1963 NSWRFL season

1963 NSWRFL season
Teams	10
Premiers	St. George (10th title)
Minor premiers	St. George (9th title)
Matches played	94
Points scored	2278 (total) 24.234 (per match)
Attendance	1,019,748 (total) 10,848 (per match)
Top try scorer(s)	Reg Gasnier (24)

1963's New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the fifty-sixth 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 replay of the previous two years' grand finals between St. George and Western Suburbs.

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	1	2	434	95	+339	31
2	Western Suburbs	18	14	0	4	256	160	+96	28
3	Balmain	18	12	0	6	246	183	+63	24
4	Parramatta	18	11	0	7	186	165	+21	22
5	North Sydney	18	10	0	8	272	236	+36	20
6	Manly	18	7	0	11	158	217	-59	14
7	Newtown	18	7	0	11	206	331	-125	14
8	Canterbury	18	6	1	11	170	277	-107	13
9	South Sydney	18	4	0	14	170	298	-128	8
10	Eastern Suburbs	18	3	0	15	116	252	-136	6

Finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semi Finals
Balmain	7-9	Parramatta	3 August 1963	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	39,408
St. George	8-10	Western Suburbs	10 August 1963	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	42,065
Preliminary Final
St. George	12-7	Parramatta	17 August 1963	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	57,973
Grand Final
Western Suburbs	3-8	St. George	24 August 1963	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	69,860

Grand Final

St. George	Position	Western Suburbs
Graeme Langlands	FB	Don Parish
Johnny King	WG	John Mowbray
Reg Gasnier	CE	Bob McGuinness
Billy Smith	CE	Gil McDougall
Eddie Lumsden	WG	Peter Dimond
Bruce Pollard	FE	Arthur Summons (c)
George Evans	HB	Don Malone
Monty Porter	PR	Denis Meaney
Ian Walsh	HK	Noel Kelly
Kevin Ryan	PR	Jack Gibson
Elton Rasmussen	SR	Kel O'Shea
Norm Provan (Ca./Co.)	SR	John Hayes
Johnny Raper	LK	Kevin Smyth
	Coach	Jack Fitzgerald

The crowd of 69,806 who turned out for the grand final was a record.^[1] From the opening whistle the 1963 decider was a gruelling affair. Heavy rain meant that the wet SCG pitch quickly became a quagmire and players unrecognisable. At one point, St George five-eighth, Bruce Pollard was blinded by the mud such that he couldn't pass or catch the ball so he swapped places with Johnny Raper and played out the second half at lock. Raper also set up the best movement of the match when he broke the line and found Reg Gasnier in support. Gasnier, with a Wests defender hanging off him, sent the ball to Norm Provan who in turn found Johnny King. However the Magpies defence held and no try was scored.

Saints conceded their first grand final try since 1958 when Wests centre Gil McDougall scored. As the match developed, it was clear that Wests had a game plan which involved a focus of intimidation on Gasnier. McDougall and other Magpies punched, stiff armed and kneed Gasnier at every opportunity. He was consequently subdued throughout the game.

The game was ultimately the Dragons' most controversial win in their 11-year run since the story has passed into Australian rugby league folklore that St George benefitted from dubious decisions made by referee Darcy Lawler.^[2]

Lawler, the game's No.1 referee was known to enjoy a bet. A number of Wests players and sports journalists have claimed that the '63 Grand Final was a rort and point to some questionable decisions. Just before half time, Wests had a try disallowed. At 8-3 McDougall had a chance to even the score when he won a race to the ball in goal, but Lawler ruled that he did not ground it. Later with 15 minutes to go and the score favouring Saints 5-3, Johnny King scored a controversial match winning try. Both decisions fuelled the debate about Lawler's impartiality on the day.

Newcomer Graeme Langlands passed to King who raced down his muddy wing after fending off his opposite John Mowbray. King appeared to be claimed by the cover defence of Don Parish but both players tumbled and in the slimy conditions King was not clearly held. He got up and was bowled over again but still not held and with no marker he ran towards the corner past a relaxed defence who believed he had been tackled. If ever there was an example of playing to the whistle, this was it. Johnny King scored one of the most debated tries in Australian Grand Final history. King claims that he was told by the ref to 'play on' while Wests legend, Noel Kelly claims that King was tackled and that Wests 'were robbed'.

But for the record books, St George won their eighth consecutive Grand Final, defeating a gallant Wests team, 8-3 and destroying Wests' hopes for the third year running. It was the final time that Western Suburbs would appear in a Grand Final. Also, St George won the premiership that year in all three grades.

The match is also celebrated in Australian rugby league history as a result of John O'Gready's enduring photo of rival captains Provan and Summons in a congratulatory mud-caked embrace at game's end. The award winning photo became known as "the Gladiators" and since it was first published has been appreciated by rugby league fans as capturing an essence of the game wherein a little man can fairly compete against the bigger man, and where sporting respect and camaraderie follow epic struggle. Since 1982 a bronze replica of the Provan and Summons embrace has adorned the various incarnations of the Australian rugby league premiership trophy.^[3]

St. George 8 (Tries: Evans, King. Goals: Gasnier 1.)

Western Suburbs 3 ( Tries: McDougall.)

References

1. ^ Clemes, Michael D. (2002). New Zealand Case Studies in Strategic Marketing. Thomson Learning Nelson. pp. 185. ISBN 0864694199, 9780864694195. 
2. ^ Coady, Ben (2009-09-28). "Grand final dramas". WA Today (Australia: Fairfax Digital). http://blogs.watoday.com.au/executive-style/sportandstyle/bencoady/2009/09/28/grandfinaldra.html. Retrieved 2010-01-15. 
3. ^ Clarkson, Alan (1986-09-26). "The best Grand Finals I've seen". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media): pp. 77. http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&Page=1&docID=news860926_0120_2297. Retrieved 2010-09-14. 

• Rugby League Tables - Season 1963 The World of Rugby League
• Writer, Larry (1995) Never Before, Never Again, Pan MacMillan, Sydney
• Results: 1961-70 at rabbitohs.com.au
• 1963 J J Giltinan Shield and WD HO Wills Cup at rleague.com
• NSWRFL season 1963 at rugbyleagueproject.com
• St. George 1963 season at showroom.com.au