1908 NSWRFL season

Early in the 20th century in Sydney, the game of rugby football was contested in competitions that were affiliated with the Rugby Football Union based in England. In 1895 the breakaway Northern Rugby Football Union was formed and its own version of rugby football started to evolve. The reasons for this split were ultimately based around the fact that clubs had wanted to compensate their players for time away from work due to injuries and travelling. After the Rugby Football Union denied the clubs' requests for compensation, many northern English clubs broke away and formed a new league, which implemented gradual rule changes to the football it played in an attempt to make a more attractive game for crowds. When crowd numbers started to rise, clubs were able to afford to pay players benefits as a direct result of increased gate takings.

Dally Messenger - Bramley UK 1907

In 1906 in Sydney, crowd numbers for football matches began to increase significantly following the emergence of an especially talented player, Dally Messenger, whose skill was considered a pleasure to watch. It was around this time that the discontent of players with their clubs for failing to shift away from the amateur culture of the Rugby Football Union was starting to show. Even though bigger crowds had brought increased revenue to the game, footballers did not see any of the increased revenue going back to them.[2] On 8 August 1907 a group of leading players and supporters met at Bateman's Hotel, George Street, Sydney and resolved to form the New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL).[3] In the latter half of 1907, and unknown to the general public, Dally Messenger secretly agreed to sign on to play in a breakaway professional competition that would start the following year, run by the NSWRFL. It would turn out to be Messenger's popularity that would ensure the success of the new competition.[4]

Early in 1908, a number of Rugby Football Union clubs held meetings across Sydney and Newcastle to decide whether or not breakaway clubs should be formed in preparation for the new Rugby Football League's premiership that was to start in the following months. The popularity amongst players in support of the new competition was overwhelming, with only some players deciding to continue playing in the traditional amateur Rugby Football Union competition. The Rugby Football League clubs that were formed were essentially breakaway clubs, and in most instances, teams continued the use of their team colours into the new competition. A key aspect of the new code was that players would be paid for playing the game. Adopting the playing rules of the rebel Northern Union of England, the new competition began on Easter Monday, 20 April 1908.[5]

The 1907–08 All Golds arrived back in Australia on 9 April. They spread themselves around the eight clubs that were preparing for the season and helped advise them on the rules of rugby league.[6] The team watched the first round of the competition before heading to Newcastle and playing the first game of rugby league in that city. They then played matches against New South Wales and Australia before heading north to Queensland. The final test was held on 6 June and Australia defeated New Zealand 14–9 for their first test win.[7]

A New Zealand Māori side had arrived in Sydney in the first week of June and watched the All Golds' final test. They played four matches in New South Wales before also heading north to Queensland. On their return they played three more matches, including one against Australia, before financial and legal disputes ended the tour.[8]

Eight teams contested the first round of the season; seven teams from Sydney and one team from Newcastle. Another Sydney team, Cumberland, joined the competition in the second round, making it nine teams in total, however the club exited the League at the end of the season.[9]

Balmain Formed on 23 January 1908 at Balmain Town Hall Ground: Birchgrove Oval Captain-Coach: Bob Graves	Cumberland Formed on 20 April 1908 at Horse and Jockey Hotel, Homebush Ground: RAS Showground Captain: Harry Bloomfield	Eastern Suburbs Formed on 24 January 1908 at Paddington Town Hall Ground: RAS Showground Captain: Albert Rosenfeld	Glebe Formed on 9 January 1908 Ground: Wentworth Park Captain: Alex Burdon	Newcastle Formed on 8 February 1908 at Pike's Rooms, Bolton Street, Newcastle Captain: Stan Carpenter
Newtown Formed on 8 January 1908 Ground: RAS Showground Captain: Harry Hamill	North Sydney Formed on 7 February 1908 Ground: Birchgrove Park Captain: Albert Broomham	South Sydney Formed on 17 January 1908 at Redfern Town Hall Ground: RAS Showground Coach: Arthur Hennessy Captain: Arthur Conlin	Western Suburbs Formed on 4 February 1908 Ground: Wentworth Park Captain: Jim Stack

All four games of the premiership's opening round were played on 20 April 1908. Two games were held at Wentworth Park and the other two at Birchgrove Oval. In total, 3000 people attended at each venue for the back-to-back matches, with Glebe, Balmain, South Sydney and Eastern Suburbs winning their respective matches over Newcastle, Western Suburbs, North Sydney and Newtown. In all, ten regular-season rounds were played, to be followed by two semi-finals and then a final.

The season was a financial disaster for the New South Wales Rugby Football League. The competition had a distinct lack of star players, was hurt by a number of refereeing problems and suffered from a lack of exposure from the conservative press. Many players who had switched over from rugby union were sacked from their weekday jobs and were no longer allowed to enter the Sydney Cricket Ground, home of the New South Wales Rugby Union. The five captains that had moved from rugby union were also publicly ostracised.

The season's highest crowd came in the second round when South Sydney beat Cumberland in front of 20,000 people. Due to Cumberland having just been admitted into the premiership, this match was played 2 weeks after the other 3 games of round 2 had been completed. South Sydney consequently played their second match of the "round" because of this.

At the end of the season, Eastern Suburbs' Horrie Miller was the competition's top points scorer and top try scorer.

The geographical locations of the foundation teams across Sydney.

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	South Sydney	9	8	0	1	1	194	53	+141	18
2	Eastern Suburbs	9	8	0	1	1	183	90	+93	18
3	Glebe	9	7	0	2	1	106	63	+43	16
4	North Sydney	9	6	0	3	1	155	66	+89	14
5	Newcastle	9	4	0	5	1	151	116	+35	10
6	Balmain	9	3	1	5	1	86	113	−27	9
7	Cumberland	8	1	0	7	2	38	191	−153	6*
8	Newtown	9	1	1	7	1	70	148	−78	5
9	Western Suburbs	9	1	0	8	1	47	190	−143	4

• Newspapers of the day had added a "bye" column to the competition table after Cumberland joined, and for the first few rounds they indicated that Cumberland had none. On the 24th of June however, this changed - the number of byes next to Cumberland became 1. In August, Cumberland had their scheduled bye in round 10. As confirmed in the book 'The History of Rugby League Clubs' by Ian Collis and Alan Whiticker, Cumberland was awarded their second bye for the season. Clearly, the NSWRFL had deemed they were entitled to the additional 2 points from a bye in round 1.[10]

The reason and exact timing of when this decision was made is unknown, and the only consequence is who was awarded the competition's first ever wooden spoon - them, or Western Suburbs. It was to be Cumberland's only season, but with 2 byes and a win, they were spared the ignominy.[11]

Ladder progression

• Green indicates team finished in top 4.
• - indicates the team entered the competition late.

	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1	South Sydney	2	6[lower-alpha 1]	6	6[lower-alpha 1]>	8	10	12	14	16	18
2	Eastern Suburbs	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	14	16	18
3	Glebe	2	4	6	8	10	10	12	14	16	16
4	North Sydney	0	2	4	4	6	6	8	10	12	14
5	Newcastle	0	2	4	6	6	8	8	10	10	10
6	Balmain	2	2	3	3	5	7	7	7	7	9
7	Cumberland[11]	–	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	4
8	Newtown	0	0	1	3	3	3	5	5	5	5
9	Western Suburbs	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	4	4

The competition was decided on which side had the most premiership points at the end of the year. After the regular season had completed, the top four teams played an extra round in order break the deadlock between South Sydney and Eastern Suburbs which both ended up on 18 points. After these two teams won their respective semi-finals, a final was played. South Sydney overcame a depleted Eastern Suburbs side to take away the inaugural premiership.

	Semi-finals				Final
	15 August 1908 – Agricultural
	Eastern Suburbs	23
					29 August 1908 – Agricultural
	North Sydney	10
					South Sydney	14
	15 August 1908 – Wentworth
					Eastern Suburbs	12
	South Sydney	16
	Glebe	3

The NSWRFL also conducted Second and Third Grade competitions in this inaugural season. Matches were held on the same day that the First Grade competition commenced, Easter Monday, 20 April.[14]

• O'Reily, Titus (20 August 2018). A Thoroughly Unhelpful History of Australian Sport. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780143793519.
• Whiticker, Alan; Collis, Ian (2006). The History of Rugby League Clubs. New Holland, Sydney. ISBN 9781741104707.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Coffey, John; Wood, Bernie (2008). 100 years: Māori rugby league, 1908–2008. New Zealand: Huia Publishers. ISBN 978-1-86969-331-2.

• Rugby League Tables – Notes The World of Rugby League
• Rugby League Tables – Season 1908 The World of Rugby League
• Premiership History and Statistics RL1908 (archived)
• South Sydney Claim Rugby League Title RL1908 (archived)
• New South Wales Competitions 1908 The Vault
• History – Introduction North Sydney Bears

• The Game Begins – nma.gov.au Archived 17 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
• Results: 1908–1910 at rabbitohs.com.au
• 1908 Royal Agricultural Society of NSW Challenge Shield at rleague.com