| Year: | 1939 |
| Competition: | New South Wales Rugby Football League |
| Teams: | 8 |
| Count: | 7th |
| Mpcount: | 7th |
| Matches: | 59 |
| Points: | 1655 |
| Top Point Scorer: | Neville Smith (97) |
| Top Try Scorer: | Sid Goodwin (18) |
| Prevseason Link: | 1938 NSWRFL season |
| Prevseason Year: | 1938 |
| Nextseason Link: | 1940 NSWRFL season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1940 |
The 1939 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the thirty-second season of Sydney’s top-level rugby league club competition, Australia’s first. Eight teams from across the city contested the premiership during the season, which lasted from April until September and culminated in Balmain’s victory over South Sydney in the final.[1]
This was to be the St. George club’s final season at Earl Park, Arncliffe, the following season moving back to Hurstville Oval.
| width=20 abbr="Position" | width=175 | Team | width=20 abbr="Played" | Pld | width=20 abbr="Won" | W | width=20 abbr="Drawn" | D | width=20 abbr="Lost" | L | width=20 abbr="Points for" | PF | width=20 abbr="Points against" | PA | width=20 abbr="Points difference" | PD | width=20 abbr="Points" | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Balmain | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 249 | 115 | +134 | 22 | ||||||||||
| 2 | St. George | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 268 | 169 | +99 | 20 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 234 | 155 | +79 | 20 | ||||||||||
| 4 | South Sydney | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 219 | 158 | +61 | 18 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Eastern Suburbs | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 192 | 184 | +8 | 16 | ||||||||||
| 6 | Western Suburbs | 14 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 148 | 213 | -65 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 7 | North Sydney | 14 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 129 | 272 | -143 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Newtown | 14 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 124 | 297 | -173 | 4 | ||||||||||
In the two semi finals, minor premiers Balmain narrowly defeated Canterbury whilst fourth-placed South Sydney beat second-placed St. George.
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=17% | Date and Time | width=17% | Venue | width=11% | Referee | width=7% | Crowd | ||
| Semifinals | |||||||||
| align=left | Balmain | 13–9 | align=left | Canterbury | 19 August 1939 | Sydney Cricket Ground | George Bishop | 23,774 | |
| align=left | St. George | 10–23 | align=left | South Sydney | 26 August 1939 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Tom McMahon | 21,722 | |
| Final | |||||||||
| align=left | Balmain | 33–4 | align=left | South Sydney | 2 September 1939 | Sydney Cricket Ground | George Bishop | 26,972 | |
| Balmain | Position | South Sydney |
|---|---|---|
| 16. Dick Johnson | ||
| 2. Sid Goodwin (c) | WG | 12. Harry Thompson |
| 11. Alan Quinlivan | ||
| CE | 14. Fred Felsch (c) | |
| 13. Alan Tuohey | ||
| 10. Jack Kadwell | ||
| HB | 20. Albert Webster | |
| 36. John Whitfield | ||
| 4. George Kilham | ||
| SR | 2. Percy Fairall | |
| 3. Johnny Brown | ||
| 8. Eddie Hinson | ||
| Coach | Charlie Lynch | |
The match was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground and refereed by George Bishop in front of 26,972. The game was tight in the first half with the Tigers scoring one try to lead 7–2 at the break.
In the second-half Balmain ran away with it, scoring six further tries to South Sydney’s none for a crushing seventh premiership title and the Tigers’ first since 1924. Star Balmain players of the time included Sid Goodwin, Frank Hyde, Tom Bourke, Athol Smith, Billy Bischoff, George Watt and Jim Quealey.
Balmain 33 (Tries: Tom Bourke 2, Frank Hyde, J. Redman, Jim Quealey, D. Buckley, A. Smith. Goals: H. Day 5, W. Johnson)
defeated
South Sydney 4 (Fred Felsch 2 goals)