1947 NSWRFL season

The 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the fortieth season of Sydney’s top-level rugby league competition, Australia’s first. For the first time, the number of clubs in the league reached double digits due to the admission of Manly-Warringah and Parramatta to the first grade competition. The season culminated in a grand final between the Balmain and Canterbury-Bankstown clubs.[2]

1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams10
Premiers Balmain[1] (10th title)
Minor premiers Canterbury (3rd title)
Matches played95
Points scored3238
Top points scorer(s) Pat Devery (142)
Top try-scorer(s) Bob Lulham (28)

Season summary

Midway through the season the Balmain club looked out of touch winning only six of their first twelve games. Five consecutive wins to end the regular season left them in position to make a finals assault. Balmain’s Bob Lulham set a new record for the highest number of tries by a player in a debut season with a tally of 28 tries in eighteen matches. This remains that club’s record for tries in a season.

Teams

The addition of two teams, Manly-Warringah and Parramatta, saw ten teams from across the city contest during the 1947 premiership, the first expansion of the League since Canterbury-Bankstown’s introduction in 1935. Manly had been competing for a number of years in the NSWRFL's President's Cup (3rd grade) competition and had been assured by the league of first grade status should they win the Presidents Cup, which they finally did in 1946. After Cumberland’s demise from the league, pressure began to build in the area for another team in the NSWRFL in the 1930s, though this died down during World War II and a Parramatta district club was not proposed again until 1946 when the club was successfully admitted into the Premiership.[3][4]

  • Balmain, formed on January 23, 1908, at Balmain Town Hall
  • Canterbury-Bankstown, formed on September 25, 1934
  • Eastern Suburbs, formed on January 24, 1908, at Paddington Town Hall
  • Manly-Warringah admitted in 1947
  • Newtown, formed on January 14, 1908
  • North Sydney, formed on February 7, 1908
  • Parramatta, formed in November 1946
  • South Sydney, formed on January 17, 1908, at Redfern Town Hall
  • St. George, formed on November 8, 1920, at Kogarah School of Arts
  • Western Suburbs, formed on February 4, 1908
  • Round 1 Teams,
Balmain
40th season
Ground(s): Leichhardt Oval, Sydney Sports Ground
Coach: Norm Robinson
Captain: Tom Bourke
Canterbury-Bankstown
13th season
Ground(s): Belmore Oval,
Sydney Showground, Sydney Sports Ground
Coach: Ross McKinnon
Captain: Henry Porter 		Eastern Suburbs
40th season
Ground(s): Pratten Park, Sydney Sports Ground
Coach: Arthur Halloway
Captain: Sel Lisle 		Manly-Warringah
1st season
Ground(s): Brookvale Oval
Coach: Harold Johnson & Ray Stehr
Captain: Max Whitehead
Newtown
40th season
Ground(s): Erskineville Oval
Captain-coach: Frank Farrell
North Sydney
40th season
Ground(s): North Sydney Oval, Sydney Showground
Coach: Cliff Pearce
Captain: Tom Kirk 		Parramatta
1st season
Ground(s): Cumberland Oval
Coach: Frank McMillan
Captain: Bob Andrews		 South Sydney
40th season
Ground(s): Pratten Park, Sydney Sports Ground
Coach: Dave Watson
Captain: Jack Rayner
St. George
27th season
Ground(s): Hurstville Oval
Coach: Arthur Justice, Charlie Lynch (from May)
Captain: Doug McRitchie		 Western Suburbs
40th season
Ground(s): Pratten Park, Sydney Sports Ground
Coach: Frank Burge
Captain: Eric Bennett

Ladder
Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Canterbury-Bankstown 181314366272+9427
2 Balmain 181206342265+7724
3 Newtown 181116375302+7323
4 St. George 181107353272+8122
5 Western Suburbs 181107295253+4222
6 North Sydney 18918287278+919
7 South Sydney 18909314328-1418
8 Eastern Suburbs 185112270316-4611
9 Manly-Warringah 184014242364-1228
10 Parramatta 183015230424-1946

Finals
Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Crowd
Playoff
St. George 5–10 Western Suburbs 27 August 1947 Sydney Sports Ground 13,552
Semi Finals
Canterbury 25–15 Newtown 30 August 1947 Sydney Cricket Ground George Bishop 36,303
Balmain 27–16 Western Suburbs 6 September 1947 Sydney Sports Ground Tom McMahon 29,375
Final
Canterbury 19–25 Balmain 13 September 1947 Sydney Sports Ground Jack O'Brien 34,994
Grand Final
Canterbury 9–13 Balmain 20 September 1947[5] Sydney Sports Ground Jack O'Brien 29,292

Grand final
Canterbury-Bankstown Position Balmain
Dick JohnsonFBJack McCullough
Jeff SimmondsWGRobert Lulham
Eddie TraceyCEPat Devery
Norm YoungCEJoe Jorgenson
Morrie MurphyWGArthur Patton
Roy HassonFEGeorge Williams
Bruce HopkinsHBDes Bryan
Eddie BurnsPRJohn Brannigan
Roy KirkaldyHKHerb Gilbert Jnr
Henry Porter (c)PRJack Spencer
Alister ClarkeSRSid Ryan
Ken CharltonSRHarry Bath
Len HolmesLKTom Bourke (c)
Ross McKinnonCoachNorm Robinson

The Tigers had strung together seven consecutive wins including a preliminary final victory over minor premiers Canterbury in their attempt at a second straight premiership. Canterbury exercised their “right of challenge” after losing the final and called for a Grand Final decider.

The formidable Canterbury front row of Eddie Burns, Roy Kirkaldy and Henry Porter were combining in their tenth season for over one hundred and fifty appearances as a scrum front trio. They led a punishing Berries defence and gave their side a better-than-even chance of possession in the scrum contests.

Balmain’s star international centre and Kangaroo captain Joe Jorgenson had played and coached on a country contract in Junee in 1947 but returned to the Tigers reserve-grade in time for the semi-finals. The Grand Final marked his sole first-grade appearance of the season. Balmain’s Test five-eighth Pat Devery was the nominated match kicker but after several misses he passed over to Jorgenson who kicked three penalties to keep Balmain in the game and trailing 9–6 with ten minutes to go.

Then Jorgenson crashed over for a try under the posts and after receiving medical attention he converted his own goal to give the Tigers an 11–9 lead. A final 45-yard penalty goal then sealed the match for the Tigers at 13–9 with Jorgenson scoring all of Balmain’s points and being chaired victorious from the field.

Balmain 13 (Tries: Jorgenson. Goals: Jorgenson 5 )

defeated

Canterbury-Bankstown 9 (Tries: Hasson. Goals: Johnson 2, Hasson)

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References
  1. Premiership Roll of Honour Archived April 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine at rl1908.com
  2. "Canterbury wants Kilham back". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia. 1947-09-15. p. 8. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  3. Fagan, Sean. "Parramatta Eels". RL1908. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
  4. "History of the Premiership". centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au. Australian Rugby League. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  5. 1947 Grand Final Archived 2011-03-06 at the Wayback Machine at nrlstats.com
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