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
Teams10
Premiers South Sydney (15th title)
Minor premiers Newtown (5th title)
Matches played94
Points scored3613
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
Balmain

47th season
Ground: Leichhardt Oval
Coach: Norm Robinson
Captain: Jack Fifield

 Canterbury-Bankstown

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

 Newtown

47th season
Ground: Henson Park
Coach : Col Geelan
Captain: Col Geelan, Jim Evans

North Sydney

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 181521439215+22432
2 South Sydney 181413473255+21829
3 St. George 181116345292+5323
4 North Sydney 181026415320+9522
5 Manly 181017391343+4821
6 Balmain 18918346345+119
7 Western Suburbs 186111287374-8713
8 Canterbury 184014233465-2328
9 Eastern Suburbs 183114257493-2367
10 Parramatta 183015282366-846

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
Semifinals
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
South Sydney Position Newtown
13. Clive ChurchillFB
  1. Gordon Clifford
12. Ian MoirWG2. Kevin Considine
9. Martin GallagherCE6. Dick Poole
7. Greg HawickCE4. Brian Clay
11. Les BrennanWG3. Ray Preston
8. John DoughertyFE53. Ray Kelly
21. Ray MasonHB7. Bobby Whitton
  1. Denis Donoghue
 PR12. Jim Evans (c)
2. Ernie HammertonHK46. Frank Johnson
3. Jim RichardsPR11. Don Stait
18. Bernie PurcellSR10. Frank Narvo
4. Jack Rayner (Ca./Co.)SR9. Henry Holloway
6. Les CowieLK8. Peter Ryan
CoachCol Geelan

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.)

Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 18.

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
  1. ‘Crocker will play here’ 20 January 1954 The Sydney Morning Herald
  2. Rugby League Tables – Most Individual Tries in a Season; AFL Tables
  3. Whitticker, Alan and Hudson, Glen; The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players (1999), p. 432 ISBN 1875169768
  4. Rugby League Tables – Highest Losing Scores; AFL Tables
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