1955 NSWRFL season

1955 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams	10
Premiers	South Sydney (16th title)
Minor premiers	Newtown (6th title)
Matches played	94
Points scored	3253
Top points scorer(s)	Doug Fleming (185)
Top try-scorer(s)	Brian Allsop (18) Ian Moir (18)

The '1955 NSWRFL season was the 48th season of the New South Wales Rugby Football League. Ten teams from across Sydney competed for the NSWRFL Premiership J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a re-play of the previous year's Grand Final between the South Sydney and Newtown clubs.^[1]

Season summary

Halfway through the 1955 season Souths were in equal last place having won just three of nine matches. From that point they didn't lose another game, winning nine season encounters in a row before the finals. Eventually they finished fourth. Had they lost a single one of these games they would have missed the finals.

In the second last match of the regular season Souths met Manly-Warringah and were behind 7-4 with moments to go. Clive Churchill had broken his arm early in the game tackling Manly winger George Hugo but refused to leave the field. Souths lock Les Cowie managed to score a try in the corner and Churchill with a broken arm took a sideline conversion attempt that wobbled over the posts and won Souths the game. Churchill would take no part in Souths' 1955 finals campaign.

Teams


Balmain 48th season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Norm "Latchem" Robinson Captain: Bill Marsh	Canterbury-Bankstown 21st season Ground: Belmore Sports Ground Coach: Vic Hey Captain: Ray Gartner	Eastern Suburbs 48th season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Frank O'Connor Captain: Noel Pidding	Manly-Warringah 9th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Pat Devery Captain: Roy Bull
Newtown 48th season Ground: Henson Park Capt./Coach: Dick Poole	North Sydney 48th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Rex Harrison Captain: George Martin	Parramatta 9th season Ground: Cumberland Oval Captain-Coach: Johnny Slade	South Sydney 48th season Ground: Redfern Oval Capt./Coach: Jack Rayner
	St. George 35th season Ground: Kogarah Oval Captain-Coach: Ken Kearney	Western Suburbs 48th season Ground: Pratten Park Captain-Coach: Keith Holman

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Newtown	18	14	1	3	376	179	+197	29
2	St. George	18	14	0	4	396	247	+149	28
3	Manly-Warringah	18	11	1	6	332	245	+87	23
4	South Sydney	18	11	0	7	367	260	+107	22
5	North Sydney	18	10	0	8	345	278	+67	20
6	Eastern Suburbs	18	8	1	9	342	325	+17	17
7	Balmain	18	8	1	9	384	381	+3	17
8	Parramatta	18	5	0	13	258	365	-107	10
9	Canterbury-Bankstown	18	4	0	14	167	414	-247	8
10	Western Suburbs	18	3	0	15	186	459	-273	6

Finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
Home	Score	Away	Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semi Finals
Manly-Warringah	12-14	South Sydney	27 August 1955	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	35,677
Newtown	11-8	St. George	3 September 1955	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	34,158
Preliminary Final
St. George	14-18	South Sydney	10 September 1955	Sydney Cricket Ground	Col Pearce	41,583
Grand Final
Newtown	11-12	South Sydney	17 September 1955	Sydney Cricket Ground	Col Pearce	42,466

Grand Final

South Sydney	Position	Newtown
Don Murdoch	FB	Gordon Clifford
Ian Moir	WG	Kevin Considine
Martin Gallagher	CE	Dick Poole (Ca./Co.)
Malcolm Spencer	CE	Brian Clay
Dale Puren	WG	Ray Preston
John Dougherty	FE	Ray Kelly
Col Donohoe	HB	Bobby Whitton
Denis Donoghue	PR	Les Hampson
Ernie Hammerton	HK	Greg Ellis
Norm Nilson	PR	Don Stait
Bernie Purcell	SR	Frank Narvo
Jack Rayner (Ca./Co.)	SR	Henry Holloway
Les Cowie	LK	Peter Ryan

After their incredible nine game end of season run and having come from behind in both their semi-finals it looked unlikely that South's fairytale would end happily on Grand Final day. They were without stars Clive Churchill and Greg Hawick. Newtown were the minor premiers and had eleven of their 1954 Grand Final side back for the 1955 decider, all fit, experienced and keen to avenge their 1954 loss.

The 1955 Grand Final was very closely fought out. Souths trailed 8-4 at half-time and the Bluebags looked home with an 11-7 lead with ten minutes remaining. In the final moments captain-coach Jack Rayner managed to win a strike in the play-the-ball and toed it through. Newtown lock Peter Ryan fumbled and again Rayner got the boot to it. Souths halfback Col Donohoe won the race and grounded the ball next to the posts, enabling an easy conversion by Bernie Purcell for the Rabbitohs to take a one-point lead.^[2]

A last gasp long-range penalty goal attempt from Bluebags fullback Gordon Clifford was unsuccessful and Souths won by a single point. Despite being the best performed side for two successive seasons Newtown had nothing in the trophy cabinet to show for it. Souths had timed an extraordinary premiership run to absolute perfection.

Jack Rayner's fifth grand final win that day stands along with Ken Kearney's five wins by 1960 as the most number of grand final successes by an individual as captain. As captain-coach for all of those wins Rayner was thus also the first man to coach a side to five grand final victories, a record subsequently matched by Jack Gibson and beaten in 2006 by Wayne Bennett.

South Sydney 12 Tries: Moir, Donohoe. Goals: Purcell 3.

Newtown 11 Tries: Considine. Goals: Clifford 3. Fld Goal: Clifford

References

↑ Goodman, Tom. "Churchill decides not to play in R.L. Grand Final". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 13. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
↑ Clarkson, Alan (1986-09-26). "The best Grand Finals I've seen". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. p. 77. Retrieved 2010-09-14.

External links

Rugby League Tables - Season 1955 The World of Rugby League
Results: 1951-60 at rabbitohs.com.au
1955 J J Giltinan Shield at rleague.com
NSWRFL season 1955 at rugbyleagueproject.com

South Sydney squad - 1955 NSWRFL Premiers (16th title)
1. Don Murdoch 2. Ian Moir 3. Martin Gallagher 4. Malcolm Spencer 5. Dale Puren 6. John Dougherty 7. Col Donohoe 8. Denis Donoghue 9. Ernie Hammerton 10. Norm Nilson 11. Bernie Purcell 12. Jack Rayner (Capt./Coach) 13. Les Cowie

South Sydney Rabbitohs
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