1914 NSWRFL season

1914 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams 8
Premiers South Sydney[1] (3rd title)
Minor premiers South Sydney (3rd title)
Matches played 56
Points scored 1202 (total)
21.464 (per match)
Top point scorer(s) Harold Horder (87)
Top try scorer(s) Harold Horder (19)

The 1914 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the seventh season of Sydney's top-grade rugby league football club competition, Australia's first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season. The 1914 season's gate receipts totalled £24,072, which was £7,038 more than the previous season's.[2]

Season summary

Eastern Suburbs' stranglehold on the premiership came to an end following the retirement of Dally Messenger at the end of the 1913 season. In their place, previous premiers South Sydney and Newtown took control of the premiership instead. Newtown were in a good position to take out their second premiership midway through the season but a loss to middle-placed Balmain hurt their cause, even though Newtown beat South Sydney the following week. It turned out that this loss would make the difference, with South Sydney finishing just one point ahead of Newtown at the end of the season to claim their third premiership. No Finals were contested. Members of the South Sydney premiership winning side included Howard Hallett (Player of the Season), Roy Almond, O. Brown, Arthur Butler, Harry Butler, William Cann, Jim Davis, Wally Dymant, E. Hilliard, Owen McCarthy, Arthur McCabe and Harold Horder.[3]

The season was also punctuated by matches of the 1914 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand.

The 1914 season was also the last for future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Chris McKivat who went on to have a prominent coaching career.

Teams

The teams remained unchanged from the previous season.

Annandale
Ground: Wentworth Park
Captain :William Lindsay
Balmain

Ground: Birchgrove Oval
Coach: Bill Kelly
Captain: Charles Fraser
Eastern Suburbs
7th season
Ground: Sydney Sports Ground
Captain: Dan Frawley
Glebe
Ground: Wentworth Park
Captain-Coach: Chris McKivat
Co-captain: Alby Burge
Newtown
Ground: Erskineville Oval
Captain: Paddy McCue
North Sydney
Ground: North Sydney Oval
Captain: Albert Broomham
South Sydney
Ground: Sydney Cricket Ground
Captain: Arthur Butler
Western Suburbs
Ground: Pratten Park
Captain: Tedda Courtney

Ladder

The geographical locations of the teams that contested the 1914 premiership across Sydney.
Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 South Sydney 14111216679+8723
2 Newtown 141103185111+7422
3 Eastern Suburbs 14806164122+4216
4 Balmain 14644132111+2116
5 Glebe 14716187140+4715
6 North Sydney 14518158165-711
7 Western Suburbs 143011104231-1276
8 Annandale 141112106243-1373

References

  1. Premiership Roll of Honour at rl1908.com
  2. "Rugby League's Gate Receipts". Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 64 (New Zealand). 5 March 1915. p. 8. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  3. Haddan, Stephen (1991). History of the NSW Rugby League Finals. Australia. p. 26. Retrieved 13 July 2014.

Sources

Collis, Ian; Whiticker, Alan (2007). 100 Years of Rugby League 1. Chatswood, NSW: New Holland. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-74110-463-9.