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1954 NSWRFL season

Rugby league competition

Field	Value
year	1954
competition	New South Wales Rugby Football League
imagesize	125px
teams	10
premiers	[[Image:South Sydney colours.svg	16x16px]] South Sydney
count	15th
minor premiers	[[Image:Newtown colours.svg	16x16px]] Newtown
mpcount	5th
matches	94
points	3613
top point scorer	[[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg	16x16px]] Ron Rowles (221)
top try scorer	[[Image:Newtown colours.svg	16x16px]] Ray Preston (34)
wooden_spoon	Parramatta
wooden_spoon_count	3rd
prevseason_link	1953 NSWRFL season
prevseason_year	1953
nextseason_link	1955 NSWRFL season
nextseason_year	1955

The 1954 NSWRFL season was the forty-seventh season of the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership competition, based in Sydney. Ten rugby league football teams from across the city competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in the first "mandatory" Grand Final 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. 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 defeated 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.

Teams

North Sydney[[Image:North Sydney Jersey 1954.png	100px	center]]	Parramatta[[Image:Parramatta Jersey 1953.png	100px	center]]	South Sydney[[Image:South Sydney Jersey 1930.png	100px	center]]	St. George[[Image:St George Jersey 1948.png	100px	center]]	Western Suburbs[[Image:Western Suburbs Jersey 1953.png	100px	center]]

Regular season

Team	1	2
Balmain	EAS
+5	CBY
−26	**STG
−14**	NEW
−10	SOU
−11	**PAR
+5**	NOR
0	**MAN
+11**	WES
+18	**EAS
+8**	**CBY
+24**	STG
+26	**NEW
−21**	**SOU
−14**	PAR
−9	**NOR
+9**	MAN
−5	**WES
+5**
Canterbury-Bankstown	NEW
−3	**BAL
+26**	PAR
−22	**NOR
−43**	**MAN
−7**	WES
−5	**EAS
+4**	SOU
−34	**STG
−3**	**NEW
−15**	BAL
−24	**PAR
+14**	NOR
−20	MAN
−38	**WES
−14**	EAS
+9	**SOU
−30**	STG
−27
Eastern Suburbs	**BAL
−5**	**PAR
+2**	**NOR
+8**	MAN
−31	WES
0	**SOU
+1**	CBY
−4	STG
−19	NEW
−11	BAL
−8	PAR
−21	NOR
−27	**MAN
−19**	**WES
−11**	SOU
−28	**CBY
−9**	**STG
−18**	NEW
−36
Manly-Warringah	**NOR
+12**	SOU
−9	WES
−11	**EAS
+31**	CBY
+7	STG
+10	NEW
0	BAL
−11	**PAR
+8**	NOR
−21	**SOU
−27**	**WES
+19**	EAS
+19	**CBY
+38**	STG
−14	NEW
−16	**BAL
+5**	PAR
+8
Newtown	**CBY
+3**	STG
+14	**SOU
0**	**BAL
+10**	PAR
+7	**NOR
+13**	**MAN
0**	**WES
+8**	**EAS
+11**	CBY
+15	**STG
+13**	SOU
−10	BAL
+21	**PAR
+7**	NOR
+33	**MAN
+16**	WES
+27	**EAS
+36**	X	**SOU
−10**	**STG
+14**	**SOU
−8**
North Sydney	MAN
−12	**WES
+6**	EAS
−8	CBY
+43	**STG
0**	NEW
−13	**BAL
0**	**PAR
+10**	SOU
+14	**MAN
+21**	WES
+12	**EAS
+27**	**CBY
+20**	**STG
−8**	**NEW
−33**	BAL
−9	PAR
+22	**SOU
+3**	STG
−1
Parramatta	**WES
−7**	EAS
−2	**CBY
+22**	STG
−6	**NEW
−7**	BAL
−5	**SOU
−7**	NOR
−10	MAN
−8	WES
−10	**EAS
+21**	CBY
−14	**STG
−3**	NEW
−7	**BAL
+9**	SOU
−20	**NOR
−22**	**MAN
−8**
South Sydney	**STG
+9**	**MAN
+9**	NEW
0	**WES
+16**	**BAL
+11**	EAS
−1	PAR
+7	**CBY
+34**	**NOR
−14**	**STG
+11**	MAN
+27	**NEW
+10**	WES
+10	BAL
+14	**EAS
+28**	**PAR
+20**	CBY
+30	NOR
−3	X	NEW
+10	X	NEW
+8
St. George	SOU
−9	**NEW
−14**	BAL
+14	**PAR
+6**	NOR
0	**MAN
−10**	**WES
+12**	**EAS
+19**	CBY
+3	SOU
−11	NEW
−13	**BAL
−26**	PAR
+3	NOR
+8	**MAN
+14**	WES
+12	EAS
+18	**CBY
+27**	**NOR
+1**	X	NEW
−14
Western Suburbs	PAR
+7	NOR
−6	**MAN
+11**	SOU
−16	**EAS
0**	**CBY
+5**	STG
−12	NEW
−8	**BAL
−18**	**PAR
+10**	**NOR
−12**	MAN
−19	**SOU
−10**	EAS
+11	CBY
+14	**STG
−12**	**NEW
−27**	BAL
−5

Bold – Home game

X – Bye

Opponent for round listed above margin

Ladder

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	[[Image:Newtown colours.svg	16x16px]] Newtown	18	15	2	1	439	215	+224
2	[[Image:South Sydney colours.svg	16x16px]] South Sydney	18	14	1	3	473	255	+218
3	[[Image:St. George colours.svg	16x16px]] St. George	18	11	1	6	345	292	+53
4	[[Image:North Sydney colours.svg	16x16px]] North Sydney	18	10	2	6	415	320	+95
5	[[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg	16x16px]] Manly	18	10	1	7	391	343	+48
6	[[Image:Balmain colours.svg	16x16px]] Balmain	18	9	1	8	346	345	+1
7	[[Image:Western Suburbs colours.svg	16x16px]] Western Suburbs	18	6	1	11	287	374	-87
8	[[Image:Canterbury colours.svg	16x16px]] Canterbury	18	4	0	14	233	465	-232
9	[[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg	16x16px]] Eastern Suburbs	18	3	1	14	257	493	-236
10	[[Image:Parramatta colours.svg	16x16px]] Parramatta	18	3	0	15	282	366	-84

Ladder progression

Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 4.
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
1	Newtown	2	4	5	7	9	11	12	14	16	18	20	20	22	24	26	28	30
2	South Sydney	2	4	5	7	9	9	11	13	13	15	17	19	21	23	25	27	29
3	St. George	0	0	2	4	5	5	7	9	11	11	11	11	13	15	17	19	21
4	North Sydney	0	2	2	4	5	5	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	18	18	18	20
5	Manly-Warringah	2	2	2	4	6	8	9	9	11	11	11	13	15	17	17	17	19
6	Balmain	2	2	2	2	2	4	5	7	9	11	13	15	15	15	15	17	17
7	Western Suburbs	2	2	4	4	5	7	7	7	7	9	9	9	9	11	13	13	13
8	Canterbury-Bankstown	0	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	6	8	8
9	Eastern Suburbs	0	2	4	4	5	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7
10	Parramatta	0	0	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	6	6	6

Records set in 1954

In 1954 South Sydney's Les Brennan set the standing record for the highest number of tries in a debut season with 29. Newtown winger Ray Preston's 34 tries remains second only to Dave Brown's 38 in 1935 in the tally of tries scored in a season. Preston and Kevin Considine combined for fifty-six tries during the season – easily a record for a pair of club wingers.

In the last round on 21 August, Western Suburbs set a record for the highest losing score when they lost to Balmain 32–37. This was to be one of only two cases before the introduction of the 10-metre ruck rule in 1993 that a team scored over thirty points and lost the match.

Finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information	Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semifinals
[[Image:St. George colours.svg	23x23px]] St. George	15–14	[[Image:North Sydney colours.svg	23x23px]] North Sydney	28 August 1954	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack O'Brien	32,397
[[Image:Newtown colours.svg	23x23px]] Newtown	14–24	[[Image:South Sydney colours.svg	23x23px]] South Sydney	4 September 1954	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	38,520
Preliminary Final
[[Image:Newtown colours.svg	23x23px]] Newtown	27–13	[[Image:St. George colours.svg	23x23px]] St. George	11 September 1954	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	32,303
Grand Final
[[Image:South Sydney colours.svg	23x23px]] South Sydney	23–15	[[Image:Newtown colours.svg	23x23px]] Newtown	18 September 1954	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack O'Brien	45,759

Grand Final

South Sydney	Position	Newtown
13. Clive Churchill	FB
12. Ian Moir	WG	2. Kevin Considine
9. Martin Gallagher	CE	6. Dick Poole
7. Greg Hawick	CE	4. Brian Clay
11. Les Brennan	WG	3. Ray Preston
8. John Dougherty	FE	53. Ray Kelly
21. Ray Mason	HB	7. Bobby Whitton
	PR	12. Jim Evans (c)
2. Ernie Hammerton	HK	46. Frank Johnson
3. Jim Richards	PR	11. Don Stait
18. Bernie Purcell	SR	10. Frank Narvo
4. Jack Rayner (Ca./Co.)	SR	9. Henry Holloway
6. Les Cowie	LK	8. 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 Gordon "Punchy" Clifford.

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

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

Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 18. Top 5 point scorers

Points	Player	Tries	Goals
Ron Rowles	13	91	0
Alan Arkey	0	84	0
Bernie Purcell	9	61	0
George Bain	1	65	0
Gordon Clifford	1	63	1

Top 5 try scorers

Tries	Player	33	28	19	19	16
Ray Preston
Les Brennan
Ian Moir
Kevin Hole
Kevin Considine

Top 5 goal scorers

Goals	Player	91	84	65	63	61
Ron Rowles
Alan Arkey
George Bain
Gordon Clifford
Bernie Purcell

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

[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jrtVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UbMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2006,4068956 ‘Crocker will play here’] 20 January 1954 ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]''
[http://afltables.com/rl/scorers/misc.html#mts Rugby League Tables – Most Individual Tries in a Season]; ''AFL Tables''
Whitticker, Alan and Hudson, Glen; ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'' (1999), p. 432 {{ISBN. 1875169768
[http://afltables.com/rl/teams/all/overall_gr.html#10 Rugby League Tables – Highest Losing Scores]; ''AFL Tables''

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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