1941 NSWRFL season explained

Year:1941
Competition:New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams:8
Count:1st
Mpcount:10th
Matches:59
Points:1933
Top Point Scorer: Neville Smith (84)
Top Try Scorer: Percy Dermond (13)
Sel Lisle (13)
Prevseason Link:1940 NSWRFL season
Prevseason Year:1940
Nextseason Link:1942 NSWRFL season
Nextseason Year:1942

The 1941 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the thirty-fourth season of Sydney’s top-level rugby league competition, Australia’s first. Eight teams from across the city contested the premiership during the season, which lasted from April until August, culminating in Eastern Suburbs’ loss to St. George in the grand final.[1]

Teams

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 Eastern Suburbs14905217160+5718
2 Balmain14905243205+3818
3 Canterbury-Bankstown14905205182+2318
4 St. George14815307248+5917
5 Newtown14626219242-2314
6 Western Suburbs14608247226+2112
7 South Sydney144010193277-848
8 North Sydney143110171262-917
As three clubs were equal on points at the end of the home-and-away season, no club had the right of challenge in the finals.

Finals

Eastern Suburbs and St. George won their respective semi finals, allowing them to meet in the final.

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
width=17%Date and Timewidth=17%Venuewidth=11%Refereewidth=7%Crowd
Semifinals
align=left Eastern Suburbs24–22align=left Canterbury-Bankstown16 August 1941Sydney Cricket GroundTom McMahon21,000
align=left Balmain8–32align=left St. George23 August 1941Sydney Cricket GroundTom McMahon26,790
Final
align=left Eastern Suburbs14–31align=left St. George30 August 1941Sydney Cricket GroundTom McMahon39,957[2]

Premiership final

Eastern SuburbsPositionSt. George
13. Jack Wedgwood
WG
8. Gordon Hart
14. Dave BrownCE49. Jack Gilbert
12. Noel Jones
8. Fred May20. Roy Hasson
HB7. Albert McAndrew
3. Charlie Montgomery
  1. Herb Gilbert Jnr
  1. Ray Stehr (Ca./Co.)
2. Lindsay Spencer
SR5. Neville Smith (Ca./Co.)
6. Len Kelly (v.capt)
23. Bill Tyquin
Reserve47. Bill Collier
Reserve58. Jim Hale
In a tough encounter the Dragons won their first ever premiership in their twenty-first season in the competition. St. George captain-coach Neville Smith was knocked out after a heavy tackle early in the match. Smith recovered and scored 13 points through one try and five goals.

Along with Smith, St. George centre Gordon Hart also gave a sparkling display of free-running rugby league. Recently enlisted in the AIF, Hart had been given permission to leave barracks to participate in the finals.[3]

In another incident Easts’ prop Jack Arnold and Saints’ lock Bill Tyquin were sent off after an almighty punch up. Tyquin, a Queensland representative who would later captain Australia, played only the 1941 war-time season in Sydney while he was stationed there on duty with the AIF.

It was to prove to be the final match in the stellar, record-setting career of Easts’ Dave Brown who at twenty-nine years of age announced his retirement at game’s end.

St. George 31 (Tries: Campbell 2, Hanson 2, Smith, Kelly, Hart. Goals: Smith 5)

defeated

Eastern Suburbs 14 (Tries: Dermond 2, Brown, Bamford. Goals: Brown 1)

Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 14.Top 5 point scorers

width=50 Pointswidth=200 Playerwidth=30 Trieswidth=30 Goalswidth=30 Field Goals
68 Lin Johnson0340
62 N. Parkinson6220
58 Ray Pratt0290
57 Neville Smith7180
54 Fred Felsch2240
Top 5 try scorers
width=50 Trieswidth=200 Player
13 Sel Lisle
12 Arthur Patton
11 William Ryan
10 Sid Goodwin
10 Jack Lindwall
10 Bruce Ryan
10 Bruce Brown
Top 5 goal scorers
width=50 Goalswidth=200 Player
34 Lin Johnson
29 Ray Pratt
26 Percy Williams
24 Fred Felsch
22 N. Parkinson

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://rl1908.com/clubcomps/Honours.htm Premiership Roll of Honour
  2. News: North . Sam . 1941: The Saints surprised them then, too . . Australia . 1 . . 25 September 1992 . 13 February 2011.
  3. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/just-one-member-of-historic-saints-side-present-and-accounted-for/story-e6frexni-1226043491168 ‘Just one member of historic Saints side present and accounted for’