1940 NSWRFL season

1940 NSWRFL season
Teams	8
Premiers	Eastern Suburbs (8th title)
Minor premiers	Eastern Suburbs (9th title)
Matches played	59
Points scored	1738 (total) 29.458 (per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Tom Kirk (99)
Top try scorer(s)	Jack Lindwall (19)

The 1940 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the thirty-third season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football club competition, Australia's first. Eight teams from across the city contested the premiership during the season, which lasted from April until August, culminating in Eastern Suburbs' victory over Canterbury-Bankstown in the final.^[1]

Season summary

For this season St. George returned to Hurstville Oval as their home ground.

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

The geographical locations of the teams that contested the 1940 premiership across Sydney.

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Eastern Suburbs	14	9	1	4	250	136	+114	19
2	Newtown	14	9	0	5	261	200	+61	18
3	St. George	14	7	2	5	263	203	+60	16
4	Canterbury-Bankstown	14	8	0	6	204	195	+9	16
5	Balmain	14	7	1	6	199	162	+37	15
6	South Sydney	14	7	0	7	165	259	-94	14
7	North Sydney	14	4	0	10	156	243	-87	8
8	Western Suburbs	14	3	0	11	159	259	-100	6

Finals

In the two semi finals, minor premiers Eastern Suburbs defeated St. George whilst fourth-placed Canterbury beat second-placed Newtown. Eastern Suburbs then beat Canterbury-Bankstown in the Final to collect their eighth premiership.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semi Finals
Eastern Suburbs	10 - 3	St. George	17 August 1940	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack O'Brien	17,473
Newtown	11 - 19	Canterbury	24 August 1940	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack O'Brien	22,061
Final
Eastern Suburbs	24 - 14	Canterbury	31 August 1940	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack O'Brien	24,167

Premiership Final

Eastern Suburbs	Position	Canterbury-Bankstown
Doug Bartlett	FB	Lindsay Johnson
Rod O'Loan	WG	Edgar Newham
Stan Callaghan	CE	Merv Denton
Dick Dunn	CE	Bob Russell
Bill Brew	WG	Jack Bonnyman (c)
Fred May	FE	Ted Anderson
Sel Lisle	HB	Roy McCarter
Ray Stehr (c)	PR	Jim Gibbs
Noel Hollingdale	HK	Roy Kirkaldy
John Clarke	PR	Jack Reilly
Harry Pierce	SR	Bob Allison
Sid Pearce	SR	Bob Farrar
Andrew Norval	LK	Gordon Clunas
Dave Brown	Coach	Alan Brady

Led by their standard-setting captain-coach Dave Brown, the Roosters continued their strong season performance with a semi-final victory over St George to gain a Final berth.

Although Brown was ruled out on the morning of the decider with a leg injury, replacement Bill Brew slotted into the side and scored a try after backing up second rower Sid "Joe" Pearce who also scored the next try. The young Easts team who averaged 20 years of age overcame Canterbury by six tries to two.

Eastern Suburbs 24 (Tries: Pierce 2, O'Loan, Brew, Pearce, Clarke. Goals: Dunn 2 )

defeated

Canterbury-Bankstown 14 (Tries: Bonnyman, Denton. Goals: Johnson 4)

References

1. ^ Premiership Roll of Honour at rl1908.com

• Rugby League Tables - Notes The World of Rugby League
• Rugby League Tables - Season 1940 The World of Rugby League
• rl1908.com History and Statistics rl1908
• Finals Line-ups and Scores Hunterlink Site
• rl1908.com interview Sean Fagan interviews Dick Dunn
• Results: 1931-40 at rabbitohs.com.au