1970 NSWRFL season

1970 NSWRFL season
Teams	12
Premiers	South Sydney (19th title)
Minor premiers	South Sydney (16th title)
Matches played	136
Points scored	4407 (total) 32.404 (per match)
Attendance	1,630,630 (total) 11,990 (per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Eric Simms (241)
Top try scorer(s)	Ken Irvine (16)

The 1970 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the sixty-third season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six foundation clubs and another six admitted post 1908, competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season which culminated in a grand final match for the WD & HO Wills Cup between the Manly-Warringah and South Sydney clubs.

Season summary

Following the previous season's "lay-down" or "stop-start" grand final, rugby league's rules were changed for this season so that rather than stopping the game to call a doctor onto the field when a player goes down injured, the ball is given to a team-mate to play so that no advantage can be gained from feigning injury.^[1] Head-high tackles were also outlawed at the commencement of the 1970 season. Each side met all others twice in twenty-two regular season rounds before the top four finishers, Souths, Manly, St. George and Canterbury, fought out four finals for a place in the grand final.

The 1970 season's Rothmans Medallist was Eastern Suburbs' halfback Kevin Junee. Rugby League Week awarded their player of the year award to Cronulla-Sutherland's halfback Tommy Bishop.

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	17	1	4	479	273	+206	35
2	Manly-Warringah	22	16	1	5	422	285	+137	33
3	St. George	22	15	0	7	408	329	+79	30
4	Canterbury-Bankstown	22	14	0	8	308	269	+39	28
5	Eastern Suburbs	22	13	0	9	386	320	+66	26
6	Balmain	22	12	1	9	380	347	+33	25
7	Cronulla-Sutherland	22	9	0	13	374	335	+39	18
8	Newtown	22	9	0	13	345	409	-64	18
9	North Sydney	22	7	1	14	332	435	-103	15
10	Penrith	22	7	1	14	292	406	-114	15
11	Western Suburbs	22	6	1	15	329	403	-74	13
12	Parramatta	22	4	0	18	240	484	-244	8

Finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semi Finals
St. George	12 - 7	Canterbury-Bankstown	29 August 1970	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	40,083
South Sydney	22 - 15	Manly-Warringah	5 September 1970	Sydney Cricket Ground	Don Lancashire	40,211
Preliminary Final
Manly-Warringah	15 - 6	St. George	12 September 1970	Sydney Cricket Ground	Don Lancashire	43,147
Grand Final
South Sydney	23 - 12[2]	Manly-Warringah	19 September 1970	Sydney Cricket Ground	Don Lancashire	53,241

Grand Final

Manly-Warringah	Position	South Sydney
Bob Batty	FB	Eric Simms
Dereck Moritz	WG	Michael Cleary
Bob Fulton	CE	Paul Sait
Alex Tennant	CE	Arthur Branighan
John McDonald (c)	WG	Ray Branighan
Ian Martin	FE	Denis Pittard
Ed Whiley	HB	Bob Grant
Bill Hamilton	PR	John Sattler (c)
Fred Jones	HK	Elwyn Walters
John Bucknall	PR	John O'Neill
Lindsay Drake	SR	Bob McCarthy
John Morgan	SR	Gary Stevens
Ron Cameron	LK	Ron Coote
Allan Thomson	Reserve	Bob Honan
Ron Willey	Coach	Clive Churchill

Having lost the previous Grand Final to the Balmain Tigers, Souths were desperate to win this year. After four minutes the Rabbitohs had scored. Approximately five minutes later Souths captain John Sattler collapsed, having been punched in an off-the-ball incident by Manly forward John Bucknall.^[3] He suffered a double fracture to his jaw but pleaded to team mate Mike Cleary, "Hold me up so they don't know I'm hurt". He was helped up and continued to play in the game. At half-time Souths were leading 12-6 when his fellow team mates learnt about his injury.

During the interval Sattler refused treatment and insisted he continue playing. He also told the side, "the next bloke who tries to cut me out of the play is in trouble", to prevent his team mates trying to protect him from further injury. The Souths forward pack returned to the fray and completely dominated the play with their backline hardly called upon. Bucknall had been replaced by Alan Thompson in the 35th minute after sustained punitive attention from the Rabbitohs pack saw him suffer a shoulder injury in a heavy tackle.

Souths' halfback Bob Grant opened the scoring in the fourth minute crossing untouched while his opposite number Eddie Whiley was off the field having an injury treated. Rabbitohs winger Ray Branighan also crossed untouched six minutes from full-time. By game's end South Sydney had scored 3 tries to nil in a 23-12 victory. Sattler later went to hospital to receive treatment but only after receiving the J. J. Giltinan Shield and making an acceptance speech.

Eric Simms' record of four field-goals that day stands as the most ever kicked in a Grand Final.

South Sydney 23 (Tries: Grant 2, R Branighan. Goals: Simms 3. Fld Goals: Simms 4)

defeated

Manly-Warringah 12 (Goals: Batty 4. Fld Goals: Fulton 2)

References

1. ^ Sean Fagan (3 October 2010). "In league, we leave the dead where they fall". The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia: Fairfax Media). http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-match-preview/in-league-we-leave-the-dead-where-they-fall-20101002-161uz.html. Retrieved 3 October 2010. 
2. ^ "Sydney Cricket Ground Magic Moments". sydneycricketground.com.au. Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust. http://www.scgt.nsw.gov.au/MM-SCG.html. Retrieved 2009-09-02. 
3. ^ Roberts, Michael (2008). Great Australian Sporting Moments. Australia: The Miegunyah Press. ISBN 9780522855470. http://books.google.com/books?id=dvWZHv2l7J0C. Retrieved 12 March 2011. 

• Rugby League Tables - Season 1970 The World of Rugby League
• 1970 Grand Final at eraofthebiff.com
• Results:1961-70 at rabbitohs.com.au
• 1970 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup at rleague.com
• NSWRFL season 1970 at rugbyleagueproject.com