1915 NSWRFL season

1915 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams	8
Premiers	Balmain (1st title)
Minor premiers	Balmain (1st title)
Matches played	56
Points scored	1308 (total) 23.357 (per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Wally Messenger (73)
Top try scorer(s)	Frank Burge (20)

The 1915 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the eighth season of Sydney's top-grade rugby league football club competition, Australia's first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season, with the Balmain club finishing on top of the ladder to claim the premiership.^[1]

Season summary

Even though World War I had broken out across Europe and many players were unavailable, there was a general consensus amongst the public that the rugby league premiership continue. On 8 May in good weather the first matches were played between the eventual top four clubs: In front of a record crowd of 13,000 Glebe defeated defending premiers Easts at the SCG, and at Wentworth Oval Balmain drew 11-all with Newtown.^[2] Midway through the season, three clubs had clearly broken ahead of the others, Balmain, Glebe and South Sydney. With South Sydney falling away in the second half of the season, Balmain and Glebe were main two contenders for the title, and they soon met with four rounds to play. In front of 20,000 people, the two clubs played out a memorable match at the Sydney Sports Ground, where Balmain eventually prevailed 12-2 winners on a cold, rainy day. Balmain were assured their first premiership without the need for a playoff after their close last-round win over South Sydney 7-4.

Balmain went through 1915 undefeated - a feat achieved by only five other teams since. They won the premiership that year in all three grades. Members of the Balmain's first-grade premiership winning side included Bob Craig, Bill Schultz and E. Burnicle.

In 1915, the NSWRFL lost its first ever full-time Secretary Edward Larkin when he was killed in fighting at Gallipoli on 25 April.

Teams

The teams remained unchanged from the 1914 season.

Annandale
Balmain, formed on January 23, 1908 at Balmain Town Hall
Eastern Suburbs, formed on January 24, 1908 at Paddington Town Hall
Glebe, formed on January 9, 1908
Newtown, formed on January 14, 1908
North Sydney, formed on February 7, 1908
South Sydney, formed on January 17, 1908 at Redfern Town Hall
Western Suburbs, formed on February 4, 1908


Annandale 6th season Ground: Wentworth Park Coach: Captain: Robert Stuart	Balmain 8th season Ground: Birchgrove Oval Captain-coach: Bill Kelly	Eastern Suburbs 8th season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Captain: Sandy Pearce	Glebe 8th season Ground: Wentworth Park Coach: Captain: Frank Burge
Newtown 8th season Ground: Erskineville Oval, Sydney Coach: Captain: Paddy McCue	North Sydney 8th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Denis Lutge Captain: Con Sullivan	South Sydney 8th season Ground: RAS Showground Coach: Arthur Hennessy Captain: Arthur Butler	Western Suburbs 8th season Ground: St Lukes Oval Coach: Captain: Tedda Courtney

Ladder

The geographical locations of the teams that contested the 1915 premiership across Sydney.

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Balmain	14	12	2	0	232	71	+161	26
2	Glebe	14	12	0	2	268	106	+162	24
3	Newtown	14	9	1	4	208	119	+89	19
4	South Sydney	14	8	1	5	157	94	+63	17
5	Eastern Suburbs	14	6	0	8	180	109	+71	12
6	Annandale	14	3	0	11	113	256	-143	6
7	Western Suburbs	14	2	0	12	67	200	-133	4
8	North Sydney	14	2	0	12	83	353	-270	4

References

↑ Premiership Roll of Honour at rl1908.com
↑ Haddan, Stephen (1991). History of the NSW Rugby League Finals. Australia. p. 26. Retrieved 13 July 2014.

Rugby League Tables - Notes The World of Rugby League
Rugby League Tables - Season 1915 The World of Rugby League
Premiership History and Statistics RL1908
1915 - Balmain Breaks Through For First Title RL1908
Results: 1911-20 at rabbitohs.com.au

NRL seasons

NSWRL era	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

ARL / SL war	1995 1996 1997 (ARL / SL)

NRL era	1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

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