1954 NSWRFL season

1954 NSWRFL season
Teams	10
Premiers	South Sydney (15th title)
Minor premiers	Newtown (5th title)
Matches played	94
Points scored	3613 (total) 38.436 (per match)
Top try scorer(s)	Ray Preston (34)

1954's New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the forty-seventh season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Ten teams from across Sydney competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a Grand Final between South Sydney and Newtown.

Season summary

During the pre-season, Queensland and Australian international representative forward, Harold "Mick" Crocker signed a then record one-year deal for an Australian to move south and play for Sydney club Parramatta.^[1] 1954 marked the first season when a Grand Final was scheduled to determine the premiership winner. Prior to that the season victors were either the minor premiers or decided by a final that followed two semi-finals. A Grand Final was only played if the minor-premier was knocked out in a semi-final or final and exercised their right to challenge via a Grand Final. Since 1954 a Grand Final has been played every year to determine the premiership winner.

This season, in a New South Wales versus England match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, referee Aub Oxford watched in disbelief the players fighting around him like street-brawlers before turning his back and walking from the field. Oxford never refereed again and the match remains the only top-level game ever abandoned in rugby league history.

In 1954 South Sydney's Les Brennan set the standing record for the highest number of tries in a debut season with 29. Ray preston's 34 tries this year was second only to Dave Brown's 38 in 1935 in the tally of tries scored in a season.

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	Newtown	18	15	2	1	439	215	+224	32
2	South Sydney	18	14	1	3	473	255	+218	29
3	St. George	18	11	1	6	345	292	+53	23
4	North Sydney	18	10	2	6	415	320	+95	22
5	Manly	18	10	1	7	391	343	+48	21
6	Balmain	18	9	1	8	346	345	+1	19
7	Western Suburbs	18	6	1	11	287	374	-87	13
8	Canterbury	18	4	0	14	233	465	-232	8
9	Eastern Suburbs	18	3	1	14	257	493	-236	7
10	Parramatta	18	3	0	15	282	366	-84	6

Finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semi Finals
St. George	15-14	North Sydney	28 August 1954	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack O'Brien	32,397
Newtown	14-24	South Sydney	4 September 1954	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	38,520
Preliminary Final
Newtown	27-13	St. George	11 September 1954	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	32,303
Grand Final
South Sydney	23-15	Newtown	18 September 1954	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack O'Brien	45,759

Grand Final

South Sydney	Position	Newtown
Clive Churchill	FB	Gordon Clifford
Ian Moir	WG	Kevin Considine
Martin Gallagher	CE	Dick Poole
Greg Hawick	CE	Brian Clay
Les Brennan	WG	Ray Preston
John Dougherty	FE	Ray Kelly
Ray Mason	HB	Bobby Whitton
Denis Donoghue	PR	Jim Evans (c)
Ernie Hammerton	HK	Frank Johnson
Jim Richards	PR	Don Stait
Bernie Purcell	SR	Frank Narvo
Jack Rayner (Ca./Co.)	SR	Henry Holloway
Les Cowie	LK	Peter Ryan
	Coach	Col Geelan

In spite of Newtown finishing as minor premiers they hadn't beaten South Sydney in either regular season encounter. Souths had also won their semi-final meeting 24-14. In this the first Grand Final scheduled to determine the premiership winner, Souths were the victors. Legendary fullback Clive Churchill was outstanding setting up three of his side's five tries. The Bluebags stayed in the contest through the kicking boot of their Test fullback Gordon "Punchy" Clifford.

South Sydney 23 ( Tries: Cowie 2, Moir, Hawick, Dougherty. Goals: Purcell 4.)

Newtown 15 ( Tries: Narvo. Goals: Clifford 6.)

References

1. ^ "Crocker will play here" 20 January 1954 The Sydney Morning Herald

External links

• Rugby League Tables - Season 1954 The World of Rugby League
• Whiticker, Alan & Collis, Ian (2006) The History of Rugby League Clubs, New Holland, Sydney
• Results: 1951-60 at rabbitohs.com.au
• 1954 J J Giltinan Shield at rleague.com
• NSWRFL season 1954 at rugbyleagueproject.com