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1972 NSWRFL season

Rugby league competition

Field	Value
year	1972
competition	New South Wales Rugby Football League
imagesize	125px
teams	12
premiers	[[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg	16x16px]] Manly-Warringah
count	1st
minor premiers	[[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg	16x16px]] Manly-Warringah
mpcount	2nd
matches	136
points	4670
attendance	1469899
top point scorer	[[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg	16x16px]] Allan McKean (220)
top try scorer	[[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg	16x16px]] Bob Fulton (19)
MVP	Tommy Raudonikis
MVP_link	Rothmans Medal
wooden_spoon	Parramatta
wooden_spoon_count	11th
prevseason_link	1971 NSWRFL season
prevseason_year	1971
nextseason_link	1973 NSWRFL season
nextseason_year	1973

The 1972 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 65th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, and Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from across Sydney, competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season. The competition culminated in a grand final match between the Manly-Warringah and Eastern Suburbs clubs.

Season summary

The 1972 season's Rothmans Medal winner was Western Suburbs' halfback Tommy Raudonikis. Rugby League Week awarded their player of the year award to Eastern Suburbs' five-eighth John Ballesty.

This season, for the first time since 1966, Souths would fail to reach the grand final, and for the first time since 1948, the Grand Final did not feature either Souths or St George.

Following the grand final, several players travelled to France to represent Australia in the 1972 Rugby League World Cup.

Teams

Penrith[[File:Penrith Jersey 1972.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

Regular season

Team	1	2
Balmain	**WES
+4**	NOR
−10	**PAR
0**	PEN
−5	EAS
−11	**STG
−9**	CBY
−6	NEW
+5	**MAN
+10**	**SOU
−18**	CRO
−4	WES
+9	**NOR
+7**	PAR
−7	**PEN
+9**	**EAS
−7**	STG
−8	**CBY
−2**	**NEW
−13**	MAN
−22	SOU
−21	**CRO
−23**
Canterbury-Bankstown	**STG
+4**	NEW
−12	**SOU
−14**	WES
−4	PAR
+10	**EAS
+6**	**BAL
+6**	MAN
−29	**CRO
+21**	**NOR
−1**	PEN
+23	STG
−3	**NEW
−2**	SOU
−16	**WES
+15**	**PAR
+9**	EAS
−7	BAL
+2	**MAN
−14**	CRO
+5	NOR
+3	**PEN
+7**
Cronulla-Sutherland	**NOR
+13**	**PEN
−3**	STG
−37	**NEW
−15**	SOU
−14	**WES
−6**	**PAR
+14**	EAS
−17	CBY
−21	MAN
−14	**BAL
+4**	NOR
−2	PEN
+2	**STG
−1**	NEW
−2	**SOU
+11**	WES
+18	PAR
+18	**EAS
−7**	**CBY
−5**	**MAN
−5**	BAL
+23
Eastern Suburbs	NEW
+23	SOU
−9	WES
+16	**PAR
+38**	**BAL
+11**	CBY
−6	**MAN
+7**	**CRO
+17**	NOR
+14	PEN
+23	**STG
0**	**NEW
−15**	**SOU
+5**	**WES
+20**	PAR
+21	BAL
+7	**CBY
+7**	MAN
−3	CRO
+7	**NOR
+2**	**PEN
+23**	STG
+9	X	MAN
−24	**STG
+2**	MAN
−5
Manly-Warringah	**PEN
+28**	STG
−18	**NEW
+1**	**SOU
+7**	**WES
+4**	PAR
+2	EAS
−7	**CBY
+29**	BAL
−10	**CRO
+14**	NOR
+12	PEN
+20	**STG
0**	NEW
+1	SOU
+8	WES
+25	**PAR
+22**	**EAS
+3**	CBY
+14	**BAL
+22**	CRO
+5	**NOR
+23**	X	**EAS
+24**	X	**EAS
+5**
Newtown	**EAS
−23**	**CBY
+12**	MAN
−1	CRO
+15	**NOR
0**	**PEN
+18**	STG
−10	**BAL
−5**	**SOU
−9**	WES
−3	PAR
+12	EAS
+15	CBY
+2	**MAN
−1**	**CRO
+2**	NOR
+10	PEN
0	**STG
−20**	BAL
+13	SOU
+8	**WES
+6**	**PAR
−10**
North Sydney	CRO
−13	**BAL
+10**	PEN
+19	**STG
−8**	NEW
0	**SOU
−5**	WES
−29	**PAR
+24**	**EAS
−14**	CBY
+1	**MAN
−12**	**CRO
+2**	BAL
−7	**PEN
+27**	STG
−3	**NEW
−10**	SOU
−26	**WES
+3**	PAR
−16	EAS
−2	**CBY
−3**	MAN
−23
Parramatta	SOU
−34	**WES
0**	BAL
0	EAS
−38	**CBY
−10**	**MAN
−2**	CRO
−14	NOR
−24	**PEN
+7**	STG
−22	**NEW
−12**	**SOU
−10**	WES
−42	**BAL
+7**	**EAS
−21**	CBY
−9	MAN
−22	**CRO
−18**	**NOR
+16**	PEN
−12	**STG
−18**	NEW
+10
Penrith	MAN
−28	CRO
+3	**NOR
−19**	**BAL
+5**	STG
−24	NEW
−18	**SOU
−6**	**WES
−18**	PAR
−7	**EAS
−23**	**CBY
−23**	**MAN
−20**	**CRO
−2**	NOR
−27	BAL
−9	**STG
−5**	**NEW
0**	SOU
+6	WES
+21	**PAR
+12**	EAS
−23	CBY
−7
South Sydney	**PAR
+34**	**EAS
+9**	CBY
+14	MAN
−7	**CRO
+14**	NOR
+5	PEN
+6	**STG
−17**	NEW
+9	BAL
+18	**WES
+14**	PAR
+10	EAS
−5	**CBY
+16**	**MAN
−8**	CRO
−11	**NOR
+26**	**PEN
−6**	STG
+10	**NEW
−8**	**BAL
+21**	WES
−19	STG
−4
St. George	CBY
−4	**MAN
+18**	**CRO
+37**	NOR
+8	**PEN
+24**	BAL
+9	**NEW
+10**	SOU
+17	WES
−4	**PAR
+22**	EAS
0	**CBY
+3**	MAN
0	CRO
+1	**NOR
+3**	PEN
+5	**BAL
+8**	NEW
+20	**SOU
−10**	**WES
+1**	PAR
+18	**EAS
−9**	**SOU
+4**	X	EAS
−2
Western Suburbs	BAL
−4	PAR
0	**EAS
−16**	**CBY
+4**	MAN
−4	CRO
+6	**NOR
+29**	PEN
+18	**STG
+4**	**NEW
+3**	SOU
−14	**BAL
−9**	**PAR
+42**	EAS
−20	CBY
−15	**MAN
−25**	**CRO
−18**	NOR
−3	**PEN
−21**	STG
−1	NEW
−6	**SOU
+19**

Bold – Home game

X – Bye

Opponent for round listed above margin

Ladder

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	[[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg	16x16px]] Manly	22	18	1	3	460	255	+205
2	[[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg	16x16px]] Eastern Suburbs	22	17	1	4	514	297	+217
3	[[Image:St. George colours.svg	16x16px]] St. George	22	16	2	4	398	221	+177
4	[[Image:South Sydney colours.svg	16x16px]] South Sydney	22	14	0	8	456	331	+125
5	[[Image:Newtown colours.svg	16x16px]] Newtown	22	11	2	9	402	371	+31
6	[[Image:Canterbury colours.svg	16x16px]] Canterbury	22	12	0	10	382	373	+9
7	[[Image:Western Suburbs colours.svg	16x16px]] Western Suburbs	22	8	1	13	367	398	-31
8	[[Image:Cronulla colours.svg	16x16px]] Cronulla	22	8	0	14	332	378	-46
9	[[Image:North Sydney colours.svg	16x16px]] North Sydney	22	7	1	14	320	405	-85
10	[[Image:Balmain colours.svg	16x16px]] Balmain	22	6	1	15	333	455	-122
11	Penrith	22	5	1	16	278	490	-212
12	[[Image:Parramatta colours.svg	16x16px]] Parramatta	22	4	2	16	317	585	-268

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	20	21	22
1	Manly-Warringah	2	2	4	6	8	10	10	12	12	14	16	18	19	21	23	25	27	29	31	33	35
2	Eastern Suburbs	2	2	4	6	8	8	10	12	14	16	17	17	19	21	23	25	27	27	29	31	33
3	St. George	0	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	14	16	17	19	20	22	24	26	28	30	30	32	34
4	South Sydney	2	4	6	6	8	10	12	12	14	16	18	20	20	22	22	22	24	24	26	26	28
5	Newtown	0	2	2	4	5	7	7	7	7	7	9	11	13	13	15	17	18	18	20	22	24
6	Canterbury-Bankstown	2	2	2	2	4	6	8	8	10	10	12	12	12	12	14	16	16	18	18	20	22
7	Western Suburbs	0	1	1	3	3	5	7	9	11	13	13	13	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15
8	Cronulla-Sutherland	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	6	6	8	8	8	10	12	14	14	14	14
9	North Sydney	0	2	4	4	5	5	5	7	7	9	9	11	11	13	13	13	13	15	15	15	15
10	Balmain	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	5	7	7	7	9	11	11	13	13	13	13	13	13	13
11	Penrith	0	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	7	9	11	11
12	Parramatta	0	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	6	6	8	8	8

Finals

Home	Score	Away	Match information	Date and time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semi-finals
[[Image:St. George colours.svg	23x23px]] St. George	14–10	[[Image:South Sydney colours.svg	23x23px]] South Sydney	26 August 1972	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	47,945
[[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg	23x23px]] Manly-Warringah	32–8	[[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg	23x23px]] Eastern Suburbs	2 September 1972	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	43,695
Preliminary Final
[[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg	23x23px]] Eastern Suburbs	8–6	[[Image:St. George colours.svg	23x23px]] St. George	9 September 1972	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	41,313
Grand Final
[[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg	23x23px]] Manly-Warringah	19–14	[[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg	23x23px]] Eastern Suburbs	16 September 1972	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	54,537

Grand final

Manly-Warringah	Position	Eastern Suburbs
	FB
2. Ken Irvine	WG	2. Jim Porter
3. Ray Branighan	CE	3. Harry Cameron
4. Bob Fulton	CE	4. Mark Harris
5. Max Brown	WG	5. Bill Mullins
6. Ian Martin	FE	6. John Ballesty
7. Dennis Ward	HB	7. Kevin Junee
13. Bill Hamilton	PR	13. John Armstrong
12. Fred Jones (c)	HK	12. Peter Moscatt
11. John O'Neill	PR	11. Arthur Beetson
10. Allan Thomson	SR	10. Greg Bandiera
9. Terry Randall	SR	9. John Quayle
8. Mal Reilly	LK	8. Ron Coote (c)
	Bench	16. Laurie Freier
Ron Willey	Coach	Don Furner

After twenty-five years in the competition and five Grand Final losses, Manly finally broke through to win the club's first NSWRFL premiership.{{cite news | access-date = 19 September 2010}}

In a controversial match, the Sea-Eagles downed the Eastern Suburbs Roosters 19 to 14, thus shedding their 'bridesmaids' tag. The Roosters were highly critical of referee Keith Page after the match, claiming both of Manly's tries shouldn't have been awarded. To add to their rage, Easts crossed for two tries that were disallowed.

A dour first half saw the teams go to the break tied 4–4, before a try by hooker Fred Jones put Manly ahead. Jones appeared to drop the ball as he attempted to ground it, but was awarded a try nonetheless. For his part Jones contends that he did place the ball with downward pressure. Midway through the second half, controversy flared again when Manly centre Ray Branighan appeared to stop over the Eastern Suburbs try line after accepting what looked like a forward pass from prop Bill Hamilton. However, referee Page allowed it and the Manly fans began celebrating, knowing that at 19–4 their first premiership victory was assured. Although Easts fought back with two late tries to John Ballesty and Bill Mullins and brought the score to 19–14, time ran out for the Roosters and Manly had won their first ever premiership in first grade.

In the end, it was Manly's part-time goal kicker Ray Branighan who proved the difference, kicking six goals from eight attempts.

** Manly-Warringah 19** (Tries: Fred Jones, Ray Branighan. Goals: Ray Branighan 6. Field Goal: Bob Fulton)

Eastern Suburbs 14 (Tries: John Ballesty, Bill Mullins. Goals: Allan McKean 4)

Man of the Match: Dennis Ward (Manly).

Referee: Keith Page

Attendance: 54,537

Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22. Top 5 point scorers

Points	Player	Tries	Goals
Allan McKean	7	90	1
Eric Simms	2	79	2
Barry Andrews	3	71	0
Graeme Langlands	7	63	0
Peter Inskip	3	62	1

Top 5 try scorers

Tries	Player	18	17	16	15	15
John Bradstock
Bob Fulton
Bill Mullins
Mark Harris
Glen Capelin

Top 5 goal scorers

Goals	Player	90	79	71	64	63
Allan McKean
Eric Simms
Barry Andrews
Tony Ford
Graeme Langlands

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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