1887 Southern Rugby Union season

Location of teams playing for the 1887 Gardiner Cup

For the 1887 Gardiner Cup, the Southern Rugby Football Union amended the rules for entry into the competition. It was decided that all clubs within the union had the right to enter after paying the entry fee.[3] Eleven clubs entered the competition and were added to the draw.[4]

Amongst the names of clubs that folded over the off-season was the name Redfern. The Redfern club had been the premiers only a few seasons prior but had succumbed to internal wars and disagreements.[5] After the draw had been created and the first games underway, Parramatta informed the union that the club was folding.

The union declared all games against the now defunct club as null.[6]

Club	Colors	Formed	Ground	Captain
Arforma		prior to 1883	None	EC Ebsworth
Balmain		c.1873	None	Ewen Cameron
Balmain Wellington		c.1884	None	T. Fraser
Burwood		prior to 1883	Ashfield Recreation Reserve	Percy Chapman
Glebe		prior to 1883	Wentworth Park	M Burke
Gordon		26 February 1886	None	James O'Donnell
Newtown		prior to 1883	MacDonaldtown Park	P Allen
Parramatta		c.1879	None	Unknown
Rosedale		c.1884	None	James McMahon
Sydney University		c.1863	University Oval	Jack Shaw
Wallaroo		19 May 1871	None	Charles Wade

At a meeting of the union, the new rules were set for the Gardiner Challenge Cup of 1887. Amendments to the rules from previous seasons included the opening of the competition to all union clubs. It was decided that the teams entered into the competition would be entered into a ballot to determine the draw for the season and that all cup games would be held between 24 May and 1 August. Teams would be ranked according to the number of wins with byes counted as wins. In addition, at the conclusion of these games, the eight clubs with the best record would then be matched in further games to determine the winner of the cup.[7] Later in the season, it was decided at a meeting of the Union to bring forward the finals and not play the final round of games.

Sydney University, the undefeated premiers.

The Sydney University Football Club completed the season without suffering defeat. Every game they played was won with ease, except for their game against Rosedale. The strength of the team was in their forwards with all players excelling at dribbling the ball. Their halfback, Paddy Flynn proved to be quick and accurate with his kicking. Many of the older and more experienced players led the way with performance. The club were considered to be worthy winners of the cup.[8]

Arfoma Football Club displayed great improvement over their performance of the previous season. The club finished as well-deserved runners-up to the University. Hillyar, Hill, Fallick and Ashworth proved to be performing better than ever. The team were fast and nimble. Their only fault was their small stature: weight is a major contributor to success in Rugby Football.[8]

The Wallaroo Football Club were unfortunate to suffer a number of injuries during the season that hampered their performance on the field. Chief amongst these was their captain, C Wade, who was considered one of the best players in Sydney. Rather than see the club play short, some of their older players who had retired played a few matches to complete the team.[8]

Burwood had a successful season losing only their two games against Sydney University. The team boasted quality players such as Percy Chapman (their highly regarded captain), HV Harris (considered one of the best kickers in Sydney) and Samuel Chapman (brother to their captain). Burwood were considered the second best team in the premiership.[8]

Last seasons premiers, the Gordon Football Club, disappointed many fans of the game. Compared to the previous season the results for the club were very poor winning less than half their games. Questions were being asked as to why they had performed below expectations. The team was still able to boast excellent players and a quality captain in James O'Donnell and the administration of the club was fine. No answer was forthcoming so it was hoped that the club would perform to their previous high standard in the new year.[8]

1887 Gardiner Challenge Cup Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD 1 Sydney University 11 10 1 0 0 123 6 +117 2 Arfoma 11 7 1 3 0 58 26 +32 3 Burwood 10 6 2 2 0 35 24 +11 4 Wallaroo 10 6 0 4 0 65 62 +3 5 Newtown 9 5 1 3 0 35 48 -13 6 Rosedale 9 4 2 3 0 23 24 -1 7 Gordon 9 4 0 5 0 38 61 -23 8 Balmain 9 3 0 6 0 26 60 -34 9 Glebe 8 2 2 4 0 0 38 -38 10 Balmain Wellington 8 2 1 5 0 27 81 -54 11 Parramatta 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 [9]

Ladder progression Team Regular Season Finals 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 W1 W2 W3 1 Sydney University 0[10] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 2 Arfoma 0 1 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 7 3 Burwood 0[11] 1 2 2 3 4 5 5 6 6 4 Wallaroo 1 1 3[12] 3 3 3 4 5 6 6 5 Newtown 1 2 2 2 3 4 5 5 5 6 Rosedale 0[11] 1 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 7 Gordon 1 1 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 8 Balmain 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 9 Glebe 0[10] 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 10 Balmain Wellington 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 11 Parramatta 0[13] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

• Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
• Numbers highlighted in green indicates the team finished in the top eight on the ladder in that round.
• Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round

A "finals series" was held for the first time in 1887. At the conclusion of the main draw of games, which were scheduled to end on 30 July, the top eight ranked teams would proceed to the second round of games. For the next week, the top four teams would remain and then the top two ranked teams would compete for the cup in the third week.[4] At a meeting of the Union it was decided to bring the finals forward to begin on 30 July.

	Qualifying round				Semi-finals				Final
	30 July- Agricultural Ground
	Sydney University	27
					6 August- Agricultural Ground 1
	Newtown	0
					Sydney University	4
	30 July- Ashfield Recreation
					Burwood	0
	Burwood	7
									13 August- Agricultural Ground
	Rosedale	0
									Sydney University	12
	30 July- Agricultural Ground
									Arfoma	0
	Arfoma	4
					6 August- Agricultural Ground 2
	Balmain	0
					Wallaroo	0
	30 July- Agricultural Ground
					Arfoma	9
	Wallaroo	10
	Gordon	0

The top eight teams qualified for the finals with games decided by ballot. Three games were played on the Agricultural Grounds with approximately 1000 people watching them. University easily defeated Newtown winning 27 to nil. Arfoma won a tight contest against Balmain 4 points to nil. Wallaroo defeated a disappointing Gordon 10 points to nil. On the Ashfield Recreation Reserve Burwood defeated Rosedale 7 to nil. Each of the winners proceeded to week 2 of the finals. The top four teams ranked by wins progressed into the semi-finals. Both games were played on the Agricultural Ground. On the northern field University won a tight contest against Burwood 4 points to nil. On the southern field Arfoma defeated Wallaroo 9 points to nil. Approximately 2000 people were in attendance across both of the games.

Final, 13 August

The Final saw Sydney University compete against the young Arfoma club. Atrocious weather kept much of the crowds away with approximately 500 in attendance. Rain turned the ground into a quagmire and a strong wind made it hard to kick accurately. Early in the game, Arfoma unfortunately lost two of their best players to injury. Their opponents sportingly allowed them to draft in two replacements. A close contest saw the scoreline at the end of the first half being 2 points to nil in favour of University. The remaining half saw eventual winners University adding 10 points using the winds at their backs to their advantage. The final score was recorded as 12 points to nil. As a result of this win, Sydney University were declared undefeated premiers.

1887 Gardiner Challenge Cup Final

13 August 1887

Sydney University	12 - 0	Arfoma
Tries: LEF Neill, P Flynn Goals: P Flynn (0/2) Drop goals: P Flynn (1/1), JR Wood (1/1)	[14]

Agricultural Society Ground, Sydney Attendance: 500 Referee: RW Thallon

• Sydney Club Rugby History.
• NSW Waratahs All-time player list.
• Queensland Reds All-time player list. Archived 11 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine