- 1968 NSWRFL season
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1968 NSWRFL season Teams 12 Premiers South Sydney (18th title) Minor premiers South Sydney (14th title) Matches played 136 Points scored 4027 (total)
29.61 (per match)Attendance 1,894,627 (total)
13,931 (per match)Top point scorer(s) Eric Simms (212) Top try scorer(s) Stan Gorton (22) The 1968 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the sixty-first season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Twelve teams, including six Sydney-based foundation teams and another six from around Sydney competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and the WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between South Sydney and Manly-Warringah.
Contents
Season summary
The 1968 season's Rothmans Medallist was Cronulla-Sutherland's Terry Hughes.
The Balmain club narrowly missed out on a place in the top four, which was made up of South Sydney, Manly-Warringah, St. George and Eastern Suburbs.
Teams
Balmain Canterbury-Bankstown Cronulla-Sutherland Eastern Suburbs Manly-Warringah Newtown North Sydney Parramatta Penrith South Sydney St. George Western Suburbs Ladder
Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts 1 South Sydney 22 16 0 6 394 271 +123 32 2 Manly 22 15 1 6 379 282 +97 31 3 St. George 22 13 3 6 416 320 +96 29 4 Eastern Suburbs 22 14 1 7 362 274 +88 29 5 Balmain 22 14 0 8 393 284 +109 28 6 Parramatta 22 12 1 9 308 284 +24 25 7 Western Suburbs 22 12 0 10 328 279 +49 24 8 Penrith 22 11 0 11 298 352 -54 22 9 Canterbury 22 9 1 12 259 301 -42 19 10 Cronulla 22 6 0 16 259 405 -146 12 11 North Sydney 22 4 0 18 259 388 -129 8 12 Newtown 22 2 1 19 257 472 -215 5 Finals
Home Score Away Match Information Date and Time Venue Referee Crowd Semi Finals St. George 17 - 10 Eastern Suburbs 31 August 1968 Sydney Cricket Ground Col Pearce 49,747 South Sydney 15 - 23 Manly-Warringah 7 September 1968 Sydney Cricket Ground Col Pearce 49,128 Preliminary Final South Sydney 20 - 8 St. George 14 September 1968 Sydney Cricket Ground Col Pearce 44,803 Grand Final Manly-Warringah 9 - 13 South Sydney 21 September 1968 Sydney Cricket Ground Col Pearce 54,255 Grand Final
Manly-Warringah Position South Sydney Bob Batty FB Eric Simms Michael McLean WG Michael Cleary Alex Tennant CE Bob Honan Frank Stanton CE Arthur Branighan Les Hanigan WG Brian James Bob Fulton (c) FE Denis Pittard Denis Ward HB Bob Grant Bill Hamilton PR Jim Morgan Fred Jones HK Elwyn Walters Norm Pounder PR John O'Neill David Knox SR John Sattler (c) John Morgan SR Bob Moses Bill Bradstreet LK Ron Coote Sid Williams Reserve Paul Sait Ron Willey Coach Clive Churchill Manly were making their fourth ever Grand Final appearance and still looking for their first title. 21-year-old captain Bob Fulton lead a young Sea Eagles side, while Souths were skippered by John Sattler who that season had been honoured as "Catholic Sportsman of the Year". Neither team lineup had any players older than 29 years of age. The depth of the Souths' line-up was indicated by the fact that their stars Kevin Longbottom, Bob McCarthy and Ray Branighan all were named and played in the Rabbitohs' reserve grade side which ominously won its grand final match-up also against Manly.
The first-grade match began furiously with the toughening-up period resulting in four cautions by referee Pearce in the first four minutes. Ron Coote clashed with Bill Bradstreet and the opposing giants Hamilton and John O'Neill also measured up. Souths, with a strong breeze at their backs, were the first to score when Michael Cleary intercepted a pass meant for Manly winger Les Hanigan and raced 80 yards to score. Simms punished Manly with a conversion and three successful penalty goals in the first half and at the break Souths led 11-2.
The Sea Eagles refused to lay down and mid-way through the second half second-rower John Morgan crashed over for a try and which was converted by Bob Batty. Then a Bob Fulton field goal with fourteen minutes left brought Manly within reach. But despite the Manly fightback Souths were too resilient and hung on to win their second successive premiership and the club's 18th title.
South Sydney 13 (Tries: Cleary. Goals: Simms 5.)
Manly-Warringah 9 (Tries: Morgan. Goals: Batty 2. Fld Goals: Fulton 1.)
References
- Rugby League Tables - Season 1968 The World of Rugby League
- Results:1961-70 at rabbitohs.com.au
- 1968 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup at rleague.com
- NSWRFL season 1968 at rugbyleagueproject.com
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1995NRL era Categories:- 1968 in rugby league
- 1968 in Australian sport
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