New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1919

Infobox rugby league season
year = 1919
competition = New South Wales Rugby Football League


imagesize = 125px
caption =
teams = 8
premiers =
count = 4th
minor premiers =
mpcount = 4th
matches = 56
points = 1474
attendance =
top points scorer = (89)
top try scorer = (17)
1919's New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was twelfth season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Eight teams from across Sydney contested during the season.

eason summary

Both Balmain and Eastern Suburbs dominated the 14-round season, dropping just two and three games respectively. They were undefeated after eight rounds but a mid-year Australian tour to New Zealand saw Balmin miss their representative stars and their lead was lost to Eastern Suburbs late in the season.

With three rounds to go, Balmain led Eastern Suburbs by one point on the ladder but relinquished this lead by losing their round 12 match against Glebe as Eastern Suburbs beat winless Annandale 28–0. This meant Eastern Suburbs now led by one point with two rounds to play. However, they lost the very next round 15–12 to South Sydney, who had won just four of their twelve previous matches. Meanwhile, Balmain managed to beat Newtown 18–5, giving them the one point advantage heading into the final round.

The final match of the season turned out to be the decider for the premiership, with the top two teams playing one another at the Royal Agricultural Society Ground. The winner of the match would take out the premiership, whilst a draw would give Balmain the title. At the end of the day, it was the goal kicking of Balmain's Les Wall that secured the premiership, with a 13–4 win over Eastern Suburbs. Members of the Balmain premiership winning side included Bob Craig and Bill Kelly.

The City Cup was won by Wests for the second consecutive season.

Teams

The teams remained unchanged from the 1918 season

* Annandale
* Balmain, formed on January 23 1908 at Balmain Town Hall
* Eastern Suburbs, formed on January 24 1908 at Paddington Town Hall
* Glebe, formed on January 9 1908
* Newtown, formed on January 14 1908
* North Sydney, formed on February 7 1908
* South Sydney, formed on January 17 1908 at Redfern Town Hall
* Western Suburbs, formed on February 4 1908

Ladder

References

* [http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/snotes.html Rugby League Tables - Notes] "The World of Rugby League"
* [http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/seas/1919.html Rugby League Tables - Season 1919] "The World of Rugby League"
* [http://www.rl1908.com/premiership.htm Premiership History and Statistics] "RL1908"
* [http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/The-Club/Tradition/Results---1911-1920.html Results: 1911-20 at rabbitohs.com.au]