| 1951 NSWRFL season | |
| Teams | 10 |
| Premiers | South Sydney (13th title) |
| Minor premiers | South Sydney (12th title) |
| Matches played | 94 |
| Points scored | 3400 (total) 36.17 (per match) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Johnny Graves (28) |
The 1951 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the forty-fourth season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Ten teams from across the city competed for the newly-created J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season which culminated in a grand final between South Sydney and Manly-Warringah.
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South Sydney ascended to the minor premiership with relative ease in 1951, losing only one match during the season to finish the regular season ahead by a record 11-point margin.
| Balmain | Canterbury-Bankstown | Eastern Suburbs | Manly-Warringah |
| Newtown | North Sydney | Parramatta | South Sydney |
| St. George | Western Suburbs |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Sydney | 18 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 428 | 237 | +191 | 33 |
| 2 | Manly-Warringah | 18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 424 | 262 | +162 | 22 |
| 3 | St. George | 18 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 374 | 251 | +123 | 21 |
| 4 | Western Suburbs | 18 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 360 | 333 | +27 | 20 |
| 5 | Eastern Suburbs | 18 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 304 | 340 | -36 | 18 |
| 6 | Parramatta | 18 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 309 | 410 | -101 | 18 |
| 7 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 18 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 266 | 362 | -96 | 14 |
| 8 | Newtown | 18 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 261 | 341 | -80 | 12 |
| 9 | Balmain | 18 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 283 | 365 | -82 | 12 |
| 10 | North Sydney | 18 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 220 | 328 | -108 | 10 |
Odds-on favourites to retain the premiership, Souths reserved their worst performance of the year for the semi-final against St George being trounced 35-8. This loss meant that a grand final would be necessary to determine the season's premiers.[1] The next week, the Dragons were beaten by a gutsy Manly side in a preliminary final, 18-8. The infant Manly club thus qualified for its first final only five seasons after having entered the League in 1947.
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
| South Sydney | 8-35 | St. George | 1 September 1951 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Aub Oxford | 39,735 | ||
| Manly-Warringah | 37-9 | Western Suburbs | 8 September 1951 | Sydney Cricket Ground | George Bishop | 29,444 | ||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Manly-Warringah | 18-8 | St. George | 15 September 1951 | Sydney Cricket Ground | George Bishop | 41,845 | ||
| Final | ||||||||
| South Sydney | 42-14 | Manly-Warringah | 23 September 1951 | Sydney Sports Ground | Jack O'Brien | 28,505 | ||
| South Sydney | Position | Manly-Warringah |
|---|---|---|
| Clive Churchill | FB | Ron Beaumont |
| John Graves | WG | Jack Lumsden |
| Kevin Woolfe | CE | Warren Simmons |
| Milton Atkinson | CE | Gordon Willoughby |
| Harry Wells | WG | Ron Rowles |
| Norm Spillane | FE | Jim Sullivan |
| Ray Mason | HB | Ken Arthurson |
| Denis Donoghue | PR | Roy Bull |
| Ernie Hammerton | HK | Kevin Schubert (c) |
| Bryan Orrock | PR | Fred Brown |
| Bernie Purcell | SR | Jack Hubbard |
| Jack Rayner (Ca./Co.) | SR | Sandy Herbert |
| Les Cowie | LK | George Hunter |
| Coach | Wally O'Connell |
Manly were without former Test star and captain-coach Wally O'Connell who had a fractured bone in his wrist.[2] His side was instead captained by hooker Kevin Schubert. Gordon Willoughby played out the match with his leg heavily strapped rather than leave his side further depleted but Manly's hopes of upsetting the defending premiers were shattered in a spectacular display of attacking football by Souths.
The smallest crowd for a final since 1944 was on hand at the Sports Ground to witness a one-sided game which Souths won 42-14. A highlight of the record win was Test winger John Graves' four tries in the match - the only time this has been achieved in grand final history.
Souths scored first through Bernie Purcell and led 15-4 at the break. They then piled on 27 points in the second-half. Tries to Clive Churchill, Ray Mason, Jack Rayner and Chick Cowie added to Graves' record haul. The Rabbitohs pack dominated Manly's forwards with Ernie Hammerton giving his team a feast of possession. Bernie Purcell landed seven goals from nine attempts and was also dynamic in attack, being chosen by The Sunday Herald judge, Frank McMillan as the man-of-the-match, for which he received a £10 reward.[3]
Other records set that day include the most points ever scored in a grand final (66 total); the most tries scored by one team in a grand final (8), a mark later matched by Eastern Suburbs in 1975 Grand Final and the most goals scored in grand final (9).
South Sydney Rabbitohs 42
Tries: Graves (4), Churchill, Mason, Rayner, Cowie
Goals: Purcell (7), Hammerton, Donoghue.
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 14
Tries: Lumsden (2)
Goals: Rowles (4)
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