| 1910 NSWRFL season | |
| Teams | 8 |
| Premiers | Newtown[1] (1st title) |
| Minor premiers | Newtown (1st title) |
| Matches played | 57 |
| Points scored | 1578 (total) 27.684 (per match) |
| Top point scorer(s) | Dally Messenger (71) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Arthur McCabe (18) |
The 1910 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the third season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football club competition, Australia's first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season for the premiership and the Royal Agricultural Society Challenge Shield. Also during the season, many of the League's top players took part in matches of the 1910 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia.
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On 23 July 1910 at the Sydney Showground the South Sydney club defeated Western Suburbs 67 – 0. This would stand as Souths' highest ever score and biggest winning margin in a premiership game for over one hundred years.[2]
The League's takings for all matches this year amounted to £13,512, an increase of over £6,000 on the previous season.[3]
With the loss of Cumberland at the end of the 1908 season, the league remained with eight teams a preferable outcome since no byes would be needed. However by the end of the 1909 season, interest for a local Newcastle competition as well as the difficulties of longer travel for the Newcastle side saw it pull out of the premiership. As a result, a team from Annandale joined the premiership to leave the competition with eight teams.
The jerseys of the 8 teams for the 1910 season are shown below.
| Annandale | Balmain | Eastern Suburbs | Glebe |
| Newtown | North Sydney | South Sydney | Western Suburbs |
Also this season St. Luke's Park became the Western Suburbs club's homeground.
Newtown finished on top of the League's ladder at the end of the regular season.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newtown | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 262 | 92 | +170 | 23 |
| 2 | South Sydney | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 326 | 109 | +217 | 22 |
| 3 | Eastern Suburbs | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 248 | 116 | +132 | 20 |
| 4 | Balmain | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 153 | 190 | -37 | 16 |
| 5 | Glebe | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 175 | 194 | -19 | 12 |
| 6 | Annandale | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 145 | 200 | -55 | 11 |
| 7 | North Sydney | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 146 | 283 | -137 | 6 |
| 8 | Western Suburbs | 14 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 115 | 386 | -271 | 2 |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newtown | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 21 | 23 |
| 2 | South Sydney | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 22 |
| 3 | Eastern Suburbs | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 |
| 4 | Balmain | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| 5 | Glebe | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| 6 | Annandale | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 11 |
| 7 | North Sydney | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| 8 | Western Suburbs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Newtown | Position | South Sydney |
|---|---|---|
| William "Webby" Neill | FB | Frank Twiss |
| Charles Russell (Ca./Co.) | WG | Tommy Anderson |
| Viv Farnsworth | CE | Howard Hallett |
| Albert Hawkes | CE | Jack Levison |
| F. Munnery | WG | Arthur Conlin |
| Bill Farnsworth | FE | Arthur McCabe |
| William Hayes | HB | Arthur Butler |
| J. Morgan | PR | Bill Spence |
| J. Chevall | HK | Jim "Barra" Davis |
| David Grundie | PR | Ernie Huckler |
| Jack Barnett | SR | Harry Butler |
| Patrick McCue | SR | Johnny Rosewell |
| Joe Murray | LK | Arthur Hennessy (Ca./Co.) |
Unlike the previous two seasons where a play-off system was used to decide the premier, there was only one game played in 1910. The top two teams, Newtown and South Sydney, played off in a memorable match in front of fifteen or sixteen thousand[4] people at the Sydney Showground on 17 September 1910. Leading 4-2 with reportedly only seconds to go, South Sydney seemed set to take out their third straight premiership. However, after Souths player Howard Hallett was forced to kick the ball clear from his own line, Newtown centre Albert Hawkes caught the ball on the full just metres away from halfway and the touch line. The rules at the time allowed Hawkes to claim a "fair mark" and Newtown to have a shot at goal. Newtown captain Charles "Boxer" Russell was successful in kicking the goal from a difficult position, allowing Newtown to tie the game and win the competition as they had been minor premiers.[5]
Newtown 4 (Goals: Charles Russell 2)
drew with
South Sydney Rabbitohs 4 (Goals: Jim Davis 2)
Collis, Ian; Whiticker, Alan (2007). 100 Years of Rugby League. 1. Chatswood, NSW: New Holland. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-1-74110-463-9.
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