1974 NSWRFL season

1974 NSWRFL season
Teams	12
Premiers	Eastern Suburbs (10th title)
Minor premiers	Eastern Suburbs (13th title)
Matches played	138
Points scored	4382 (total) 31.754 (per match)
Attendance	1,278,823 (total) 9,267 (per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Graham Eadie (216)
Top try scorer(s)	Kevin Junee (23) Bill Mullins (23)

The 1974 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the sixty-seventh season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from across Sydney, 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 Eastern Suburbs and Canterbury-Bankstown clubs. This season NSWRFL teams also competed for the inaugural Amco Cup.

Season summary

This season the NSWRFL made the financial commitment to bring suburban football grounds up to a higher standard in order to take more games to the fans on a home-and-away basis.^[1]

Twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March until August, resulting in a top five of Eastern Suburbs, Manly-Warringah, Canterbury-Bankstown, Western Suburbs and Souths who battled it out in the finals.

The 1974 Rothmans Medal was awarded to Manly-Warringah's fullback Graham Eadie. Rugby League Week awarded their player of the year award to Eastern Suburbs' forward Arthur Beetson.

Teams

Balmain	Canterbury-Bankstown	Cronulla-Sutherland	Eastern Suburbs
Manly-Warringah	Newtown Jets	North Sydney	Parramatta
Penrith	South Sydney	St. George	Western Suburbs

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Eastern Suburbs	22	19	0	3	513	198	+315	38
2	Manly-Warringah	22	15	0	7	526	316	+210	30
3	Canterbury-Bankstown	22	13	0	9	364	308	+56	26
4	Western Suburbs	22	12	1	9	402	305	+97	25
5	South Sydney	22	12	1	9	317	327	-10	25
6	North Sydney	22	11	2	9	297	272	+25	24
7	Newtown Jets	22	9	2	11	278	261	+17	20
8	St. George	22	10	0	12	331	363	-32	20
9	Penrith	22	9	0	13	353	465	-112	18
10	Cronulla-Sutherland	22	9	0	13	314	437	-123	18
11	Parramatta	22	5	0	17	237	454	-217	10
12	Balmain	22	4	2	16	255	481	-226	10

Finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Qualifying Finals
Manly-Warringah	14 - 20	Canterbury-Bankstown	31 August 1974	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	23,600
Western Suburbs	24 - 8	South Sydney	1 September 1974	Sydney Cricket Ground	Laurie Bruyeres	26,276
Semi Finals
Eastern Suburbs	17 - 19	Canterbury-Bankstown	7 September 1974	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	31,432
Manly-Warringah	20 - 23	Western Suburbs	8 September 1974	Sydney Cricket Ground	Laurie Bruyeres	40,050
Preliminary Final
Eastern Suburbs	25 - 2	Western Suburbs	14 September 1974	Sydney Cricket Ground	Laurie Bruyeres	43,072
Grand Final
Canterbury-Bankstown	4 - 19	Eastern Suburbs	21 September 1974	Sydney Cricket Ground	Laurie Bruyeres	57,214

Grand Final

Canterbury-Bankstown	Position	Eastern Suburbs
Gary Dowling	FB	Russell Fairfax
Chris Anderson	WG	Jim Porter
Stan Cutler	CE	John Brass
Peter Winchester	CE	Mark Harris
Terry Murphy	WG	Bill Mullins
Mark Hughes	FE	John Peard
Don Moseley	HB	Johnny Mayes
Brian Lockwood	PR	Ian McKay
George Peponis	HK	Elwyn Walters
Bill Noonan	PR	Ken Jones
Geoff Connell	SR	Arthur Beetson (c)
John McDonell (c)	SR	Barry "Bunny" Reilly
John Peek	LK	Ron Coote
Henry Tatana	Reserve	Harry Cameron
	Reserve	Greg Bandiera
Malcolm Clift	Coach	Jack Gibson

Master coach Jack Gibson's first title - and the Roosters' first for twenty-nine years - was won by one of the most talented club teams in the Australian game's history. In rugby union convert Russell Fairfax and giant wingers Mark Harris and Bill Mullins, Easts had three attacking players who dominated Canterbury with their brilliance.

Eastern Suburbs 19 (Tries: Beetson. Mullins, Harris. Goals: Peard 3, Brass 2.)

defeated

Canterbury-Bankstown 4 (Goals: Cutler 2.)

References

1. ^ "Form over five years". The Sun-Herald. 19 March 1978. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XftjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=feYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=630,6357490. Retrieved 19 June 2011. 

• Rugby League Tables - Season 1974 The World of Rugby League
• Results:1971-80 at rabbitohs.com.au
• 1974 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup at rleague.com
• NSWRFL season 1974