1957 NSWRFL season

1957 NSWRFL season
Teams	10
Premiers	St. George (4th title)
Minor premiers	St. George (4th title)
Matches played	94
Points scored	3103 (total) 33.011 (per match)
Attendance	1,089,273 (total) 11,588 (per match)
Top try scorer(s)	Tommy Ryan (26)

1957's New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the fiftieth season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Ten teams from across the city competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a grand final between St. George and Manly-Warringah.

Season summary

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	St. George	18	15	0	3	417	232	+185	30
2	Manly	18	11	1	6	282	209	+73	23
3	South Sydney	18	11	0	7	354	314	+40	22
4	Western Suburbs	18	10	1	7	358	251	+107	21
5	North Sydney	18	9	1	8	292	278	+14	19
6	Balmain	18	9	0	9	352	281	+71	18
7	Newtown	18	9	0	9	267	228	+39	18
8	Eastern Suburbs	18	9	0	9	277	347	-70	18
9	Canterbury	18	3	1	14	182	339	-157	7
10	Parramatta	18	2	0	16	189	491	-302	4

Finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semi Finals
South Sydney	26-13	Western Suburbs	31 August 1957	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	46,957
St. George	21-7	Manly-Warringah	7 September 1957	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	39,845
Preliminary Final
Manly-Warringah	15-11	South Sydney	14 September 1957	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	39,065
Grand Final
St. George	31-9	Manly-Warringah	21 September 1957	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	54,399

Grand Final

St. George	Position	Manly-Warringah
Brian Graham	FB	Ron Willey
Tommy Ryan	WG	Ray Ritchie
Ray Smith	CE	Ray Quinnell
Jack Fifield	CE	Bill Lloyd
Eddie Lumsden	WG	George Hugo
Peter Carroll	FE	Kevin Diett
Bob Bugden	HB	Peter Burke
Kevin Brown	PR	Roy Bull
Ken Kearney (Ca./Co.)	HK	George Lenon
Bryan Orrock	PR	Denis Meaney
Harry Bath	SR	Doug Daley
Norm Provan	SR	Rex Mossop
Brian Clay	LK	George Hunter (c)
	Coach	Ken Arthurson

Under 27 year-old coach Ken Arthurson, Manly were playing in their second grand final. The match began with Saints pounding the (then called) 'Seagulls' with some heavy tackling. Brian Clay in particular targeted Manly's Rex Mossop, often trapping the dual international forward with the ball. 'Poppa' Clay had a fearsome reputation in defence and at one point in the he knocked the Manly captain George Hunter senseless.

Manly were up to the task in the first half with the score locked at 4-all for 30 minutes. Straight after half time, the flood gates opened following a magnificent run up the centre by second rower Norm Provan. He palmed off Manly defenders, ran deep into their territory, high stepped past fullback Ron Willey and slipped the ball to Poppa Clay who scored under the posts.

A second Dragons try followed within three minutes and the game began to slip away from the Manly side. The Larry Writer reference quotes Manly coach Arthurson: "The sheer physical strength of the St. George team is in itself a formidable thing to overcome. Our fellows tried everything, but St. George had so much more to give. Those big fellows are so clever.".^[1]

Harry Bath kicked eight goals from eight attempts establishing a standing record for the most goals in a grand final and the most number of points scored in a grand final (16). His fellow ball playing forward and tactician Ken Kearney had returned for this, the first of five successful seasons as coach (four as captain-coach).

St. George 31 (Tries: Clay 2, Ryan, Fifield, Lumsden. Goals: Bath 8.)

Manly 9 (Tries: Burke. Goals: Willey 3.)

References

• Rugby League Tables - Season 1957 The World of Rugby League
• Writer, Larry (1995) Never Before, Never Again, Pan MacMillan, Sydney

Sources and footnotes

1. ^ Never Before, Never Again p 39

• Results:1951-60 at rabbitohs.com.au
• 1957 J J Giltinan Shield at rleague.com
• NSWRFL season 1957 at rugbyleagueproject.com
• 1957 Final at Dragons History site