| 1935 NSWRFL season | |
| Teams | 9 |
| Premiers | Eastern Suburbs (5th title) |
| Minor premiers | Eastern Suburbs (6th title) |
| Matches played | 75 |
| Points scored | 2770 (total) 36.933 (per match) |
| Top point scorer(s) | Dave Brown (244) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Dave Brown (38) |
The 1935 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the twenty-eighth season of Sydney's top-grade rugby league football club competition, Australia's first. With the inclusion of the Canterbury-Bankstown club this season, nine teams from across the city contested the premiership which lasted from April until September and culminated in Eastern suburbs' victory over South Sydney in the final.[1]
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The inclusion of the Canterbury-Bankstown club in the premiership this season saw the number of teams increase for the first time since University's introduction in 1920. This meant the number of regular season matches each club played increased in 1935 from 14 to 16.
Eastern Suburbs began a winning streak that lasted almost three years. On 22 June 1935, South Sydney beat Eastern Suburbs 18-11 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. On 25 April 1938 they again beat them 21-14. Between those two dates Eastern Suburbs did not lose a premiership match. The University club did not win a single match in 1935, continuing a losing streak that started in round 2, 1934 and which would run till round 14, 1936 and which marked the most consecutive losses in NSWRL/NRL premiership history at 42.
The 5th round match between St. George and Canterbury-Bankstown was played in part using a rubber ball; the idea was soon dropped as the ball was considered too lively. The match is also famous for the fact that St. George won 91-6. This scoreline still remains the highest margin of victory by any team as well as the most points scored by a team in a single match. The following week, Canterbury were on the receiving end of the second-highest winning margin in NSWRFL history when Eastern Suburbs defeated them 87-7. Dave Brown's 45 points in this match remain the highest number of points scored by an individual in a game.
The jerseys of the 9 teams for the 1935 season are shown below.
| Balmain | Canterbury-Bankstown | Eastern Suburbs |
| Newtown | North Sydney | South Sydney |
| St. George | University | Western Suburbs |
Eastern Suburbs winger Rod O'Loan scored a club record of seven tries in a 61-5 win over University. This tally stands second (behind Frank Burge's eight tries in 1920) on the list of most individual tries in a premiership match. Dave Brown's six tries in a 1935 game against Canterbury stands in equal third place in that same list, Easts winning the match 65-10.
The standing record for most tries in one season also comes from 1935 being 38 by East's Dave Brown. Brown's 45 points in a 1935 match against Canterbury also stands as the record for most points in a match and the 15 goals he kicked in that match stands in equal first place as the most goals scored in a match. The other equal place holder is St George's Les Griffen who also kicked 15 goals in the Dragon's 1935 clash against Canterbury.
These records cited above are directly related to the introduction of Canterbury to the 1935 season who were under-prepared and suffered some large losses early in the season. Those same 1935 Canterbury losses stand in first and second place on the list of highest scores by a team in a premiership match - St George's 91-6 drubbing and East's 87-7 shellacking of the Berries, with the 85 and 80 point mismatches also standing in first & second place on the table of the biggest winning margins in premiership history.
Dave Brown's season tally of 244 points stood for 34 years as the record points scored in a season until topped by Eric Simms in 1969.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eastern Suburbs | 16 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 599 | 157 | +442 | 34 |
| 2 | South Sydney | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 314 | 222 | +112 | 26 |
| 3 | Western Suburbs | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 345 | 243 | +102 | 24 |
| 4 | North Sydney | 16 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 248 | 253 | -5 | 23 |
| 5 | Balmain | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 320 | 225 | +95 | 21 |
| 6 | St. George | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 334 | 162 | +172 | 20 |
| 7 | Newtown | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 280 | 248 | +32 | 20 |
| 8 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 16 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 150 | 660 | -510 | 8 |
| 9 | University | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 109 | 529 | -420 | 4 |
In the two semi-finals played as a double-header at the Sydney Cricket Ground on the same day, the top two ranked teams Eastern Suburbs and South Sydney beat their lower-ranked opponents Western Suburbs and North Sydney. Eastern Suburbs and South Sydney won their respective matches and met each other in the Final.
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||
| 7 September 1935 - Sydney Cricket Ground | |||||||
| Eastern Suburbs | 15 | ||||||
| Western Suburbs | 10 | ||||||
| 14 September 1935 - Sydney Cricket Ground | |||||||
| Eastern Suburbs | 19 | ||||||
| South Sydney | 3 | ||||||
| 7 September 1935 - Sydney Cricket Ground | |||||||
| South Sydney | 14 | ||||||
| North Sydney | 10 | ||||||
| South Sydney | Position | Eastern Suburbs |
|---|---|---|
| Les McDonald | FB | Tom Dowling |
| Harry Thompson | WG | Rod O’Loan |
| Harry Eyers | CE | Ross McKinnon |
| Eddie Finucane | CE | Jack Beaton |
| George Shankland | WG | Fred Tottey |
| "Paddy" Stewart | FE | Ernie Norman |
| Percy Williams | HB | Viv Thicknesse |
| Jack McCormack | PR | Ray Stehr (c) |
| George Kilham | HK | Tom McLachlan |
| Eric Lewis | PR | Max Nixon |
| Frank Curran | SR | Harry Pierce |
| Michael Williams | SR | Joe Pearce |
| Eddie Hinson | LK | Andy Norval |
| Coach | Arthur Halloway |
Before a crowd of 22,106 and refereed by Tom McMahon, Easts led 9-0 at half-time and were never headed despite being without their star centre, Dave Brown.[2] It would be the Roosters' first premiership in twelve years and the beginning of a three-year golden period for the club.
Eastern Suburbs 19
Tries: Rod O'Loan 2, Harry Pierce, Fred Tottey, Jack Beaton. Goals: Ross McKinnon 2
South Sydney 3
Try: George Shankland
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