New South Wales Rugby League season 1931
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| 1931 New South Wales Rugby League season | |
|---|---|
 Logo of the NSWRL |
|
| Teams | 8 |
| Premiers |  South Sydney (10th title) |
| Minor Premiers |  Eastern Suburbs (4th title) |
| Matches played | 60 |
| Points scored | 1681 (average 28.017 per match) |
The 1931 New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the twenty-fourth season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Eight teams from across Sydney contested during the season.
[edit] Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eastern Suburbs |
14 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 339 | 121 | +218 | 24 |
| 2 | South Sydney |
14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 250 | 176 | +74 | 18 |
| 3 |  Western Suburbs |
14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 220 | 227 | -7 | 18 |
| 4 |  St. George |
14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 178 | 183 | -5 | 16 |
| 5 |  North Sydney |
14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 143 | 198 | -55 | 12 |
| 6 |  Newtown |
14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 205 | 194 | +11 | 10 |
| 7 |  Balmain |
14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 133 | 205 | -72 | 10 |
| 8 |  University |
14 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 135 | 299 | -164 | 4 |
[edit] Finals
The 1931 NSWRL premiership Grand Final Played on the 12th of September 1931.
South Sydney 12 (Wearing, Eyres Tries; Wearing 3, Williams Goals) defeated Eastern Suburbs 7 (Tottey Try; Lynch 2 Goals) at the Sydney Sports Ground.
Referee: Lal Deane
The 1931 grand final is regarded as one of the Sydney Sports Ground’s most famous matches.
Eastern Suburbs started the match as short-priced favourites, and ran with the breeze from the wetern end after their captain and half-back, Pope, won the toss. With Hooker Dick Brown dominating the scrums, Easts attacked early. First points came at the twenty-minute mark when Lynch kicked a goal after O’Connor was penalised in front of the posts. They went further ahead when Lynch kicked another goal, from a drop kick. Wearing had his chance for Souths but was pulled down from behind by Dave Brown, 2 yards from the line. At halftime Easts led 4-0.
After five-minutes South seized control of the match. The Red and Greens attacked desperately as, Treweek, Curran and then Root hurled themselves at the Easts line. A scrum followed and with the man over out wide, Wearing crossed unopposed in the corner. The winger than converted his own try to give Souths a 6-5 lead. Easts then hit back with a remarkable try. Billy Hong gathered in his own 25, Stepped through the defence to halfway, passed to Tottery who beat Morrison in a race for the ball. Dave Brown missed the goal, Easts led 7-5. Souths fullback then landed a goaol from 2 yards on his side of halfway to level the scores as 7 each.
Hong then went off after twisting an ankle, Easts stuggled to contend with the extra man in South Sydney’s backline. Chances followed for both sides – South’s winger, Why, was thrown out at the corner post, Morrisson lost possession close to the line and Brown missed with a penalty.
With only a minute left and scores locked at 7 all, Souths five-eighth, Harry Eyres seized possession inside Easts’ quarter, stood still for a split second, then with an electrifying burst of speed exploded through the converging Easts defence. He beat the ineffective tackle of Hong(who had come back onto the field), And with the referee accidentally getting in the way of Easts’ converging cover defender Dave Brown, Eyres crossed for the match winner. Hong then collapsed and had to be carried from the field as Williams was converting the try.
The lineups: South Sydney:
- A Spillaine
- Benny Wearing
- J Morrison
- P Maher
- J Why
- J Deeley
- Harry Eyres
- P Williams
- G Treweek
- F O’Conner
- F Curran
- E Root
- C Eggen
Eastern Suburbs:
- Ernie Norman
- Billy Hong
- Dave Brown
- Jack Lynch
- Fred Tottey
- Norm Pope(c)
- M Boyle
- L Rogers
- Joe Pearce
- M Nixon
- P Atkinson
- Dick Brown
- Ray Stehr.
[edit] References
- Rugby League Tables - Notes The World of Rugby League
- Rugby League Tables - Season 1918 The World of Rugby League
- Premiership History and Statistics RL1908
- History of the New South Wales Rugby League Finals, by Steve Haddan
- The Rugby League News
