1908 South Sydney season explained

Year:	1908
Coach2:	Edward Fry
Next Season:	1909
Top Points:	Arthur Butler (46)
Top Goals:	Arthur Butler (11)
Top Tries:	Arthur Butler (8)
Stadium:	Royal Agricultural Society Showground
Captain3:	John Rosewell
Captain2:	Edward Fry
Captain:	Arthur Hennessy
Coach:	Arthur Hennessy
League:	NSWRFL
Points Against:	53
Points For:	194
League Losses:	1
League Draws:	0
League Wins:	8
Playoff Result:	Premiers
League Rank:	1st (out of 9)

The 1908 South Sydney season was the first in the club's history. They competed in the New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL) Premiership, finishing as the inaugural Australian rugby league premiers.

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	South Sydney	9	8	0	1	1	194	53	+141	18
2	Eastern Suburbs	9	8	0	1	1	183	90	+93	18
3	Glebe	9	7	0	2	1	106	63	+43	16
4	North Sydney	9	6	0	3	1	155	66	+89	14
5	Newcastle	9	4	0	5	1	151	116	+35	10
6	Balmain	9	3	1	5	1	86	113	−27	9
7	Newtown	9	1	1	7	1	70	148	−78	5
8	Western Suburbs	9	1	0	8	1	47	190	−143	4
9	Cumberland^[1]	8	1	0	7	2	38	191	−153	4*

• Cumberland deducted 2 points due to late entry into the competition.

Fixtures

Regular season

Round	Opponent	Result	Score	Date	Venue	Crowd	Ref
1	North Sydney	Win	11 – 7	Monday 20 April	Birchgrove	3,000	^[2]
2	Western Suburbs	Win	42 – 7	Saturday 25 April	Royal Agricultural Society Showground		^[3]
	Cumberland Fruit Pickers	Win	23 – 2	Saturday 9 May	Royal Agricultural Society Showground	20,000	^[4]
3	Eastern Suburbs	Loss	12 – 13	Saturday 16 May	Royal Agricultural Society Showground	3,000	^[5]
4	BYE
5	Newtown	Win	31 – 3	Friday 30 May	Royal Agricultural Society Showground	800	^[6]
6	Glebe	Win	21 – 5	Saturday 20 June	Wentworth	1,500	^[7]
7	Newcastle	Win	30 – 11	Saturday 27 June	Royal Agricultural Society Showground	4,000	^[8]
8	BYE
9	Balmain	Win	16 – 2	Saturday 25 July	Birchgrove	800	^[9]
10	Newcastle	Win	8 – 3	Sunday 8 August	Wentworth	200	^[10]

Finals

Statistics

Name	App	T	G	FG	Pts
Tommy Anderson	8	6	1	0	20
Arthur Butler	9	8	11	0	46
Harold Butler	11	4	3	0	18
William "Billy" Cann	5	6	0	0	18
John Cochrane	9	1	0	0	3
Arthur Conlin	8	2	2	0	10
Maxwell Coxon	5	1	0	0	3
Walter Davis	8	2	0	0	6
Bruce Douglas	1	0	0	0	0
Edward "Ed" Fry	9	2	0	0	6
Thomas Golden	1	1	0	0	3
Dick Green	11	6	8	0	34
William Harden	1	0	0	0	0
Arthur Hennessy	5	2	0	0	6
Fred Jarman	9	2	0	0	6
John Leveson	11	3	0	0	9
Arthur McCallum	2	0	0	0	0
William Neill	7	0	0	0	0
John Rosewell	8	1	3	0	9
Leo Senior	4	3	0	0	9
Frank Storie	8	6	0	0	18
George Wells	2	0	0	0	0
Richard Wylie	1	0	0	0	0
Totals	143	56	20	0	224

References

1. Book: Whiticker. Alan. Collis. Ian. 2006. The History of Rugby League Clubs. New Holland, Sydney. 9781741104707. 120.
2. Web site: NSWRFL 1908 - Round 1 - Rugby League Project. 2021-09-25. www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
3. Web site: NSWRFL 1908 - Round 2 - Rugby League Project. 2021-09-25. www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
4. Web site: NSWRFL 1908 - Round 2 - Rugby League Project. 2021-09-25. www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
5. Web site: NSWRFL 1908 - Round 3 - Rugby League Project. 2021-09-25. www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
6. Web site: NSWRFL 1908 - Round 5 - Rugby League Project. 2021-09-25. www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
7. Web site: NSWRFL 1908 - Round 6 - Rugby League Project. 2021-09-25. www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
8. Web site: NSWRFL 1908 - Round 7 - Rugby League Project. 2021-09-25. www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
9. Web site: NSWRFL 1908 - Round 9 - Rugby League Project. 2021-09-25. www.rugbyleagueproject.org.
10. Web site: NSWRFL 1908 - Round 10 - Rugby League Project. 2021-09-25. www.rugbyleagueproject.org.