1954 NSWRFL season
1954 New South Wales Rugby Football League | |
---|---|
Teams | 10 |
Premiers | ![]() |
Minor premiers | ![]() |
Matches played | 94 |
Points scored | 3613 |
Top points scorer(s) | ![]() |
Top try-scorer(s) | ![]() |
The 1954 NSWRFL season was the forty-seventh season of the
Season summary
During the pre-season, Queensland and Australian international representative forward,
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
Balmain![]() 47th season |
Canterbury-Bankstown![]() 20th season |
Eastern Suburbs![]() 47th season |
8th season |
Newtown![]() 47th season |
North Sydney![]() 47th season |
Parramatta![]() 8th Season |
South Sydney![]() 47th season |
St. George![]() 34th season |
Western Suburbs![]() 47th season |
Ladder
Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
18 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 439 | 215 | +224 | 32 |
2 | ![]() |
18 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 473 | 255 | +218 | 29 |
3 | ![]() |
18 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 345 | 292 | +53 | 23 |
4 | ![]() |
18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 415 | 320 | +95 | 22 |
5 | Manly
|
18 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 391 | 343 | +48 | 21 |
6 | ![]() |
18 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 346 | 345 | +1 | 19 |
7 | ![]() |
18 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 287 | 374 | -87 | 13 |
8 | Canterbury
|
18 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 233 | 465 | -232 | 8 |
9 | ![]() |
18 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 257 | 493 | -236 | 7 |
10 | ![]() |
18 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 282 | 366 | -84 | 6 |
Records set in 1954
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
Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
Semifinals | ||||||||
![]() |
15–14 | ![]() |
28 August 1954 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Jack O'Brien | 32,397 | ||
![]() |
14–24 | ![]() |
4 September 1954 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Darcy Lawler | 38,520 | ||
Preliminary Final | ||||||||
![]() |
27–13 | ![]() |
11 September 1954 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Darcy Lawler | 32,303 | ||
Grand Final | ||||||||
![]() |
23–15 | ![]() |
18 September 1954 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Jack O'Brien | 45,759 |
Grand Final
South Sydney | Position | Newtown |
---|---|---|
13. Clive Churchill | FB | |
12. Ian Moir | WG | 2. Kevin Considine |
9. Martin Gallagher | CE | 6. Dick Poole
|
7. Greg Hawick | CE | 4. Brian Clay |
11. Les Brennan | WG | 3. Ray Preston |
8. John Dougherty | FE | 53. Ray Kelly |
21. Ray Mason | HB | 7. Bobby Whitton |
PR | 12. Jim Evans (c) | |
2. Ernie Hammerton | HK | 46. Frank Johnson |
3. Jim Richards | PR | 11. Don Stait |
18. Bernie Purcell | SR | 10. Frank Narvo |
4. Jack Rayner (Ca./Co.) | SR | 9. Henry Holloway |
6. Les Cowie | LK |
8. Peter Ryan |
Coach | Col Geelan |
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
South Sydney 23 (Tries: Cowie 2, Moir, Hawick, Dougherty. Goals: Purcell 4.)
Newtown 15 (Tries: Narvo. Goals: Clifford 6.)
Player statistics
The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 18.
Top 5 point scorers
Top 5 try scorers
|
Top 5 goal scorers
|
Post-season
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
- ^ ‘Crocker will play here’ 20 January 1954 The Sydney Morning Herald
- ^ Rugby League Tables – Most Individual Tries in a Season; AFL Tables
- ISBN 1875169768
- ^ Rugby League Tables – Highest Losing Scores; AFL Tables
External links
- 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