| 1948 NSWRFL season | |
| Teams | 10 |
| Premiers | Western Suburbs (3rd title) |
| Minor premiers | Western Suburbs (2nd title) |
| Matches played | 94 |
| Points scored | 2829 (total) 30.096 (per match) |
| Top point scorer(s) | Jack Lindwall (101) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Norm Jacobson (27) |
The 1948 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the forty-first season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football competition, Australia's first. The teams remained unchanged from the previous season, with ten clubs from across the city contesting the premiership during the season which culminated in Western Suburbs' victory over Balmain in the grand final.[1]
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When Balmain's young stars of 1946-47 Pat Devery and Harry Bath left for big money offers in England it seemed doubtful that the Tigers would be able to continue their run of success. However Balmain gave themselves every chance to achieve their third title in a row and made it through to the Grand Final match up against Wests.
| 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 | Western Suburbs | 18 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 322 | 189 | +133 | 32 |
| 2 | Newtown | 18 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 386 | 248 | +138 | 26 |
| 3 | Balmain | 18 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 287 | 222 | +65 | 26 |
| 4 | St. George | 18 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 332 | 262 | +70 | 21 |
| 5 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 18 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 282 | 276 | +6 | 16 |
| 6 | Eastern Suburbs | 18 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 225 | 248 | -23 | 16 |
| 7 | South Sydney | 18 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 265 | 302 | -37 | 15 |
| 8 | Parramatta | 18 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 237 | 346 | -109 | 11 |
| 9 | Manly-Warringah | 18 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 221 | 334 | -113 | 9 |
| 10 | North Sydney | 18 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 191 | 321 | -130 | 8 |
In Balmain's preliminary final match up with St George, Balmain winger Arthur Patton refused to leave the field whilst injured as the Tigers held on to win 13-12. At game's end it was found that he had a broken leg.
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
| Western Suburbs | 7 - 8 | Balmain | 28 August 1948 | Sydney Cricket Ground | George Bishop | 25,907 | ||
| Newtown | 8 - 20 | St. George | 4 September 1948 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Jack O'Brien | 31,310 | ||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Balmain | 13 - 12 | St. George | 11 September 1948 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Jack O'Brien | 37,404 | ||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| Western Suburbs | 8 - 5 | Balmain | 18 September 1948[2] | Sydney Sports Ground | George Bishop | 29,122 | ||
| Western Suburbs | Position | Balmain |
|---|---|---|
| William Keato | FB | Dave Parkinson |
| Col Hudson | WG | Leo Nosworthy |
| Eric Bennett | CE | George Williams |
| Lindsay Rodda | CE | Tom Bourke (c) |
| John Lackey | WG | Mitchell Wallace |
| Frank Stanmore | FE | William Sneddon |
| Neville Hogan | HB | Des Bryan |
| William Horder | PR | Jim Thompson |
| William Brown | HK | Robert Crane |
| Jack Walsh (c) | PR | Jack Spencer |
| Kevin Hanson | SR | Sid Ryan |
| Don Milton | SR | Pat Madden |
| Peter McLean | LK | Jack Hampstead |
| Jeff Smith | Coach | Athol Smith |
After rainy conditions the grand final was played on a soft Sydney Sports Ground surface.[3] The Tigers led the game until the final quarter when a 40 metre run by Wests' second rower Kevin Hansen saw him tackled right on the try line. The referee awarded the try and Wests held an 8-5 break until fulltime to record their third premiership win.
Western Suburbs Magpies 8 (Tries: Hudson, Hansen. Goals: Keato)
defeated
Balmain Tigers 5 (Tries: Bourke. Goals: Bourke)
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