- 1943 NSWRFL season
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1943 NSWRFL season Teams 8 Premiers Newtown (3rd title) Minor premiers Newtown (3rd title) Matches played 61 Points scored 1527 (total)
25.033 (per match)Top point scorer(s) Tom Kirk (116) Top try scorer(s) C "Kelly" McMahon (12) The 1943 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the thirty-sixth season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season which lasted from April until September, culminating in the Newtown club's Grand Final victory over North Sydney.[1]
Contents
Season summary
The season is notable for Balmain turning around their second-last placing from the previous season, becoming minor premiers and later premiers. On the other hand, defending premiers Canterbury-Bankstown had a disastrous season, finishing last and picking up the wooden spoon.
Teams
- Balmain, formed on January 23, 1908 at Balmain Town Hall
- Canterbury-Bankstown
- Eastern Suburbs, formed on January 24, 1908 at Paddington Town Hall
- 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
Balmain Canterbury-Bankstown Eastern Suburbs Newtown North Sydney South Sydney St. George Western Suburbs Ladder
Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts 1 Newtown 14 10 1 3 272 143 +129 21 2 Balmain 14 10 1 3 178 131 +47 21 3 North Sydney 14 7 3 4 193 124 +69 17 4 St. George 14 8 1 5 185 188 -3 17 5 South Sydney 14 8 0 6 161 147 +14 16 6 Eastern Suburbs 14 4 0 10 131 214 -83 8 7 Western Suburbs 14 3 0 11 132 176 -44 6 8 Canterbury-Bankstown 14 3 0 11 115 244 -129 6 Finals
For the second year running, the minor premiership was decided by a playoff and once again Balmain failed to win this important match, this time against Newtown. The following week both of these teams lost their matches to lower-ranked teams, and as a result, the victors North Sydney and St. George faced off to decide who would meet the minor premiers in the Final. North Sydney won this match which allowed them to face the side they had beaten two weeks earlier once again; this time in the Final. Here, Newtown easily won the match and claimed their third and final premiership.
Home Score Away Match Information Date and Time Venue Referee Crowd Playoff Newtown 11 - 10 Balmain 7 August 1943 Sydney Cricket Ground 47,230 Semi Finals Newtown 16 - 21 North Sydney 14 August 1943 Sydney Cricket Ground Jack O'Brien 35,920 Balmain 5 - 12 St. George 21 August 1943 Sydney Cricket Ground George Bishop 27,395 Preliminary Final North Sydney 25 - 19 St. George 28 August 1943 Sydney Cricket Ground Jack O'Brien 41,646 Final Newtown 34 - 7 North Sydney 4 September 1943[2] Sydney Cricket Ground Jack O'Brien 60,922 Premiership final
Newtown Bluebags Position North Sydney Bears Tom Kirk FB Stan Ridgeway Sid Goodwin WG Frank Collins Len Smith CE Frank Hyde (Ca./Co.) Norm Jacobson CE Ted Rudd Bruce Ryan WG Ray Ainsworth Tom Nevin FE Kelly McMahon Paddy Bugden HB Johnny McLachlan Gordon McLennan PR Laurie Doran Jimmy Brailey HK Frank Facer Frank Farrell (c) PR Harry McKinnon Keith Phillips SR Max Whitehead Herb Narvo SR Don McKinnon Charles Cahill LK Gerard Scully Arthur Folwell Coach The Final was played at the SCG before a record crowd of 61,922, though there were thousands more on roofs and vantage points outside the ground. Because of the War all service people got in, if they were in uniform, for free.
Police closed the gates two hours before kick-off leaving 10,000 fans locked out. Latecomers offered up to £10 for seats in the stand. The match provided a great betting orgy with bets of £100 common and more than £25,000 laid before the match began.[3]
Captained by the colourful Frank 'Bumper' Farrell,[4] Newtown took on the fancied North Sydney side. The men from across the harbour were led by Frank Hyde and his Norths' side had shown no sympathy for his former club, having beaten Newtown three times already that season. Newtown countered the short-kicking tactics of the Bears into an advantage of their own, gaining a strong lead at half-time and going on to win 34 - 7.[5] The 24 point margin was a grand final record. Stars of the day for Newtown were forward Charles Cahill along with backs Len Smith and Tom Kirk. It was the third premiership win for Newtown, and would turn out to be their last.
Newtown 34 (Tries: Goodwin 2, Ryan, Brailey, Phillips, Narvo, Smith, Farrell. Goals: Kirk 5)
defeated
North Sydney 7 (Tries: McLachlan. Goals: Rudd 2)
References
- ^ Premiership Roll of Honour at rl1908.com
- ^ 1943 Grand Final at nrlstats.com
- ^ Pollard, Jack (1965). Gregory's Guide to Rugby League. Australia: Grenville Publishing. p82.
- ^ Coady, Ben (2009-09-28). "Grand final dramas". WA Today (Australia: Fairfax Digital). http://blogs.watoday.com.au/executive-style/sportandstyle/bencoady/2009/09/28/grandfinaldra.html. Retrieved 2010-01-15.
- ^ "South's record margin in League Finale". The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia): pp. 6. 1951-09-24. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Cs0QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=J5MDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6675,3446226. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
- Rugby League Tables - Notes The World of Rugby League
- Rugby League Tables - Season 1943 The World of Rugby League
- Premiership History and Statistics RL1908
- Finals lineups and results Hunterlink site
- Unofficial North Sydney History Greg Fiveash site
- Results: 1941-50 at rabbitohs.com.au
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