From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
1968 NSWRFL season
Rugby league competition
Rugby league competition
| Field | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| year | 1968 | |
| competition | New South Wales Rugby Football League | |
| teams | 12 | |
| premiers | South Sydney | |
| count | 18th | |
| minor premiers | South Sydney | |
| mpcount | 14th | |
| matches | 136 | |
| points | 4027 | |
| attendance | 1,894,627 | |
| top point scorer | [[Image:South Sydney colours.svg | 16x16px]] Eric Simms (212) |
| top try scorer | [[Image:St. George colours.svg | 16x16px]] Stan Gorton (22) |
| MVP | Terry Hughes | |
| MVP_link | Rothmans Medal | |
| wooden_spoon | Newtown | |
| wooden_spoon_count | 5th | |
| prevseason_link | 1967 NSWRFL season | |
| prevseason_year | 1967 | |
| nextseason_link | 1969 NSWRFL season | |
| nextseason_year | 1969 |
The 1968 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 61st season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Twelve teams, including six Sydney-based foundation teams and another six from around Sydney competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield and the WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between South Sydney and Manly-Warringah.
Season summary
The 1968 season saw the introduction of an official Best and Fairest Player award in the form of the Rothmans Medal. The inaugural medal was won by Cronulla-Sutherland's Terry Hughes.
The Balmain club narrowly missed out on a place in the top four, which was made up of South Sydney, Manly-Warringah, St. George and Eastern Suburbs.
Teams
| **Penrith**[[File:Penrith Jersey 1968.png | 100px | center]] | **South Sydney**[[File:South Sydney Jersey 1968.png | 100px | center]] | **St. George**[[File:St George Jersey 1959.png | 100px | center]] | **Western Suburbs** |
|---|
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Sydney | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 394 | 271 | +123 |
| 2 | Manly | 22 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 379 | 282 | +97 |
| 3 | St. George | 22 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 416 | 320 | +96 |
| 4 | Eastern Suburbs | 22 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 362 | 274 | +88 |
| 5 | Balmain | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 393 | 284 | +109 |
| 6 | Parramatta | 22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 308 | 284 | +24 |
| 7 | Western Suburbs | 22 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 328 | 279 | +49 |
| 8 | Penrith | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 298 | 352 | -54 |
| 9 | Canterbury | 22 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 259 | 301 | -42 |
| 10 | Cronulla | 22 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 259 | 405 | -146 |
| 11 | North Sydney | 22 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 259 | 388 | -129 |
| 12 | Newtown | 22 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 257 | 472 | -215 |
Finals
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Semi-finals** | |||||||
| St. George | 17–10 | Eastern Suburbs Roosters | 31 August 1968 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Col Pearce | 49,747 | |
| South Sydney | 15–23 | Manly-Warringah | 7 September 1968 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Col Pearce | 49,128 | |
| **Preliminary Final** | |||||||
| South Sydney | 20–8 | St. George | 14 September 1968 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Col Pearce | 44,803 | |
| **Grand Final** | |||||||
| Manly-Warringah | 9–13 | South Sydney | 21 September 1968 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Col Pearce | 54,255 |
Grand Final
| Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Position | South Sydney Rabbitohs |
|---|---|---|
| FB | ||
| 2. Michael McLean | WG | 2. Brian James |
| 3. Alec Tennant | CE | 3. Bob Honan |
| 4. Frank Stanton | CE | 4. Arthur Branighan |
| 5. Les Hanigan | WG | 5. Michael Cleary |
| 6. Bob Fulton (c) | FE | 6. Denis Pittard |
| 7. Denis Ward | HB | 7. Bob Grant |
| 13. Bill Hamilton | PR | 13. Jim Morgan |
| 12. Fred Jones | HK | 12. Elwyn Walters |
| 11. Norm Pounder | PR | 11. John O'Neill |
| 10. David Knox | SR | 19. John Sattler (c) |
| 9. John Morgan | SR | 9. Bob Moses |
| 8. Bill Bradstreet | LK | 8. Ron Coote |
| Res. | ||
| George Hunter | Coach | Clive Churchill |
Manly was making its fourth ever Grand Final appearance and still looking for its first title. 21-year-old captain Bob Fulton led a young Sea Eagles side, while Souths was skippered by John Sattler who that season had been honoured as "Catholic Sportsman of the Year". Neither team lineup had any players older than 29 years of age. The depth of the Souths line-up was indicated by the fact that it’s stars Kevin Longbottom, Bob McCarthy and Ray Branighan were all named and played in the Rabbitohs' reserve grade side which ominously won its grand final match-up also against Manly.
The first-grade match began furiously with the toughening-up period resulting in four cautions by referee Pearce in the first four minutes. Ron Coote clashed with Bill Bradstreet and the opposing giants Hamilton and John O'Neill also measured up. Souths, with a strong breeze at its back, was the first to score when Michael Cleary intercepted a pass meant for Manly winger Les Hanigan and raced 80 yards to score. Simms punished Manly with a conversion and three successful penalty goals in the first half and at the break Souths led 11–2.
The Sea Eagles refused to lay down and mid-way through the second half second-rower John Morgan crashed over for a try which was converted by Bob Batty. Then a Bob Fulton field goal with fourteen minutes left brought Manly within reach. But despite the Manly fightback Souths was too resilient and hung on to win its second successive premiership and the club's 18th title.
** South Sydney 13** (Tries: Cleary. Goals: Simms 5.)
** Manly-Warringah 9** (Tries: Morgan. Goals: Batty 2. Fld Goals: Fulton 1.)
Player statistics
The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22. Top 5 point scorers
| Points | Player | Tries | Goals | Field Goals | 184 | 181 | 167 | 152 | 136 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eric Simms | 0 | 65 | 27 | ||||||
| Dennis Preston | 7 | 80 | 0 | ||||||
| Terry Hughes | 7 | 67 | 6 | ||||||
| Len Killeen | 8 | 64 | 0 | ||||||
| Allan McKean | 0 | 67 | 1 |
Top 5 try scorers
| Tries | Player | 20 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stan Gorton | ||||||||
| Les Hanigan | ||||||||
| Mick Alchin | ||||||||
| George Ruebner | ||||||||
| Ron Coote | ||||||||
| Bob Mara | ||||||||
| Johnny Rhodes |
Top 5 goal scorers
| Goals | Player | 80 | 67 | 67 | 65 | 64 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Preston | ||||||
| Allan McKean | ||||||
| Terry Hughes | ||||||
| Eric Simms | ||||||
| Len Killeen |
References
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.
Ask Mako anything about 1968 NSWRFL season — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report