1951 NSWRFL season

1951 NSWRFL season
Teams	10
Premiers	South Sydney (13th title)
Minor premiers	South Sydney (12th title)
Matches played	94
Points scored	3400 (total) 36.17 (per match)
Top try scorer(s)	Johnny Graves (28)

The 1951 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the forty-fourth season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Ten teams from across the city competed for the newly-created J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season which culminated in a grand final between South Sydney and Manly-Warringah.

Season summary

South Sydney ascended to the minor premiership with relative ease in 1951, losing only one match during the season to finish the regular season ahead by a record 11-point margin.

Balmain	Canterbury-Bankstown	Eastern Suburbs	Manly-Warringah
Newtown	North Sydney	Parramatta	South Sydney
	St. George	Western Suburbs

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	South Sydney	18	16	1	1	428	237	+191	33
2	Manly-Warringah	18	11	0	7	424	262	+162	22
3	St. George	18	10	1	7	374	251	+123	21
4	Western Suburbs	18	10	0	8	360	333	+27	20
5	Eastern Suburbs	18	9	0	9	304	340	-36	18
6	Parramatta	18	9	0	9	309	410	-101	18
7	Canterbury-Bankstown	18	7	0	11	266	362	-96	14
8	Newtown	18	6	0	12	261	341	-80	12
9	Balmain	18	6	0	12	283	365	-82	12
10	North Sydney	18	5	0	13	220	328	-108	10

Finals

Odds-on favourites to retain the premiership, Souths reserved their worst performance of the year for the semi-final against St George being trounced 35-8. This loss meant that a grand final would be necessary to determine the season's premiers.^[1] The next week, the Dragons were beaten by a gutsy Manly side in a preliminary final, 18-8. The infant Manly club thus qualified for its first final only five seasons after having entered the League in 1947.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semi Finals
South Sydney	8-35	St. George	1 September 1951	Sydney Cricket Ground	Aub Oxford	39,735
Manly-Warringah	37-9	Western Suburbs	8 September 1951	Sydney Cricket Ground	George Bishop	29,444
Preliminary Final
Manly-Warringah	18-8	St. George	15 September 1951	Sydney Cricket Ground	George Bishop	41,845
Final
South Sydney	42-14	Manly-Warringah	23 September 1951	Sydney Sports Ground	Jack O'Brien	28,505

Grand Final

South Sydney	Position	Manly-Warringah
Clive Churchill	FB	Ron Beaumont
John Graves	WG	Jack Lumsden
Kevin Woolfe	CE	Warren Simmons
Milton Atkinson	CE	Gordon Willoughby
Harry Wells	WG	Ron Rowles
Norm Spillane	FE	Jim Sullivan
Ray Mason	HB	Ken Arthurson
Denis Donoghue	PR	Roy Bull
Ernie Hammerton	HK	Kevin Schubert (c)
Bryan Orrock	PR	Fred Brown
Bernie Purcell	SR	Jack Hubbard
Jack Rayner (Ca./Co.)	SR	Sandy Herbert
Les Cowie	LK	George Hunter
	Coach	Wally O'Connell

Manly were without former Test star and captain-coach Wally O'Connell who had a fractured bone in his wrist.^[2] His side was instead captained by hooker Kevin Schubert. Gordon Willoughby played out the match with his leg heavily strapped rather than leave his side further depleted but Manly's hopes of upsetting the defending premiers were shattered in a spectacular display of attacking football by Souths.

Manly defenders trying to stop Souths Winger Johnny Graves from scoring the first of his four tries.

The smallest crowd for a final since 1944 was on hand at the Sports Ground to witness a one-sided game which Souths won 42-14. A highlight of the record win was Test winger John Graves' four tries in the match - the only time this has been achieved in grand final history.

Souths scored first through Bernie Purcell and led 15-4 at the break. They then piled on 27 points in the second-half. Tries to Clive Churchill, Ray Mason, Jack Rayner and Chick Cowie added to Graves' record haul. The Rabbitohs pack dominated Manly's forwards with Ernie Hammerton giving his team a feast of possession. Bernie Purcell landed seven goals from nine attempts and was also dynamic in attack, being chosen by The Sunday Herald judge, Frank McMillan as the man-of-the-match, for which he received a £10 reward.^[3]

Other records set that day include the most points ever scored in a grand final (66 total); the most tries scored by one team in a grand final (8), a mark later matched by Eastern Suburbs in 1975 Grand Final and the most goals scored in grand final (9).

South Sydney Rabbitohs 42
Tries: Graves (4), Churchill, Mason, Rayner, Cowie
Goals: Purcell (7), Hammerton, Donoghue.

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 14
Tries: Lumsden (2)
Goals: Rowles (4)

References

1. ^ Goodman, Tom (1951-09-01). "Grand Final for Sunday". The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia): pp. 9. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9MwQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=J5MDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4328,62991. Retrieved 2009-12-05. 
2. ^ "O'Connell to miss Grand Final, but Churchill can play". The Sydney Morning Herald: pp. 10. 1951-09-18. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Bc0QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=J5MDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5702,2554641. Retrieved 2009-11-20. 
3. ^ "South's record margin League finale". The Sydney Morning Herald: pp. 6. 1951-09-24. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Cs0QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=J5MDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6675,3446226. Retrieved 2009-11-20. 

• Rugby League Tables - Season 1951 Rugby League Tables
• List of Season Results Hunterlink List
• Whiticker, Alan (1992), Grand Finals of the New South Wales Rugby League, Gary Allen, Sydney
• Results:1951-1960 at rabbitohs.com.au
• 1951 J J Giltinan Shield at rleague.com
• MSWRFL season 1951 at rugbyleagueproject.com
• Doran&searchLimits=1951 coaches