1949 NSWRFL season

Last updated

1949 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams10
Premiers St. George colours.svg St. George [1] (2nd title)
Minor premiers South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney (10th title)
Matches played94
Points scored2995
Top points scorer(s) Western Suburbs colours.svg Bill Keato (163)
Top try-scorer(s) St. George colours.svg Ron Roberts (25)

The 1949 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the forty-second season of Sydney's top-level professional rugby league football club competition, Australia's first. Ten teams from across the city contested the premiership during the season which culminated in a grand final between St. George and South Sydney. [2]

Contents

Season summary

St. George winger Ron Roberts’ 25 tries during 1949 stands in third place behind Les Brennan's 29 in 1954 and Bob Lulham’s 28 in 1947 for the highest number of tries by a player in a debut season.

The 1949 season was also the last in the NSWRFL for future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Vic Hey.

Teams

Balmain
Balmain Jersey 1935.png

42nd season
Ground: Leichhardt Oval
Coach: Athol Smith
Captain: Fred de Belin

Canterbury-Bankstown
Canterbury-Bankstown Jersey 1938.png

15th season
Ground:Belmore Oval
Coach: Henry Porter
Captain: Bruce Hopkins

Eastern Suburbs
Eastern Suburbs Jersey 1914.png

42nd season
Ground: Sydney Sports Ground
Coach: Ray Stehr
Captain: Paul Tierney

Manly-Warringah
Manly-Warringah Jersey 1947.png

3rd season
Ground: Brookvale Oval
Coach: George Mullins
Captain: George Hunter

Newtown
Newtown Jersey 1915.png

42nd season
Ground: Erskineville Oval
Captain-Coach: Frank Farrell

North Sydney
North Sydney Jersey 1941.png

42nd season
Ground: North Sydney Oval
Coach: Harry McKinnon
Captain: Frank Cottle

Parramatta
Parramatta Jersey 1948.png

3rd season
Ground: Cumberland Oval
Captain-Coach: Vic Hey

South Sydney
South Sydney Jersey 1930.png

42nd season
Ground: Redfern Oval
Coach: Dave Watson & Jack Rayner
Captain: Jack Rayner

St. George
St George Jersey 1948.png

29th season
Ground: Hurstville Oval
Coach: Jim Duckworth
Captain: Johnny Hawke

Western Suburbs
Western Suburbs Jersey 1949.png

42nd season
Ground: Pratten Park
Captain-Coach: Col Maxwell

Ladder

TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts
1 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney 181314360210+15027
2 Western Suburbs colours.svg Western Suburbs 181206365280+8524
3 St. George colours.svg St. George 181116345231+11423
4 Balmain colours.svg Balmain 181026265206+5922
5 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta 18846311269+4220
6 Newtown colours.svg Newtown 18918358332+2619
7 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown 186210236337−10114
8 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly-Warringah 186111171293−12213
9 North Sydney colours.svg North Sydney 185112253369−11611
10 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Eastern Suburbs 183114214351−1377

Finals

Minor premier South Sydney's loss to St. George in the finals meant that a grand final would be necessary. [3]

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
Date and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd
Semifinals
South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney 12–16 St. George colours.svg St. George 20 August 1949 Sydney Cricket Ground Tom McMahon41,696
Western Suburbs colours.svg Western Suburbs 13–20 Balmain colours.svg Balmain 27 August 1949 Sydney Cricket Ground George Bishop38,209
Preliminary Final
St. George colours.svg St. George 18–7 Balmain colours.svg Balmain 3 September 1949 Sydney Cricket Ground Jack O'Brien55,341
Grand Final
South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney 12–19 St. George colours.svg St. George 10 September 1949 Sydney Cricket Ground George Bishop56,534

Grand Final

South SydneyPositionSt. George
13. Clive Churchill FB 26. Doug Fleming
12. John Graves WG 11. Ron Roberts
42. Norm Spillane CE 10. Doug McRitchie
27. Ken Brogan CE 9. Matt McCoy
14. Len Allmond WG 13. Noel Pidding
46. Arthur Moynihan FE 8. Johnny Hawke (capt)
7. Des Bryan HB 7. Noel Hill
  1. Denis Donoghue
PR 3. Jack Holland
29. Ernie Hammerton HK 2. Frank Facer (v.capt)
28. Jack Melville PR 54. Jack Munn
5. Bernie Purcell SR 16. Carl Langton
4. Jack Rayner (Ca./Co.) SR 4. Charles Banks
6. Les Cowie LK 6. George Jardine
Coach Jim Duckworth

In a brutal encounter, St George ran in five tries and overcame minor premiers South Sydney 19–12 [4] to claim their second premiership in front of 56,532 people, the second biggest crowd of all time to witness a Sydney club match. [5]

Souths opened the scoring, with a converted try to Graves after 21 minutes. However the Dragons were led masterfully by their captain, Kangaroos five-eighth, Norman "Johnny" Hawke. Controlling all aspects of the match, Hawke took the game away from Souths who only got back into the contest when he was forced from the field with injury. Also injured was Saints forward George Jardine who played the match with a broken wrist.

St. George led 11–5 at half time. Hawke returned to the field after treatment and was later dubbed "Man of the Match" and "the Player’s Player". The Dragons' wingers, season's top try scorer Ron Roberts (25 tries) and newcomer Noel Pidding scored two tries each.

Each of the grand final winning players received a record bonus of £300 each.

St. George 19
Tries: Roberts (2), Pidding (2), McCoy
Goals: McCoy, Pidding

South Sydney 12
Tries: Graves, Purcell
Goals: Graves (3)

Player statistics

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

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References

  1. ↑ Premiership Roll of Honour Archived 28 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine at rl1908.com
  2. ↑ "South plans counter to McRitchie". The Sydney Morning Herald . 6 September 1949. p. 7. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
  3. ↑ Goodman, Tom (21 August 1949). "Munn and McRitchie lead 16–12 victory". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia. p. 6. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  4. ↑ 1949 Grand Final Archived 4 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine at nrlstats.com
  5. ↑ Goodman, Tom (11 September 1949). "Hawke steers St. George to second Rugby League Premiership". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia. p. 8. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
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