1918 NSWRFL season explained

Year:1918
Competition:New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams:8
Count:4th
Mpcount:4th
Matches:56
Points:1345
Top Point Scorer: Harold Horder (87)
Top Try Scorer: Frank Burge (24)
Prevseason Link:1917 NSWRFL season
Prevseason Year:1917
Nextseason Link:1919 NSWRFL season
Nextseason Year:1919

The 1918 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the eleventh season of Sydney’s professional rugby league club competition, Australia’s first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season, with South Sydney finishing on top of the ladder to claim the premiership.[1]

Season summary

The quality of the competition in 1918 suffered due to the loss of players fighting in World War I.[2] South Sydney and Western Suburbs dominated the season, dropping just two and three games respectively. With just three rounds to go, both sides met each square on 18 points each. A win for South Sydney would virtually guarantee them the premiership unless they dropped their final two games. At the end of the day, South Sydney prevailed 11–3 and went on to win all their remaining matches, taking away their fourth premiership from eleven seasons.

The season also saw the struggling Dales fail to win a game from fourteen starts. It was the first winless season in NSWRFL history and signalled the end for the club, who would play only a further two seasons in the premiership.

The Western Suburbs club claimed their first title by winning the knockout competition, the City Cup.

Teams

The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous season.

Ladder

width=20 abbr="Position×" width=175 Teamwidth=20 abbr="Played" Pldwidth=20 abbr="Won" Wwidth=20 abbr="Drawn" Dwidth=20 abbr="Lost" Lwidth=20 abbr="Points for" PFwidth=20 abbr="Points against" PAwidth=20 abbr="Points difference" PDwidth=20 abbr="Points" Pts
1 South Sydney141202257121+13624
2 Western Suburbs141103182102+8022
3 Glebe14905212128+8418
4 Balmain14815215148+6717
5 Eastern Suburbs14806160153+716
6 North Sydney14329131202-718
7 Newtown14239115175-607
8 Annandale14001473316-2430

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.rl1908.com/clubcomps/Honours.htm Premiership Roll of Honour
  2. News: Middleton. David. Ten of the most dominant seasons in rugby league history from historian David Middleton. 6 February 2014. The Daily Telegraph. 30 September 2013.