1964 NSWRFL season
The 1964 NSWRFL season was the fifty-seventh season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, the New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership, Australia's first. 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 Balmain.
| 1964 New South Wales Rugby Football League | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 10 |
| Premiers |  |
| Minor premiers | |
| Matches played | 94 |
| Points scored | 2736 |
| Attendance | 1197569 |
| Top points scorer(s) |  |
| Top try-scorer(s) | |
Teams
| Balmain 57th season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Harry Bath Captain: Keith Barnes |
 30th season Ground: Belmore Oval Coach: Clive Churchill Captain: Les Johns |
Eastern Suburbs 57th season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Capt./Coach: Nat Silcock Jr.[1] |
Manly-Warringah 18th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Russell Pepperell Captain: Barry O'Connell |
 57th season Ground: Henson Park Coach: Allan Ellis Captain: Tony Brown |
 57th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Captain-Coach: Fred Griffiths |
Parramatta 18th season Ground: Cumberland Oval Coach: Ken Kearney Captain: Ron Lynch |
South Sydney 57th season Ground: Redfern Oval Coach: Bernie Purcell Captains: Darrel Chapman , Jim Lisle |
| St. George 44th season Ground: Kogarah Jubilee Oval Captain-coach: Norm Provan |
Western Suburbs 57th season Ground: Pratten Park Coach: Jack Fitzgerald Captain: Noel Kelly |
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
18 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 393 | 154 | +239 | 30 |
| 2 |  |
18 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 274 | 188 | +86 | 28 |
| 3 |  |
18 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 247 | 192 | +55 | 24 |
| 4 | |
18 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 334 | 257 | +77 | 23 |
| 5 |  |
18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 304 | 250 | +54 | 22 |
| 6 |  |
18 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 236 | 268 | -32 | 18 |
| 7 |  |
18 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 259 | 274 | -15 | 17 |
| 8 |  |
18 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 229 | 331 | -102 | 11 |
| 9 |  |
18 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 190 | 351 | -161 | 4 |
| 10 |  |
18 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 168 | 369 | -201 | 3 |
Finals
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
|
11–9 | |
29 August 1964 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Jack Bradley | 35,082 | ||
|
42–0 | |
5 September 1964 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Col Pearce | 33,659 | ||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
|
7–16 | |
12 September 1964 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Col Pearce | 35,389 | ||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
|
11–6 | |
19 September 1964 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Col Pearce | 61,369 | ||
Grand Final
| St. George | Position | Balmain |
|---|---|---|
| Graeme Langlands | FB | Keith Barnes (c) |
| Johnny King | WG | Dick Quinn |
| Reg Gasnier | CE | Brian Dunlop |
| Billy Smith | CE | Robert Ridley |
| Eddie Lumsden | WG | Bob Mara |
| Brian Clay | FE | Jack Danzey |
| George Evans | HB | Billy Bischoff Jr. |
| Monty Porter | PR | Bob Boland |
| Peter Armstrong | HK | Dick Wilson |
| Kevin Ryan | PR | George Piper |
| Elton Rasmussen | SR | Ron Clothier |
| Norm Provan (Ca./Co.) | SR | Peter Provan |
| Johnny Raper | LK | Dennis Tutty |
| Coach | Harry Bath | |
St. George captain-coach Norm Provan was matching up against his younger brother (and former Dragon) Peter, who had moved to the Tigers in 1961.
The Tigers’ defence was strong throughout a dour first half and for the first time in nine grand finals the Dragons trailed at half-time (4–2) with Balmain in the lead after penalty goals from Keith "Golden Boots" Barnes.
The turning point of the match came five minutes into the second half. The Tigers were defending their own line with some desperate tackling when they received a relieving penalty from referee Pearce. Balmain's Bob Boland put in a big punt which at first looked like a good touch finder. To Balmain's horror, Graeme Langlands stretched and then caught the ball with his boots only an inch or two from the touchline. The champion fullback then raced cross-field towards the Balmain line and sent a cut-out pass to Billy Smith 25 yards out from the tryline. The centre made further inroads before channeling a pass to Johnny King who sped down the left wing for 20 yards to score a diving try.
Test winger Johnny King thus kept intact his grand final record with this being his fifth successive try in a decider.
Eighteen-year-old Dennis Tutty stood out for the Tigers, providing reliable cover defence that stopped the Dragons on numerous occasions. For St. George, Smith and Langlands had strong games with Langlands tallying 72 points in his last four games of the season. Brian Clay had by now reclaimed his five-eighth position from Bruce Pollard and excelled just as he had in his five previous Grand Final appearances.
St. George 11 (Tries: King. Goals: Langlands 4.)
Balmain 6 (Goals: Barnes 3.)
References
- "Nat Silcock". yesterdayshero.com.au. SmartPack International. Archived from the original on 8 September 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
External links
- Season 1964 Rugby League Tables
- Writer, Larry (1995) Never Before, Never Again, Pan MacMillan, Sydney
- Results: 1961-70 at rabbitohs.com
- 1964 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup at rleague.com
- NSWRFL season 1964 at rugbyleagueproject.com
- St. George 1964 season at showroom.com.au