1954 NSWRFL season

1954 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams	10
Premiers	South Sydney (15th title)
Minor premiers	Newtown (5th title)
Matches played	94
Points scored	3613
Top points scorer(s)	Ron Rowles (221)
Top try-scorer(s)	Ray Preston (34)
← 1953 1955 →

The 1954 NSWRFL season was the forty-seventh season of the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership competition, based in Sydney. Ten rugby league football teams from across the city competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in the first "mandatory" Grand Final played between South Sydney and Newtown.

Season summary[edit]

During the pre-season, Queensland and Australian international representative forward, Harold "Mick" Crocker signed a then record one-year deal for an Australian to move south and play for Sydney club Parramatta.^[1] 1954 marked the first season when a Grand Final was scheduled to determine the premiership winner. Prior to that the season victors were either the minor premiers or decided by a final that followed two semi-finals. A Grand Final was only played if the minor-premier was defeated in a semi-final or final and exercised their right to challenge via a Grand Final. Since 1954 a Grand Final has been played every year to determine the premiership winner.

This season, in a New South Wales versus England match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, referee Aub Oxford watched in disbelief the players fighting around him like street-brawlers before turning his back and walking from the field. Oxford never refereed again and the match remains the only top-level game ever abandoned in rugby league history.

Teams[edit]

Balmain 47th season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Norm Robinson Captain: Jack Fifield	Canterbury-Bankstown 20th season Ground: Belmore Sports Ground Coach: Jack Hampstead Captain: Leo Trevena	Eastern Suburbs 47th season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Captain-Coach: Ferris Ashton	Manly-Warringah 8th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Ray Norman Captain: Roy Bull	Newtown 47th season Ground: Henson Park Coach : Col Geelan Captain: Col Geelan, Jim Evans
North Sydney 47th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Rex Harrison Captain: Bob Sullivan	Parramatta 8th Season Ground: Cumberland Oval Captain-Coach: Charlie Gill	South Sydney 47th season Ground: Redfern Oval Captain-coach: Jack Rayner	St. George 34th season Ground: Jubilee Oval Captain-Coach: Ken Kearney	Western Suburbs 47th season Ground: Pratten Park Captain-Coach: Keith Holman

Ladder[edit]

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Newtown	18	15	2	1	439	215	+224	32
2	South Sydney	18	14	1	3	473	255	+218	29
3	St. George	18	11	1	6	345	292	+53	23
4	North Sydney	18	10	2	6	415	320	+95	22
5	Manly	18	10	1	7	391	343	+48	21
6	Balmain	18	9	1	8	346	345	+1	19
7	Western Suburbs	18	6	1	11	287	374	-87	13
8	Canterbury	18	4	0	14	233	465	-232	8
9	Eastern Suburbs	18	3	1	14	257	493	-236	7
10	Parramatta	18	3	0	15	282	366	-84	6

Records set in 1954[edit]

In 1954 South Sydney's Les Brennan set the standing record for the highest number of tries in a debut season with 29. Newtown winger Ray Preston's 34 tries remains second only to Dave Brown's 38 in 1935 in the tally of tries scored in a season.^[2] Preston and Kevin Considine combined for fifty-six tries during the season – easily a record for a pair of club wingers.^[3]

In the last round on 21 August, Western Suburbs set a record for the highest losing score when they lost to Balmain 32–37. This was to be one of only two cases before the introduction of the 10-metre ruck rule in 1993 that a team scored over thirty points and lost the match.^[4]

Finals[edit]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semifinals
St. George	15–14	North Sydney	28 August 1954	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack O'Brien	32,397
Newtown	14–24	South Sydney	4 September 1954	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	38,520
Preliminary Final
Newtown	27–13	St. George	11 September 1954	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	32,303
Grand Final
South Sydney	23–15	Newtown	18 September 1954	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack O'Brien	45,759

Grand Final[edit]

In spite of Newtown finishing as minor premiers they hadn't beaten South Sydney in either regular season encounter. Souths had also won their semi-final meeting 24-14. In this, the NSWRFL's first Grand Final scheduled to determine the premiership winner, Souths were the victors. Legendary fullback Clive Churchill was outstanding setting up three of his side's five tries. The Bluebags stayed in the contest through the kicking boot of their Test fullback Gordon "Punchy" Clifford.

South Sydney 23 (Tries: Cowie 2, Moir, Hawick, Dougherty. Goals: Purcell 4.)

Newtown 15 (Tries: Narvo. Goals: Clifford 6.)

Player statistics[edit]

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 18.

Top 5 point scorers Points Player Tries Goals Field Goals 221 Ron Rowles 13 91 0 168 Alan Arkey 0 84 0 149 Bernie Purcell 9 61 0 133 George Bain 1 65 0 131 Gordon Clifford 1 63 1 Top 5 try scorers Tries Player 33 Ray Preston 28 Les Brennan 19 Ian Moir 19 Kevin Hole 16 Kevin Considine

Top 5 goal scorers Goals Player 91 Ron Rowles 84 Alan Arkey 65 George Bain 63 Gordon Clifford 61 Bernie Purcell

Post-season[edit]

Following the grand final, nine players from the NSWRFL were selected in a squad of eighteen to represent Australia in the 1954 Rugby League World Cup in France.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Rugby League Tables - Season 1954 AFL Tables
• Whiticker, Alan & Collis, Ian (2006) The History of Rugby League Clubs, New Holland, Sydney
• Results: 1951-60 at rabbitohs.com.au
• 1954 J J Giltinan Shield at rleague.com^{[dead link]}
• NSWRFL season 1954 at rugbyleagueproject.org