New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1949

Infobox rugby league season
year = 1949
competition = New South Wales Rugby Football League


imagesize = 125px
caption =
teams = 10
premiers = leagueicon|St. George|size=16 St. George
count = 2nd
minor premiers = Leagueicon|South Sydney|size=16 South Sydney
mpcount = 10th
matches = 94
points = 2995
attendance =
top points scorer = (163)
top try scorer = (25)
1949's New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the forty-second season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Ten teams from across Sydney contested the premiership during the season which culminated in a grand final between St. George and South Sydney.

eason summary

St. George's Ron Robert's 25 try tally in 1949 stands in third place behind Les Brennan's 29 of 1954 and Bob Lulham's 28 of 1947 for the highest number of tries by a player in a debut season.

Teams

* Balmain, formed on January 23 1908 at Balmain Town Hall
* Canterbury-Bankstown
* Eastern Suburbs, formed on January 24 1908 at Paddington Town Hall
* Manly-Warringah
* Newtown, formed on January 14 1908
* North Sydney, formed on February 7 1908
* Parramatta, formed in November 1946
* South Sydney, formed on January 17 1908 at Redfern Town Hall
* St. George, formed on November 8 1920 at Kogarah School of Arts
* Western Suburbs, formed on February 4 1908

Grand Final

In a brutal encounter, St George ran in five tries and overcame South Sydney 19-12 to claim the 1949 premiership in front of 56,534 people.

The Dragons were led masterfully by their captain, Norman 'Johnny' Hawke. Controlling all aspects of the match, Hawke took the game away from Souths who only got back into the contest when Hawke was forced from the field with injury. Also injured was Saints forward George Jardine who played the match with a broken wrist.

Hawke returned to the field after treatment and was later dubbed 'Man of the Match' and 'the Player's Player'. The Dragons' wingers, season's top try scorer Ron Roberts (25 tries) and newcomer Noel Pidding scored two tries each.

St. George 19 (Tries: Roberts 2, Pidding 2, McCoy. Goals: McCoy, Pidding)

defeated

South Sydney 12 (Tries: Graves, Purcell. Goals: Graves 3)

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/1949.html Rugby League Tables - Season 1949] "The World of Rugby League"
* [http://www.rl1908.com/premiership.htm Premiership History and Statistics] "RL1908"
* [http://www2.hunterlink.net.au/~maajjs/aus/nsw/syd/res/syd1949a.htm#rfinals Finals lineups and results] "Hunterlink site"
* [http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/The-Club/Tradition/Results---1941-1950.html Results:1941-1950 at rabbitohs.com.au]
* [http://www.rleague.com//db/year/1949/labor_daily_cup/index.php 1949 Labor Daily Cup at rleague.com]
* [http://rugbyleagueproject.com/competitions/NSWRL_1949.html NSWRFL season 1949 at rugbyleagueproject.com]