1954 NSWRFL season

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1954 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams	10
Premiers	South Sydney (15th title)
Minor premiers	Newtown (5th title)
Matches played	94
Points scored	3613 (total) 38.436 (per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Ron Rowles (221)
Top try scorer(s)	Ray Preston (34)

1954's New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the forty-seventh season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Ten teams from across Sydney competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in the first mandatory Grand Final, which was played between South Sydney and Newtown.

Season summary

During the pre-season, Queensland and Australian international representative forward, Harold "Mick" Crocker signed a then record one-year deal for an Australian to move south and play for Sydney club Parramatta.^[1] 1954 marked the first season when a Grand Final was scheduled to determine the premiership winner. Prior to that the season victors were either the minor premiers or decided by a final that followed two semi-finals. A Grand Final was only played if the minor-premier was knocked out in a semi-final or final and exercised their right to challenge via a Grand Final. Since 1954 a Grand Final has been played every year to determine the premiership winner.

This season, in a New South Wales versus England match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, referee Aub Oxford watched in disbelief the players fighting around him like street-brawlers before turning his back and walking from the field. Oxford never refereed again and the match remains the only top-level game ever abandoned in rugby league history.

In 1954 South Sydney's Les Brennan set the standing record for the highest number of tries in a debut season with 29. Ray preston's 34 tries this year was second only to Dave Brown's 38 in 1935 in the tally of tries scored in a season.

Teams


Balmain 47th season	Canterbury-Bankstown Coach: Jack Hampstead	Eastern Suburbs 47th season	Manly-Warringah
Newtown 47th season Coach : Col Geelan	North Sydney 47th season	Parramatta Capt./Coach: Charlie Gill	South Sydney 47th season
	St. George	Western Suburbs 47th season

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Newtown	18	15	2	1	439	215	+224	32
2	South Sydney	18	14	1	3	473	255	+218	29
3	St. George	18	11	1	6	345	292	+53	23
4	North Sydney	18	10	2	6	415	320	+95	22
5	Manly	18	10	1	7	391	343	+48	21
6	Balmain	18	9	1	8	346	345	+1	19
7	Western Suburbs	18	6	1	11	287	374	-87	13
8	Canterbury	18	4	0	14	233	465	-232	8
9	Eastern Suburbs	18	3	1	14	257	493	-236	7
10	Parramatta	18	3	0	15	282	366	-84	6

Finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
Home	Score	Away	Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semi Finals
St. George	15-14	North Sydney	28 August 1954	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack O'Brien	32,397
Newtown	14-24	South Sydney	4 September 1954	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	38,520
Preliminary Final
Newtown	27-13	St. George	11 September 1954	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	32,303
Grand Final
South Sydney	23-15	Newtown	18 September 1954	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack O'Brien	45,759

Grand Final

South Sydney	Position	Newtown
Clive Churchill	FB	Gordon Clifford
Ian Moir	WG	Kevin Considine
Martin Gallagher	CE	Dick Poole
Greg Hawick	CE	Brian Clay
Les Brennan	WG	Ray Preston
John Dougherty	FE	Ray Kelly
Ray Mason	HB	Bobby Whitton
Denis Donoghue	PR	Jim Evans (c)
Ernie Hammerton	HK	Frank Johnson
Jim Richards	PR	Don Stait
Bernie Purcell	SR	Frank Narvo
Jack Rayner (Ca./Co.)	SR	Henry Holloway
Les Cowie	LK	Peter Ryan
	Coach	Col Geelan

In spite of Newtown finishing as minor premiers they hadn't beaten South Sydney in either regular season encounter. Souths had also won their semi-final meeting 24-14. In this, the NSWRFL's first Grand Final scheduled to determine the premiership winner, Souths were the victors. Legendary fullback Clive Churchill was outstanding setting up three of his side's five tries. The Bluebags stayed in the contest through the kicking boot of their Test fullback Gordon "Punchy" Clifford.

South Sydney 23 ( Tries: Cowie 2, Moir, Hawick, Dougherty. Goals: Purcell 4.)

Newtown 15 ( Tries: Narvo. Goals: Clifford 6.)

Post-season

Following the grand final, nine players from the NSWRFL were selected in a squad of eighteen to represent Australia in the 1954 Rugby League World Cup in France.

References

↑ "Crocker will play here" 20 January 1954 The Sydney Morning Herald

External links

Rugby League Tables - Season 1954 The World of Rugby League
Whiticker, Alan & Collis, Ian (2006) The History of Rugby League Clubs, New Holland, Sydney
Results: 1951-60 at rabbitohs.com.au
1954 J J Giltinan Shield at rleague.com
NSWRFL season 1954 at rugbyleagueproject.com

v t e South Sydney squad - 1954 NSWRFL Premiers (15th title)

1. Clive Churchill 2. Ian Moir 3. Martin Gallagher 4. Greg Hawick 5. Les Brennan 6. John Dougherty 7. Ray Mason 8. Denis Donoghue 9. Ernie Hammerton 10. Jim Wilson 11. Bernie Purcell 12. Jack Rayner (Ca./Co.) 13. Les Cowie

v t e South Sydney Rabbitohs

Est. 1908 in Redfern Town Hall, Sydney, New South Wales

The Club	History Honours Players Coaches Records Representatives Results

Home Grounds	Sydney Sports Ground Redfern Oval Sydney Football Stadium ANZ Stadium

Culture	Charity Shield South Side Story Book of Feuds Ron Coote Cup Rivalries Return to Redfern Souths On Chalmers Red and Green Ball George Piggins Medal Souths Cares

Important Figures	Arthur Hennessy Benny Wearing George Treweek Jack Rayner Clive Churchill John Sattler Bob McCarthy George Piggins Russell Crowe

League	NSWRL ARL NRL

Premierships (20)	1908 1909 1914 1918 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1931 1932 1950 1951 1953 1954 1955 1967 1968 1970 1971

Seasons (103)	1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Other Competitions	Current Holden Cup S. G. Ball Cup Harold Matthews Cup Past Amco Cup Jersey Flegg Cup New South Wales Cup

Affiliations	North Sydney Bears South Sydney Juniors South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League

v t e NRL seasons

NSWRL era	1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999

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