1924 NSWRFL season

1924 NSWRFL season
Teams	9
Premiers	Balmain (6th title)
Minor premiers	Balmain (6th title)
Matches played	37
Points scored	917 (total) 24.784 (per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Jack Courtney (42)
Top try scorer(s)	Tommy Kennedy (10)

The 1924 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the seventeenth season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football club competition, Australia's first. Nine teams from across the city contested during the season which culminated in Balmain's victory over South Sydney in the premiership final.^[1]

The 1924 season was also the last in the NSWRFL for future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Harold Horder.

Teams

• Balmain, formed on January 23, 1908 at Balmain Town Hall
• Eastern Suburbs, formed on January 24, 1908 at Paddington Town Hall
• Glebe, formed on January 9, 1908
• Newtown, formed on January 14, 1908
• North Sydney, formed on February 7, 1908
• South Sydney, formed on January 17, 1908 at Redfern Town Hall
• St. George, formed on November 8, 1920 at Kogarah School of Arts
• Western Suburbs, formed on February 4, 1908
• University, formed in 1919 at Sydney University

Balmain	Eastern Suburbs	Glebe
Newtown	North Sydney Coach: Jim Devereux	St. George
South Sydney	University	Western Suburbs

Ladder

The geographical locations of the teams that contested the 1924 premiership across Sydney.

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Balmain	8	6	1	1	1	124	53	+71	15
2	South Sydney	8	6	1	1	1	104	60	+44	15
3	Western Suburbs	8	4	0	4	1	130	103	+27	10
4	Glebe	8	4	0	4	1	87	95	-8	10
5	St. George	8	3	2	3	1	94	125	-31	10
6	North Sydney	8	3	0	5	1	107	128	-21	8
7	Eastern Suburbs	8	3	0	5	1	168	106	-21	8
8	University	8	2	1	5	1	85	115	-30	7
9	Newtown	8	2	1	5	1	98	129	-31	7

Premiership Final

Balmain	Position	South Sydney
Des Ponchard	FB	Howard Hallett
Jim Love	WG	Benny Wearing
Dud Millard	CE	Harold Horder
Jim Craig	CE	Oscar Quinlivan
Tommy Kennedy	WG	Cec Blinkhorn
Charles Fraser (Ca./Co.)	FE	Alf Blair
Norman Robinson	HB	Frank Brogan
Bill Schulz	PR	David Watson
Horrie Watt	HK	Ern Wilmot
Andrew Fraser	PR	Jack Lawrence
Roy Liston	SR	Edward Root
Les Hayes	SR	Pat Murphy
Reg Latta	LK	Abby Carr
	Coach

Balmain and South Sydney finished equal at the top of the ladder, having dropped just one game each. The teams had earlier met in Round 5, with a 10-10 draw being the result at the Sydney Cricket Ground in front of a crowd of around 16,000.

The Final was played before a crowd of around 15,000 at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 29 July 1924 and refereed by former Rabbitoh premiership winner Webby Neill. Balmain led 3-0 at half-time and both sides failed to score in the second half. The Tigers thus claimed their sixth premiership within ten years. At the time it was the lowest-scoring Final since the start of the NSWRFL premiership and the first time a team had been held scoreless in a Final.

The Final was also the first rugby league match broadcast on radio with the commentary by Balmain secretary Bob Savage.

Balmain 3 (Try: Latta)

defeated

South Sydney 0

References

1. ^ Premiership Roll of Honour at rl1908.com

• Rugby League Tables - Notes The World of Rugby League
• Rugby League Tables - Season 1924 The World of Rugby League
• Premiership History and Statistics RL1908
• History - Introduction North Sydney Bears
• Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
• Results: 1921-30 at rabbitohs.com.au