| 1972 NSWRFL season | |
| Teams | 12 |
| Premiers | Manly-Warringah (1st title) |
| Minor premiers | Manly-Warringah (2nd title) |
| Matches played | 136 |
| Points scored | 4670 (total) 34.338 (per match) |
| Attendance | 1,469,899 (total) 10,808 (per match) |
| Top point scorer(s) | Allan McKean (220) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Bob Fulton (19) |
The 1972 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the sixty-fifth season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from across Sydney, competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a grand final match for the WD & HO Wills Cup between the Manly-Warringah and Eastern Suburbs clubs.
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The 1972 season's Rothmans Medal winner was Western Suburbs' halfback Tommy Raudonikis. Rugby League Week awarded their player of the year award to Eastern Suburbs' five-eighth John Ballesty.
This season, for the first time since 1966, Souths would fail to reach the grand final.
Following the grand final, several players travelled to France to represent Australia in the 1972 Rugby League World Cup.
| Balmain | Canterbury-Bankstown | Cronulla-Sutherland | Eastern Suburbs |
| Manly-Warringah | Newtown | North Sydney | Parramatta |
| Penrith Captain: Ron Lynch |
South Sydney | St. George | Western Suburbs |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manly-Warringah | 22 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 460 | 255 | +205 | 37 |
| 2 | Eastern Suburbs | 22 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 514 | 297 | +217 | 35 |
| 3 | St. George | 22 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 398 | 221 | +177 | 34 |
| 4 | South Sydney | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 456 | 331 | +125 | 28 |
| 5 | Newtown | 22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 402 | 371 | +31 | 24 |
| 6 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 22 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 382 | 373 | +9 | 24 |
| 7 | Western Suburbs | 22 | 8 | 1 | 13 | 367 | 398 | -31 | 17 |
| 8 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 332 | 378 | -46 | 16 |
| 9 | North Sydney | 22 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 320 | 405 | -85 | 15 |
| 10 | Balmain | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 333 | 455 | -122 | 13 |
| 11 | Penrith | 22 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 278 | 490 | -212 | 11 |
| 12 | Parramatta | 22 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 317 | 585 | -268 | 10 |
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
| St. George | 14-10 | South Sydney | 26 August 1972 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Keith Page | 47,945 | ||
| Manly-Warringah | 32-8 | Eastern Suburbs | 2 September 1972 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Keith Page | 43,695 | ||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Eastern Suburbs | 8-6 | St. George | 9 September 1972 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Keith Page | 41,313 | ||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| Manly-Warringah | 19-14 | Eastern Suburbs | 16 September 1972 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Keith Page | 54,537 | ||
| Manly-Warringah | Position | Eastern Suburbs |
|---|---|---|
| Graham Eadie | FB | Allan McKean |
| Ken Irvine | WG | Jim Porter |
| Ray Branighan | CE | Harry Cameron |
| Bob Fulton | CE | Mark Harris |
| Max Brown | WG | Bill Mullins |
| Ian Martin | FE | John Ballesty |
| Dennis Ward | HB | Kevin Junee |
| Bill Hamilton | PR | John Armstrong |
| Fred Jones (c) | HK | Peter Moscatt |
| John O'Neill | PR | Arthur Beetson |
| Allan Thomson | SR | Greg Bandiera |
| Terry Randall | SR | John Quayle |
| Malcolm "Mal" Reilly | LK | Ron Coote (c) |
| Bench | Laurie Freier | |
| Ron Willey | Coach | Don Furner |
After twenty-five years in the competition and five Grand Final losses, Manly finally broke through to win the club's first NSWRFL premiership.[1]
In a controversial match, the Sea-Eagles downed the Eastern Suburbs Roosters 19 to 14, thus shedding their 'bridesmaids' tag. The Roosters were highly critical of referee Keith Page after the match, claiming both of Manly's tries shouldn't have been awarded. To add to their rage, Easts crossed for 2 tries that were disallowed.
A dour first half saw the teams go to the break at 4-all, before a try by hooker Fred Jones put Manly ahead. Jones appeared to drop the ball as he attempted to ground it, but was awarded the try nonetheless. Midway through the second half, controversy flared again when Manly centre Ray Branighan appeared to stop over the Eastern Suburbs try line after accepting what looked like a forward pass from prop Bill Hamilton. However, referee Page allowed it and the Manly fans began celebrating, knowing that at 19-4 their first premiership victory was assured. Although Easts fought back and brought the score to 19-14, time was out for the Roosters.
Manly-Warringah 19 (Tries: Jones, Branighan. Goals: Eadie 6. Fld Goal: Fulton)
Eastern Suburbs 14 (Tries: Ballesty, Mullins. Goals: McKean 4 )
Man of the Match: Denis Ward (Manly).
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