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1974 NSWRFL season
Rugby league competition
Rugby league competition
| Field | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| year | 1974 | |
| competition | New South Wales Rugby Football League | |
| teams | 12 | |
| premiers | [[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg | 16x16px]] Eastern Suburbs |
| count | 10th | |
| minor premiers | [[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg | 16x16px]] Eastern Suburbs |
| mpcount | 12th | |
| matches | 138 | |
| points | 4382 | |
| attendance | 1,278,823 | |
| top point scorer | [[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg | 16x16px]] Graham Eadie (216) |
| top try scorer | [[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg | 16x16px]] Kevin Junee (23) |
| [[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg | 16x16px]] Bill Mullins (23) | |
| MVP | Graham Eadie | |
| MVP_link | Rothmans Medal | |
| wooden_spoon | Balmain Tigers | |
| wooden_spoon_count | 2nd | |
| prevseason_link | 1973 NSWRFL season | |
| prevseason_year | 1973 | |
| nextseason_link | 1975 NSWRFL season | |
| nextseason_year | 1975 |
The 1974 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 67th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, 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, which culminated in a grand final match for the WD & HO Wills Cup between the Eastern Suburbs and Canterbury-Bankstown clubs. This season NSWRFL teams also competed for the inaugural Amco Cup.
Season summary
The preseason saw Eastern Suburbs defeat South Sydney 43–0 in the final of the preseason competition at the Sydney Sports Ground, while Parramatta beat Cronulla 20–8 in the playoff for third at Belmore Oval.
This season the NSWRFL made the financial commitment to bring suburban football grounds up to a higher standard in order to take more games to the fans on a home-and-away basis.
Twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March until August, resulting in a top five of Eastern Suburbs, Manly-Warringah, Canterbury-Bankstown, Western Suburbs and Souths who battled it out in the finals. This season would mark the first time since 1950 where St. George failed to make the finals and the first time since 1911 that Balmain would finish last and take out the wooden spoon.
The 1974 Rothmans Medal was awarded to Manly-Warringah's fullback Graham Eadie. Rugby League Week awarded their player of the year award to Eastern Suburbs' forward Arthur Beetson.
Teams
| **Penrith**[[File:Penrith Jersey 1971.png | 100px | center]] | **South Sydney**[[File:South Sydney Jersey 1968.png | 100px | center]] | **St. George Dragons**[[File:St George Jersey 1959.png | 100px | center]] | **Western Suburbs**[[File:Western Suburbs Jersey 1974.png | 100px | center]] |
|---|
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg | 16x16px]] Eastern Suburbs | 22 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 513 | 198 | +315 |
| 2 | [[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg | 16x16px]] Manly-Warringah | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 526 | 316 | +210 |
| 3 | [[Image:Canterbury colours.svg | 16x16px]] Canterbury-Bankstown | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 364 | 308 | +56 |
| 4 | [[Image:Western Suburbs colours.svg | 16x16px]] Western Suburbs | 22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 402 | 305 | +97 |
| 5 | [[Image:South Sydney colours.svg | 16x16px]] South Sydney | 22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 317 | 327 | -10 |
| 6 | [[Image:North Sydney colours.svg | 16x16px]] North Sydney | 22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 297 | 272 | +25 |
| 7 | [[Image:Newtown colours.svg | 16x16px]] Newtown | 22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 278 | 261 | +17 |
| 8 | [[Image:St. George colours.svg | 16x16px]] St. George | 22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 331 | 363 | -32 |
| 9 | Penrith | 22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 353 | 465 | -112 | |
| 10 | [[Image:Cronulla colours.svg | 16x16px]] [Cronulla-Sutherland](1974-cronulla-sutherland-sharks-season) | 22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 314 | 437 | -123 |
| 11 | [[Image:Parramatta colours.svg | 16x16px]] Parramatta | 22 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 237 | 454 | -217 |
| 12 | [[Image:Balmain colours.svg | 16x16px]] Balmain | 22 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 255 | 481 | -226 |
Finals
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Qualifying Finals** | |||||||||
| [[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg | 23x23px]] Manly-Warringah | 14–20 | [[Image:Canterbury colours.svg | 23x23px]] Canterbury-Bankstown | 31 August 1974 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Keith Page | 23,600 | |
| [[Image:Western Suburbs colours.svg | 23x23px]] Western Suburbs | 24–8 | [[Image:South Sydney colours.svg | 23x23px]] South Sydney | 1 September 1974 | Sydney Sports Ground | Laurie Bruyeres | 26,276 | |
| **Semi-finals** | |||||||||
| [[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg | 23x23px]] Eastern Suburbs | 17–19 | [[Image:Canterbury colours.svg | 23x23px]] Canterbury-Bankstown | 7 September 1974 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Keith Page | 31,432 | |
| [[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg | 23x23px]] Manly-Warringah | 20–23 | [[Image:Western Suburbs colours.svg | 23x23px]] Western Suburbs | 8 September 1974 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Laurie Bruyeres | 40,050 | |
| **Preliminary final** | |||||||||
| [[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg | 23x23px]] Eastern Suburbs | 25–2 | [[Image:Western Suburbs colours.svg | 23x23px]] Western Suburbs | 14 September 1974 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Laurie Bruyeres | 43,072 | |
| **Grand final** | |||||||||
| [[Image:Canterbury colours.svg | 23x23px]] Canterbury-Bankstown | 4–19 | [[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg | 23x23px]] Eastern Suburbs | 21 September 1974 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Laurie Bruyeres | 57,214 |
Chart
| team-width=150
| RD1-seed1=2 | RD1-team1= Manly | RD1-score1=14 | RD1-seed2=3 | RD1-team2= Canterbury | RD1-score2=20
| RD1-seed3=4 | RD1-team3= Western Suburbs | RD1-score3=24 | RD1-seed4=5 | RD1-team4= South Sydney | RD1-score4=8
| RD2-seed1=1 | RD2-team1= Eastern Suburbs | RD2-score1=17 | RD2-seed2= | RD2-team2= Canterbury | RD2-score2=19
| RD2-seed3= | RD2-team3= Manly | RD2-score3=20 | RD2-seed4= | RD2-team4= Western Suburbs | RD2-score4=23
| RD3-seed1= | RD3-team1= Eastern Suburbs | RD3-score1=25 | RD3-seed2= | RD3-team2= Western Suburbs | RD3-score2=2
| RD4-seed1= | RD4-team1= Canterbury | RD4-score1=4 | RD4-seed2= | RD4-team2= Eastern Suburbs | RD4-score2=19
Grand final
| Canterbury-Bankstown | Position | Eastern Suburbs |
|---|---|---|
| FB | ||
| 2. Chris Anderson | WG | 2. Jim Porter |
| 3. Stan Cutler | CE | 3. John Brass |
| 4. Peter Winchester | CE | 4. Mark Harris |
| 5. Terry Murphy | WG | 5. Bill Mullins |
| 6. Mark Hughes | FE | 6. John Peard |
| 7. Don Moseley | HB | 7. Johnny Mayes |
| 13. Brian Lockwood | PR | 13. Ken Jones |
| 12. George Peponis | HK | 12. Elwyn Walters |
| 11. Bill Noonan | PR | 10. Ian Mackay |
| 10. Geoff Connell | SR | 11. Arthur Beetson (c) |
| 9. John McDonell (c) | SR | 9. Barry "Bunny" Reilly |
| 8. John Peek | LK | 8. Ron Coote |
| 18. Henry Tatana | Reserve | 16. Harry Cameron |
| Reserve | 24. Greg Bandiera | |
| Malcolm Clift | Coach | Jack Gibson |
** Eastern Suburbs 19** (Tries: Beetson, Harris, Mullins. Goals: Peard 3, Brass 2.)
defeated
** Canterbury-Bankstown 4** (Goals: Cutler 2.)
Player statistics
The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22. Top 5 point scorers
| Points | Player | Tries | Goals | Field Goals | 200 | 188 | 136 | 136 | 135 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graham Eadie | 10 | 85 | 0 | ||||||
| John Brass | 7 | 83 | 1 | ||||||
| Eric Simms | 2 | 65 | 0 | ||||||
| Reg Walton | 4 | 62 | 0 | ||||||
| John Dorahy | 6 | 58 | 1 |
Top 5 try scorers
| Tries | Player | 21 | 19 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Junee | ||||||
| Bill Mullins | ||||||
| Bob Fulton | ||||||
| Chris Anderson | ||||||
| Glenn West |
Top 5 goal scorers
| Goals | Player | 85 | 83 | 65 | 62 | 60 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graham Eadie | ||||||
| John Brass | ||||||
| Eric Simms | ||||||
| Reg Walton | ||||||
| Henry Tatana |
References
References
- "1974 NSWRL Pre-Season Cup Final – South Sydney v Eastern Suburbs".
- (19 March 1978). "Form over five years". [[The Sun-Herald]].
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