1936 NSWRFL season

1936 NSWRFL season
Teams	9
Premiers	Eastern Suburbs (6th title)
Minor premiers	Eastern Suburbs (7th title)
Matches played	63
Points scored	1956 (total) 31.048 (per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Syd Christensen (123)
Top try scorer(s)	Fred Tottey (25)

The 1936 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the twenty-ninth season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football club competition, Australia's first. Nine teams from across the city contested the premiership during the season, which lasted from April until September, and culminated in Eastern suburbs' victory over Balmain in the final.^[1]

Season summary

In round 14 of the University club ended a losing streak which had begun round 2, 1934 and marked the most consecutive losses in NSWRL/NRL premiership history at 42. Eastern Suburbs went through 1936 undefeated - a feat achieved by teams in only five other seasons before or since.

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
• University, formed in 1919 at Sydney University
• Western Suburbs, formed on February 4, 1908

Balmain	Canterbury-Bankstown	Eastern Suburbs
Newtown	North Sydney	South Sydney
St. George	University	Western Suburbs

Ladder

The geographical locations of the teams that contested the 1936 premiership across Sydney.

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Eastern Suburbs	13	11	2	0	2	335	145	+190	28
2	Balmain	13	9	0	4	2	268	161	+107	22
3	Canterbury	14	9	2	3	1	345	243	+102	22
4	North Sydney	13	7	1	5	2	210	161	+49	19
5	Newtown	14	7	0	7	1	203	226	-23	16
6	Western Suburbs	13	5	1	7	2	199	203	-4	15
7	South Sydney	13	5	0	8	2	187	185	+2	14
8	St. George	13	3	0	10	2	141	228	-87	10
9	University	14	1	0	13	1	99	414	-315	4

Finals

In the two semi finals, the top two ranked teams Eastern Suburbs and Balmain beat their lower-ranked opponents North Sydney and Canterbury-Bankstown. Both Eastern Suburbs and Balmain then played off for the premiership in the Final.

	Semi-finals				Final
	September 1936 - Sports Ground
	Balmain	16
	North Sydney	3
					12 September 1936 - Sports Ground
					Eastern Suburbs	32
					Balmain	12
	September 1936 - Sports Ground
	Eastern Suburbs	25
	Canterbury-Bankstown	13

Premiership Final

Balmain Tigers	Position	Eastern Suburbs Roosters
Frank Johnston	FB	Tom Dowling
Sid Goodwin	WG	Rod O'Loan
Gus Reeves	CE	Dave Brown (c)
Eddie Lochart	CE	Jack Lynch
Jack Redman	WG	Fred Tottey
Sid Christensen (c)	FE	Ernie Norman
Tom Grahame	HB	Viv Thicknesse
Dave Manning	PR	Jack Coote
Bill Alexander	HK	Tom McLachlan
Frank Griffiths	PR	Ray Stehr
Bill Johnson	SR	Harry Pierce
Edmond Beaver	SR	Joe Pearce
Roy Palmer	LK	Andy Norval
Joe Busch	Coach	Arthur Halloway

In front of a crowd of 14,395 at the Sydney Cricket Ground Easts were vying for back-to-back premierships and took on Balmain.

The match, officiated by referee Lal Deane was tight in the first half with a scoreline favouring Easts 8-6 at the break. In the second half Easts ran away with the game, scoring eight tries all up to Balmain's two.

The game marked the end of sterling career for Tiger's champion and former international Joe "Chimpy" Busch, and was a suitable farewell for the Roosters' captain and star, Dave Brown, who headed to the English club Warrington for the 1937 and 1938 seasons.

Eastern Suburbs 32 (Tries: Fred Tottey 2, Rod O’Loan, Dave Brown, Ray Stehr, Ernie Norman, Jack Lynch, Andy Norval. Goals: Jack Lynch 2, Dave Brown 2 )

defeated

Balmain 12 (Tries: Frank Griffiths, Sid Goodwin. Goals: Sid Christensen 2, Bill Johnson)

References

1. ^ Premiership Roll of Honour at rl1908.com

• Rugby League Tables - Notes The World of Rugby League
• Rugby League Tables - Season 1936 The World of Rugby League
• Premiership History and Statistics RL1908
• Results: 1931-40 at rabbitohs.com.au