1949 NSWRFL season
The 1949 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the forty-second season of Sydney’s top-level professional rugby league football club competition, Australia’s first. Ten teams from across the city contested the premiership during the season which culminated in a grand final between St. George and South Sydney.
Season summary
winger Ron Roberts’ 25 tries during 1949 stands in third place behind Les Brennan’s 29 in 1954 and Bob Lulham’s 28 in 1947 for the highest number of tries by a player in a debut season.The 1949 season was also the last in the NSWRFL for future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Vic Hey.
Teams
- Balmain, formed on 23 January 1908 at Balmain Town Hall
- Canterbury-Bankstown
- Eastern Suburbs, formed on 24 January 1908 at Paddington Town Hall
- Manly-Warringah
- Newtown, formed on 14 January 1908
- North Sydney, formed on 7 February 1908
- Parramatta, formed in November 1946
- South Sydney, formed on 17 January 1908 at Redfern Town Hall
- St. George, formed on 8 November 1920 at Kogarah School of Arts
- Western Suburbs, formed on 4 February 1908
| Balmain 42nd season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Athol Smith Captain: Fred de Belin | Canterbury-Bankstown 15th season Ground:Belmore Oval Coach: Henry Porter Captain: Bruce Hopkins | Eastern Suburbs 42nd season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Ray Stehr Captain: Paul Tierney | Manly-Warringah 3rd season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: George Mullins Captain: George Hunter |
| Newtown 42nd season Ground: Erskineville Oval Captain-Coach: Frank Farrell | North Sydney 42nd season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Harry McKinnon Captain: Frank Cottle | Parramatta 3rd season Ground: Cumberland Oval Captain-Coach: Vic Hey | South Sydney 42nd season Ground: Redfern Oval Coach: Dave Watson & Jack Rayner Captain: Jack Rayner |
| St. George 29th season Ground: Hurstville Oval Coach: Jim Duckworth Captain: Johnny Hawke | Western Suburbs 42nd season Ground: Pratten Park Captain-Coach: Col Maxwell |
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
| 1 | South Sydney | 18 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 360 | 210 | +150 | 27 |
| 2 | Western Suburbs | 18 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 365 | 280 | +85 | 24 |
| 3 | St. George | 18 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 345 | 231 | +114 | 23 |
| 4 | Balmain | 18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 265 | 206 | +59 | 22 |
| 5 | Parramatta | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 311 | 269 | +42 | 20 |
| 6 | Newtown | 18 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 358 | 332 | +26 | 19 |
| 7 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 18 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 236 | 337 | −101 | 14 |
| 8 | Manly-Warringah | 18 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 171 | 293 | −122 | 13 |
| 9 | North Sydney | 18 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 253 | 369 | −116 | 11 |
| 10 | Eastern Suburbs | 18 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 214 | 351 | −137 | 7 |
Finals
Minor premier South Sydney's loss to St. George in the finals meant that a grand final would be necessary.Grand Final
In a brutal encounter, St George ran in five tries and overcame minor premiers South Sydney 19–12 to claim their second premiership in front of 56,532 people, the second biggest crowd of all time to witness a Sydney club match.Souths opened the scoring, with a converted try to Graves after 21 minutes. However the Dragons were led masterfully by their captain, Kangaroos five-eighth, Norman “Johnny” Hawke. Controlling all aspects of the match, Hawke took the game away from Souths who only got back into the contest when he was forced from the field with injury. Also injured was Saints forward George Jardine who played the match with a broken wrist.
St. George led 11–5 at half time. Hawke returned to the field after treatment and was later dubbed “Man of the Match” and “the Player’s Player”. The Dragons’ wingers, season’s top try scorer Ron Roberts and newcomer Noel Pidding scored two tries each.
Each of the grand final winning players received a record bonus of £300 each.
St. George 19
Tries: Roberts, Pidding, McCoy
Goals: McCoy, Pidding
South Sydney 12
Tries: Graves, Purcell
Goals: Graves