1961 NSWRFL season

1961 NSWRFL season
Teams	10
Premiers	St. George (8th title)
Minor premiers	Western Suburbs (4th title)
Matches played	94
Points scored	2830 (total) 30.106 (per match)
Attendance	1,035,273 (total) 11,014 (per match)
Top try scorer(s)	Johnny King (20)

The 1961 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the fifty-fourth season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Ten teams from across the city competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between St. George and Western Suburbs.

Season summary

Ten Sydney-based clubs participated in the competition with each team meeting all others twice in eighteen regular premiership rounds to reach a top four who battled out four finals.

In round 1, Sydney's Nine Network made the first live telecast of an Australian rugby league match between the Balmain Tigers and the North Sydney Bears from North Sydney Oval on 15 April 1961. The second half of the match was beamed live with former international Ray Stehr the first commentator. There were only two cameras to capture the action, one positioned on each 25-yard line and cameramen frantically switched lenses depending on where play was located.^[1]

The St. George Dragons won their eighth premiership, defeating the Western Suburbs Magpies in the Grand Final. The Magpies again won the NSWRFL Club Championship this season.

Also this season the Jersey Flegg Championship was introduced.

The 1961 season also saw the retirement from the League of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Keith Holman.

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	15	0	3	390	181	+209	30
2	St. George	18	15	0	3	367	167	+200	30
3	Manly	18	10	0	8	294	209	+85	20
4	Balmain	18	10	0	8	281	292	-11	20
5	Eastern Suburbs	18	9	1	8	290	211	+79	19
6	North Sydney	18	9	0	9	273	298	-25	18
7	South Sydney	18	7	0	11	237	325	-88	14
8	Canterbury	18	6	1	11	197	284	-87	13
9	Newtown	18	5	0	13	236	436	-200	10
10	Parramatta	18	3	0	15	203	365	-162	6

Finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semi Finals
Manly-Warringah	5-10	Balmain	27 August 1961	Sydney Sports Ground	Darcy Lawler	20,842
Western Suburbs	4-9	St. George	2 September 1961	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	47,964
Preliminary Final
Western Suburbs	7-5	Balmain	9 September 1961	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	40,726
Grand Final
St. George	22-0	Western Suburbs	16 September 1961	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	61,196

Grand Final

St. George	Position	Western Suburbs
Brian Graham	FB	Don Parish
Johnny King	WG	Dave Barsley
Dave Brown	CE	Bill Brown
Reg Gasnier	CE	Billy Martin
Eddie Lumsden	WG	Peter Dimond
Brian Clay	FE	Keith Holman
Bob Bugden	HB	Arthur Summons
Kevin Brown	PR	Neville Charlton (c)
Peter Armstrong	HK	Noel Kelly
Billy Wilson (c)	PR	Mark Patch
Kevin Ryan	SR	Bill Carson
Norm Provan	SR	John Hayes
Johnny Raper	LK	Kel O'Shea
Ken Kearney	Coach	Jack Fitzgerald

Wests beat St George for the minor premiership on for-and-against and they were both ten points clear of their nearest rivals. If the Dragons run was to be stopped, this was the chance in legendary half Keith Holman's last match.

With misty rain on the day of the decider, Wests were knuckling down for another tight forward struggle as had been the case the major semi final also played in the wet. However, Saints stunned the Magpies as they ignored the conditions and threw the ball around.

The Dragons backline ran riot. Eddie Lumsden had a tremendous match, scoring three tries while Johnny King also scored another. Brian Clay, the best player on the field, cut loose against the veteran Holman who was playing in the unaccustomed five-eighth role. In every attacking raid there was an abundance of St George players backing up as the Wests' defence became more and more compressed.

St George scored three tries in a window of fifteen minutes to lead 15-0 at the 26-minute mark. The first was scored after nine minutes when Norm Provan from dummy-half passed to Johnny Raper who sent Clay away to the corner. Close to the sideline and fifteen metres before the try line, Clay called Lumsden inside him and snapped a reverse flick pass into the winger's hands enabling him to score untouched.

At the 21-minute mark from a St George scrum win Raper took the ball and ran toward King, he drew three defenders then lofted the ball to King who scored in the corner. Five minutes later a classic backline got the ball through the hands to Dave Brown who drew Barnsley in leaving Lumsden unmarked for his second try.

They took a 17-nil lead to the half-time break and the match appeared theirs. Fifteen minutes into the second half Lumsden scored again. St George then proceeded to lock up the game and Wests could not overcome the tough Dragons defence.

St George won their sixth Grand Final in a row, stunning Western Suburbs by 22-0. This victory enabled them to beat the previous record of Grand Final wins in a row, held by the South Sydney Rabbitohs. It was Bob Bugden's last match for the Dragons. He had featured in all six wins.

St. George 22 (Tries: Lumsden 3, King. Goals: Graham 5.)

Western Suburbs 0

Footnotes

1. ^ Big League, July 13, 2006 p.7

References

• Rugby League Tables - Season 1961 The World of Rugby League
• Writer, Larry (1995) Never Before, Never Again, Pan MacMillan, Sydney
• Big League, News Magazines for the National Rugby League June 13, 2006
• Results:1961-70 at rabbitohs.com.au
• 1961 J J Giltinan Shield and WD HO Wills Cup at rleague.com
• NSWRFL season 1961 at rugbyleagueproject.com
• St. George 1961 season at showroom.com.au