18 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 282 | 366 | -84 | 6 |
Records set in 1954
In 1954 South Sydney’s Les Brennan set the standing record for the highest number of tries in a debut season with 29. Newtown winger Ray Preston’s 34 tries remains second only to Dave Brown’s 38 in 1935 in the tally of tries scored in a season.[2] Preston and Kevin Considine combined for fifty-six tries during the season – easily a record for a pair of club wingers.[3]
In the last round on 21 August, Western Suburbs set a record for the highest losing score when they lost to Balmain 32–37. This was to be one of only two cases before the introduction of the 10-metre ruck rule in 1993 that a team scored over thirty points and lost the match.[4]
Finals
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
| St. George |
15–14 | North Sydney |
28 August 1954 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Jack O'Brien | 32,397 | ||
| Newtown |
14–24 | South Sydney |
4 September 1954 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Darcy Lawler | 38,520 | ||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Newtown |
27–13 | St. George |
11 September 1954 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Darcy Lawler | 32,303 | ||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| South Sydney |
23–15 | Newtown |
18 September 1954 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Jack O'Brien | 45,759 | ||
Grand Final
In spite of Newtown finishing as minor premiers they hadn’t beaten South Sydney in either regular season encounter. Souths had also won their semi-final meeting 24-14. In this, the NSWRFL’s first Grand Final scheduled to determine the premiership winner, Souths were the victors. Legendary fullback Clive Churchill was outstanding setting up three of his side's five tries. The Bluebags stayed in the contest through the kicking boot of their Test fullback Gordon “Punchy” Clifford.
South Sydney 23 (Tries: Cowie 2, Moir, Hawick, Dougherty. Goals: Purcell 4.)
Newtown 15 (Tries: Narvo. Goals: Clifford 6.)
Post-season
Following the grand final, nine players from the NSWRFL were selected in a squad of eighteen to represent Australia in the 1954 Rugby League World Cup in France.
References
- ‘Crocker will play here’ 20 January 1954 The Sydney Morning Herald
- Rugby League Tables – Most Individual Tries in a Season; AFL Tables
- Whitticker, Alan and Hudson, Glen; The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players (1999), p. 432 ISBN 1875169768
- Rugby League Tables – Highest Losing Scores; AFL Tables
External links
- Rugby League Tables - Season 1954 AFL Tables
- Whiticker, Alan & Collis, Ian (2006) The History of Rugby League Clubs, New Holland, Sydney
- Results: 1951-60 at rabbitohs.com.au
- 1954 J J Giltinan Shield at rleague.com
- NSWRFL season 1954 at rugbyleagueproject.org