1952 NSWRFL season

1952 NSWRFL season
Teams	10
Premiers	Western Suburbs (4th title)
Minor premiers	Western Suburbs (3rd title)
Matches played	95
Points scored	3217 (total) 33.863 (per match)
Top try scorer(s)	Peter O'Brien (20)

1952's New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the forty-fifth season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Ten teams from across Sydney contested for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season which culminated in a final between Western Suburbs and South Sydney.

Teams

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	Western Suburbs	18	14	1	3	331	264	+67	29
2	St. George	18	13	0	5	375	279	+96	26
3	South Sydney	18	12	0	6	344	189	+155	24
4	North Sydney	18	11	0	7	384	247	+137	22
5	Manly	18	11	0	7	334	261	+73	22
6	Balmain	18	8	0	10	351	256	+95	16
7	Newtown	18	6	0	12	210	341	-131	12
8	Eastern Suburbs	18	6	0	12	259	397	-138	12
9	Canterbury	18	5	1	12	214	386	-172	11
10	Parramatta	18	3	0	15	241	423	-182	6

Finals

The 1952 season saw North Sydney reach the finals for the first time since 1943.^[1]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Playoff
North Sydney	36-8	Manly-Warringah	27 August 1952	Sydney Cricket Ground		8,770
Semi Finals
Western Suburbs	10-18	South Sydney	30 August 1952	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack O'Brien	34,181
St. George	9-21	North Sydney	6 September 1952	Sydney Cricket Ground	George Bishop	41,976
Preliminary Final
South Sydney	26-12	North Sydney	13 September 1952	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack O'Brien	44,166
Final
Western Suburbs	22-12	South Sydney	20 September 1952	Sydney Cricket Ground	George Bishop	41,060

Grand Final

South Sydney	Position	Western Suburbs
Don Murdoch	FB	George Bain
John Graves	WG	Bill Callinan
Malcolm Spencer	CE	Col Ratcliff
Fred Threlfo	CE	Gerry Lowe
Cec Smailes	WG	Jack Fitzgerald
Norm Spillane	FE	Dev Dines
Ken Brogan	HB	Leo Trevena
Denis Donoghue	PR	Kevin Hansen
Ernie Hammerton	HK	Hec Farrell
Bryan Orrock	PR	William Horder
Ken Macreadie	SR	Don Schofield
Jack Rayner (Ca./Co.)	SR	Ron Watson
Ray Neilson	LK	Peter McLean (c)
	Coach	Tom McMahon

The rl1908 reference^[2] transcribes Sean Fagan's 2002 interview with Souths captain-coach Jack Rayner fuelling the suggestion that dubious refereeing decisions cost the Rabbitohs the 1952 title and prevented Souths from stringing together all six premierships of 1950 to 1955. However it can't be argued that the Western Suburbs club were themselves a force of the 50s and their 1952 achievement was undeniably remarkable as they played the whole second half of the season and the finals without their stars Frank Stanmore, Keith Holman and Arthur Collinson who had all left with the touring Kangaroos to England and France.

Wests finished as minor premiers due in great part to their undefeated nine-game streak in the first full round of the 1952 season. In the Final they met Souths who were seeking their third premiership in a row.

The controversy centered on a disallowed Rabbitohs try early in the game. Souths' Frank Threlfo made a break and slipped the ball to Ken Macreadie who was in under the posts. Referee George Bishop ruled the pass forward and disallowed the try. In the interview Rayner also comments on the lopsided penalty count.^[2]

However the record-books show that Wests scored six tries to two, winning the match 22-12 and club's fourth premiership. Wests' Hec Farrell and Souths' Bryan Orrock were sent-off for fighting and went before the judiciary charged with kicking.^[3] Wests' coach Tom McMahon became the first coach to win a premiership in his debut coaching season.

Ironically, ten years later Wests would again threaten to break a string of premiership wins - the 1962 and 1963 Magpie sides both came close to ceasing St. George's long run - but again a referreeing controversy would affect the outcome. The 1963 Grand Final has been said to have been decided by questionable calls from referee Darcy Lawler and on that occasion Wests would be on the wrong end of those rulings.

Western Suburbs 22 (Tries: Schofield 2, Fitzgerald, Dines, Bain, McLean. Goals: Bain 2.)

South Sydney 12 (Tries: Smailes, Macreadie. Goals: Graves 3.)

Footnotes

1. ^ "North may pay record bonus". The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia). 1952-09-08. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rDETAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GrADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6930,998269. Retrieved 2009-12-05. 
2. ^ ^{a b} rl1908.com Rayner Interview
3. ^ "Two R.L. men cautioned". The Sydney Morning Herald: pp. 8. 1952-09-23. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uTETAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GrADAAAAIBAJ&pg=5316,2910082. Retrieved 2009-11-20. 

References

• Rugby League Tables - Season 1952 The World of Rugby League
• List of Results 1952 Hunterlink Listing'
• rl1908.com Sean Fagan's RL History Site
• Results:1951-60 at rabbitohs.com.au
• 1952 J J Giltinan Shield at rleague.com
• NSWRFL season 1952 at rugbyleagueproject.com