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1965 NSWRFL season

Rugby league competition

Field	Value
year	1965
competition	New South Wales Rugby Football League
imagesize	125px
teams	10
premiers	[[Image:St. George colours.svg	16x16px]] St. George
count	12th
minor premiers	[[Image:St. George colours.svg	16x16px]] St. George
mpcount	11th
matches	94
points	2,485
attendance	1,171,510
top point scorer	[[Image:North Sydney colours.svg	16x16px]] Fred Griffiths (181)
top try scorer	[[Image:St. George colours.svg	16x16px]] Johnny King (15)
wooden_spoon	Eastern Suburbs
wooden_spoon_count	3rd
prevseason_link	1964 NSWRFL season
prevseason_year	1964
nextseason_link	1966 NSWRFL season
nextseason_year	1966

The 1965 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 58th season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Ten clubs from across the city competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield and the WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between St. George and South Sydney.

The 1965 season also saw the retirement from the League of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Norm Provan.

Teams

North Sydney[[Image:North Sydney Jersey 1965.png	100px	center]]	Parramatta[[Image:Parramatta Jersey 1963.png	100px	center]]	South Sydney[[Image:South Sydney Jersey 1965.png	100px	center]]	St. George[[Image:St George Jersey 1959.png	100px	center]]	Western Suburbs

Regular season

Team	1	2
Balmain	NOR
0	**EAS
+15**	**NEW
−11**	WES
+3	CBY
+5	MAN
+2	**STG
−2**	**PAR
−5**	SOU
+13	**NOR
+9**	EAS
+7	X	NEW
−8	**WES
−2**	**CBY
+17**	**MAN
+13**	**STG
−41**	PAR
−9	**SOU
+6**
Canterbury-Bankstown	**SOU
+10**	WES
+3	**EAS
+16**	MAN
+1	**BAL
−5**	PAR
−8	**NEW
−15**	NOR
−10	**STG
−6**	X	**WES
+1**	SOU
−10	EAS
−2	**MAN
−20**	BAL
−17	**PAR
−6**	NEW
−8	**NOR
−17**	STG
−44
Eastern Suburbs	**MAN
−21**	BAL
−15	CBY
−16	**NEW
−6**	**NOR
−22**	STG
−37	SOU
−17	**WES
+7**	PAR
−24	X	**BAL
−7**	MAN
+10	**CBY
+2**	NEW
0	NOR
−2	**STG
−20**	**SOU
−14**	WES
−8	**PAR
−14**
Manly-Warringah	EAS
+21	SOU
+13	NOR
−21	**CBY
−1**	STG
−2	**BAL
−2**	**PAR
−8**	NEW
−6	WES
−1	X	**SOU
+3**	**EAS
−10**	NOR
−8	CBY
+20	**STG
−9**	BAL
−13	PAR
−4	**NEW
+9**	**WES
+12**
Newtown	PAR
0	**STG
−11**	BAL
+11	EAS
+6	**SOU
−2**	**WES
−8**	CBY
+15	**MAN
+6**	**NOR
+4**	**PAR
−1**	STG
−31	X	**BAL
+8**	**EAS
0**	SOU
−4	WES
+10	**CBY
+8**	MAN
−9	NOR
0
North Sydney	**BAL
0**	PAR
+23	**MAN
+21**	**STG
+3**	EAS
+22	SOU
−2	**WES
+1**	**CBY
+10**	NEW
−4	BAL
−9	**PAR
−1**	X	**MAN
+8**	**STG
−12**	**EAS
+2**	**SOU
+9**	WES
+12	CBY
+17	**NEW
0**	X	STG
−40	**SOU
−5**
Parramatta	**NEW
0**	**NOR
−23**	STG
−19	**SOU
−9**	WES
−10	**CBY
+8**	MAN
+8	BAL
+5	**EAS
+24**	NEW
+1	NOR
+1	X	STG
−8	SOU
−2	**WES
+14**	CBY
+6	**MAN
+4**	**BAL
+9**	EAS
+14	**SOU
−15**
South Sydney	CBY
−10	**MAN
−13**	**WES
+4**	PAR
+9	NEW
+2	**NOR
+2**	**EAS
+17**	**STG
+10**	**BAL
−13**	X	MAN
−3	**CBY
+10**	WES
−7	**PAR
+2**	**NEW
+4**	NOR
−9	EAS
+14	**STG
+9**	BAL
−6	PAR
+15	X	NOR
+5	STG
−4
St. George	WES
+4	NEW
+11	**PAR
+19**	NOR
−3	**MAN
+2**	**EAS
+37**	BAL
+2	SOU
−10	CBY
+6	X	**NEW
+31**	**WES
+28**	**PAR
+8**	NOR
+12	MAN
+9	EAS
+20	BAL
+41	SOU
−9	**CBY
+44**	X	**NOR
+40**	X	**SOU
+4**
Western Suburbs	**STG
−4**	**CBY
−3**	SOU
−4	**BAL
−3**	**PAR
+10**	NEW
+8	NOR
−1	EAS
−7	**MAN
+1**	X	CBY
−1	STG
−28	**SOU
+7**	BAL
+2	PAR
−14	**NEW
−10**	**NOR
−12**	**EAS
+8**	MAN
−12

Bold – Home game

X – Bye

Opponent for round listed above margin

Ladder

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	[[Image:St. George colours.svg	16x16px]] St. George	18	15	0	3	394	142	+252
2	[[Image:North Sydney colours.svg	16x16px]] North Sydney	18	11	2	5	318	218	+100
3	[[Image:Parramatta colours.svg	16x16px]] Parramatta	18	11	1	6	243	220	+23
4	[[Image:South Sydney colours.svg	16x16px]] South Sydney	18	11	0	7	227	205	+22
5	[[Image:Balmain colours.svg	16x16px]] Balmain	18	10	1	7	223	211	+12
6	[[Image:Newtown colours.svg	16x16px]] Newtown	18	8	3	7	212	210	+2
7	[[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg	16x16px]] Manly	18	6	0	12	228	235	-7
8	[[Image:Western Suburbs colours.svg	16x16px]] Western Suburbs	18	6	0	12	181	244	-63
9	[[Image:Canterbury colours.svg	16x16px]] Canterbury	18	5	0	13	194	331	-137
10	[[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg	16x16px]] Eastern Suburbs	18	3	1	14	149	353	-204

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

Finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information	Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semi-finals
[[Image:Parramatta colours.svg	23x23px]] Parramatta	2–17	[[Image:South Sydney colours.svg	23x23px]] South Sydney Rabbitohs	28 August 1965	Sydney Cricket Ground	Col Pearce	54,626
[[Image:St. George colours.svg	23x23px]] St. George Dragons	47–7	[[Image:North Sydney colours.svg	23x23px]] North Sydney Bears	4 September 1965	Sydney Cricket Ground	Col Pearce	38,944
Preliminary Final
[[Image:North Sydney colours.svg	23x23px]] North Sydney Bears	9–14	[[Image:South Sydney colours.svg	23x23px]] South Sydney Rabbitohs	11 September 1965	Sydney Cricket Ground	Col Pearce	36,695
Grand Final
[[Image:St. George colours.svg	23x23px]] St. George Dragons	12–8	[[Image:South Sydney colours.svg	23x23px]] South Sydney Rabbitohs	18 September 1965	Sydney Cricket Ground	Col Pearce	78,056

Grand Final

St. George Dragons	Position	South Sydney Rabbitohs
	FB
2. Eddie Lumsden	WG	2. Eric Simms
3. Reg Gasnier	CE	3. Arthur Branighan
4. Billy Smith	CE	4. Bob Moses
5. Johnny King	WG	5. Michael Cleary
6. Brian Clay	FE	6. Jim Lisle (c)
7. George Evans	HB	7. Ivan Jones
13 Robin Gourley	PR	13. Jim Morgan
12. Ian Walsh	HK	12. Fred Anderson
11. Kevin Ryan	PR	11. John O'Neill
10. Elton Rasmussen	SR	10. Bob McCarthy
9. Norm Provan (Ca./Co.)	SR	9. John Sattler
8. Johnny Raper	LK	8. Ron Coote
	Coach	Bernie Purcell

In 1965, the Sydney Cricket Ground could accommodate 70,000. With capacity already reached two hours before kick-off the SCG staff closed the gates and posted an attendance figure of just over 78,000, a ground record that still stands as of 2016 and with changes to the venue in the years since resulting in a decreased capacity of 48,000 is unlikely to be broken.{{cite news | access-date = 2010-09-14}} Meanwhile, the surrounding streets and parklands were packed with an estimated 40,000 people who were still trying to get into a ground. Hundreds chose to break in by storming the Members gates and proceeded to climb the grandstands, perching themselves on the roofs. Scores more bought tickets to the Motor Show which was being held next door in the Royal Showground. From here they took up vantage points on the Showground Pavilions with good views of the SCG pitch. After consultation the police allowed thousands to sit on the ground itself, covering the outer ring of the oval.

At 3pm, St George captain-coach Norm Provan, the last player from the Dragons' 1956 premiership-winning side, led his team onto the field in what would be his final match before retiring. Souths had already beaten Saints twice in 1965 and the huge crowd that attended were either looking to see the milestone 10th successive win or to see the dominant run halted. The St George team, with an average age of 27, faced a real threat from their younger South Sydney rivals whose average age was 22.

Rabbitohs fullback, Kevin Longbottom opened the scoring with a 55-yard penalty goal in the 20th minute – the kick receiving applause from St. George fullback Graeme Langlands. St George replied with a Billy Smith try. Langlands and Longbottom exchanged penalty goals with both players booting the ball more than 50 yards. It was a tough encounter with fiery forward charges from Provan, Johnny Raper and Kevin Ryan. The scrums in particular were no place for the faint-hearted, and Ryan was being unsettled by the Souths' front row of Jim Morgan and John O'Neill. In one scrum, after seeing Rabbitohs hooker Fred Anderson reaching into the tunnel, Ryan stood on Anderson, raked him back and proceeded to walk over him. The Dragons pack surged forward, forcing Anderson along the ground through the St George second row and out the back of the scrum. The 'keelhauled' Anderson sat dazed and bleeding on the ground with the ball still in hand.

The second half began with more penalty goals to Langlands and Longbottom. Souths' lock Ron Coote kept his side in the match with two brilliant try-saving tackles. With 13 minutes to go, Johnny King scored, continuing his amazing record of scoring tries in six successive Grand Finals. Souths' Eric Simms kicked a penalty goal, giving them some hope but Saints held their line and at full-time the score was 12–8. St George had won their tenth consecutive Grand Final and Provan bowed out victorious. At the sounding of the full-time siren, the SCG was invaded by thousands of fans and the ground became a sea of people – any chance of a victory lap was soon forgotten. Kevin Ryan was named Man of the Match.

Some records were set in the 1965 Grand Final. The attendance of 78,056 is the record for a rugby league match at the SCG and for thirty four years, until the Sydney Olympic Stadium was opened in 1999, this stood as the highest attendance at a rugby league match in Australia. Norm Provan's ten premiership wins achieved that day stands as the most number of grand final successes by a player. He also holds equal first place with his St George team-mate Brian Clay for the highest number of grand final appearances. Clay's ten appearances include two losses in 1954 and 1955 with Newtown.

St. George 12 (Tries: Smith, King. Goals: Langlands 3.)

South Sydney 8 ( Goals: Longbottom 3, Simms.). Crowd 78,056

Player statistics

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

Points	Player	Tries
Fred Griffiths	1	87
Graeme Langlands	3	66
Arch Brown	5	57
Bob Batty	2	52
Keith Barnes	0	45

Top 5 try scorers

Tries	Player	13	12	12	11	11	11
Ken Irvine
Brian Moore
Nick Yakich
Johnny King
Eddie Lumsden
Michael Cleary

Top 5 goal scorers

Goals	Player	87	66	57	52	45
Fred Griffiths
Graeme Langlands
Arch Brown
Bob Batty
Keith Barnes

References

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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