New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1928
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| New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1928 | |
 |
|
| Teams | 9 |
| Premiers |  South Sydney (8th title) |
| Minor premiers |  St. George (1st title) |
| Matches played | 59 |
| Points scored | 1597 (average 27.068 per match) |
| Top points scorer(s) | Benny Wearing (94 points) |
| Top try scorer(s) |  Tony Redmond (9 tries) |
1928's New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the twenty-first season of rugby league football in Australia. Nine teams from across Sydney contested during the season.
Contents |
[edit] Season Summary
- No minor premiership was awarded, and hence no "right of challenge" arose from the finals. Only 14 rounds of premiership matches were played.
- A dispute between the NSWRL and the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust over a number of issues lead to the League moving their match of the day to the neighbouring Sydney Sports Ground. The dispute wasn't patched up until 1935.
- The first ever night football match was played at the Sydney Showground, The match involved South Sydney and Eastern Sububs and was played on the 22nd of December. Souths won 10-6. The match was played 9-a-side and took place without the approval of the NSWRL.
- Western Suburbs became the first Sydney club to use an animal for its nickname and logo. Wests, previously known as "The Fruitpickers" became "The Magpies".
[edit] Teams
- 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
- St. George, formed on November 8, 1920 at Kogarah School of Arts
- Western Suburbs, formed on February 4, 1908
- University, formed in 1919 at Sydney University
[edit] Colours
 Balmain |
 Eastern Suburbs |
 Glebe |
 Newtown |
 North Sydney |
 St. George |
 South Sydney |
 University |
 Western Suburbs |
[edit] Earl Park riot
The season of 1928 was infamous for the Earl Park riot. In a St George home game 21-3 victory over Balmain, Tony Russell of Balmain became involved in a running feud with George Castairs, the St George captain.
Referee Brannaghan began to lose control of the match when he sent off St George forward Harry Flower early in the second half but allowed Balmain players to stay on the field. After a later incident between Russell and Carstairs resulted in the latter being knocked unconscious and Brannaghan merely cautioning Russell, the crowd's aggravation grew and the situation escalated.
The Earl Park crowd took matters into their own hands by storming the field in an attempt to injure Russell. Police arrived and intervened using hand cuffs, batons and fists but not before Russell was badly beaten by the crowd. He suffered leg and head injuries and was put into the same ambulance as George Carstairs where it was reported that Russell attempted to assault Carstairs and ambulance officers had to intervene to restrain him.
A week later, a NSWRL investigation blamed crowd violence and not the players or officials for the disturbance.
[edit] Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. George |
13 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 200 | 98 | +102 | 26 |
| 2 |  Eastern Suburbs |
12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 192 | 116 | +76 | 26 |
| 3 | South Sydney |
13 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 216 | 152 | +64 | 18 |
| 4 |  North Sydney |
12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 157 | 149 | +8 | 16 |
| 5 |  University |
13 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 184 | 176 | +8 | 14 |
| 6 | Western Suburbs |
12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 174 | 206 | -32 | 12 |
| 7 |  Glebe |
12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 94 | 149 | -55 | 12 |
| 8 |  Balmain |
13 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 180 | 236 | -56 | 10 |
| 9 |  Newtown |
12 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 112 | 227 | -115 | 6 |
[edit] Finals
Heading into the finals, top placed St. George and Eastern Suburbs were in top form, with St. George losing their only match in round 3 and Eastern Suburbs losing to St. George in round 7 of the 14-week competition. With Saints & Easts finishing on 26 points each, no playoff for the minor premiership was staged to award a right of challenge in the finals, thus negating the good work done by both sides during the premiership rounds and ultimately providing an easier route than otherwise for Souths to win the title away from both of the minor premiers.
In the semi-finals, Eastern Suburbs beat fourth-placed North Sydney to make the final, whilst South Sydney beat St. George, whom they had lost to 9-8 just three weeks earlier.
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||
| 7 September 1928 - Wentworth Oval | |||||||
| Eastern Suburbs |
26 | ||||||
| North Sydney |
13 | ||||||
| 22 September 1928 - Agricultural | |||||||
| South Sydney |
26 | ||||||
| Eastern Suburbs |
5 | ||||||
| 7 September 1928 - Earl Park | |||||||
| St. George |
5 | ||||||
| South Sydney |
13 | ||||||
[edit] Final
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | Position | Eastern Suburbs Roosters |
|---|---|---|
| Alan Righton | FB | Arthur Toby |
| Benny Wearing | WG | Les Steel |
| Jack Why | CE | Larry Hedger |
| Harry Finch | CE | Nelson Hardy |
| Reg Williams | WG | Vic Webber |
| Harry Kadwell | FE | Gordon Fletcher |
| Jim Breen (c) | HB | Joe Busch |
| Harry Cavanagh | PR | Arthur Oxford |
| Alf Binder | HK | Dick Brown |
| David Watson | PR | Harry Kavanagh |
| Edward Root | SR | Tom Fitzpatrick |
| George Treweek | SR | Sam Bryant |
| Oscar Quinlivan | LK | George Harris |
| Charlie Lynch | Coach |
A crowd of 25,000 were at the Royal Agricultural Society Grounds to watch the final between South Sydney and Easts, referreed by Lal Deane. George Treweek scored Souths' first try, crashing over under the posts after Easts fullback Toby fumbled the high kick. Wearing converted. Then Jack Why, Root and Brien combined to put Williams over and Souths took an 8-0 lead. Before the half-ended Wearing kicked a penalty goal from halfway and Quinlivan crossed for another Souths try and a 13-0 lead at the break.
The second stanza started no better for Easts when Hardy took the ball close with the line wide open only to see his pass dropped. Harry Kadwell struck back for Souths who went to a 16-0 lead before the floodgates opened - Cavanough scored from the next kick-off and then Kadwell crossed again. Easts' only try of the match was by Steel under the posts and was the last of the match with bell sounding shortly after. Thus the Rabbitohs took their fourth successive title and become the first club to achieve that feat.
South Sydney 26 (Tries: Kadwell (2), Treweek, Williams, Quinlivan, Cavanagh. Goals: Wearing 2, Quinlivan 2)
defeated
Eastern Suburbs 5 (Tries: Steel. Goal: Oxford)
[edit] References
- Rugby League Tables - Notes The World of Rugby League
- Rugby League Tables - Season 1928 The World of Rugby League
- Premiership History and Statistics RL1908
- Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
- Haddan, Steve [2007] The Finals - 100 Years of National Rugby League Finals, Steve Haddan Publishing, Brisbane
