| Year: | 1945 |
| Competition: | New South Wales Rugby Football League |
| Teams: | 8 |
| Count: | 9th |
| Mpcount: | 11th |
| Matches: | 60 |
| Points: | 1941 |
| Top Point Scorer: | Dick Dunn (150) |
| Top Try Scorer: | Chicka Cahill (13) |
| Prevseason Link: | 1944 NSWRFL season |
| Prevseason Year: | 1944 |
| Nextseason Link: | 1946 NSWRFL season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1946 |
The 1945 NSWRFL season was the thirty-eighth New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership season, Sydney’s top-level rugby league club competition, and Australia’s first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season which culminated in Eastern Suburbs' victory over Balmain in the grand final.[1]
| width=175 | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eastern Suburbs | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 276 | 190 | +86 | 22 | |
| 2 | Newtown | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 326 | 177 | +149 | 21 | |
| 3 | Western Suburbs | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 238 | 192 | +46 | 17 | |
| 4 | Balmain | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 252 | 202 | +50 | 16 | |
| 5 | North Sydney | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 188 | 175 | +13 | 16 | |
| 6 | Canterbury | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 217 | 285 | -68 | 9 | |
| 7 | St. George | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 183 | 253 | -70 | 9 | |
| 8 | South Sydney | 14 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 144 | 350 | -206 | 2 |
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=17% | Date and Time | width=17% | Venue | width=11% | Referee | width=7% | Crowd | ||
| Playoff | |||||||||
| align=left | Balmain | 9–5 | align=left | North Sydney | 16 August 1945 | Sydney Cricket Ground | 17,207 | ||
| Semifinals | |||||||||
| align=left | Eastern Suburbs | 28–13 | align=left | Western Suburbs | 18 August 1945 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Tom McMahon | 34,916 | |
| align=left | Newtown | 9–13 | align=left | Balmain | 25 August 1945 | Sydney Cricket Ground | George Bishop | 35,151 | |
| Final | |||||||||
| align=left | Eastern Suburbs | 22–18 | align=left | Balmain | 1 September 1945[3] | Sydney Cricket Ground | Jack O'Brien | 44,585 | |
| Eastern Suburbs | Position | Balmain | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40. Ray Pratt | |||
| WG | 12. Robert Nielson | ||
| 3.Joe Jorgenson | |||
| 11. Johnny Hunter | CE | 4. Tom Bourke (c) | |
| 31. Robert Paterson | |||
| 8. Harry Leo | |||
| HB | 7. Stan Ponchard | ||
| 1. Ray Stehr (c) | 10. Jack Spencer | ||
| 9. Ted Dawes | |||
| 23. Hilton Kidd | |||
| SR | 11. Jim Metcalf | ||
| 24. Sid Ryan | |||
| 13. Jack Hampstead | |||
| Coach | Norm Robinson |
Dunn received Joe Jorgenson’s kick from the restart and booted the ball into touch five metres from the Balmain line. Tricolours’ George Watt won the scrum against the feed and Easts’ classy halves pairing of Sel Lisle and Wally O'Connell put on a move that saw Dunn score in the corner.
Dunn scored 19 of the Tricolours’ 22 points that day carrying with him for luck the sock of his fourteen-month-old daughter in his shorts pocket throughout the match.[4] [5]
Eastern Suburbs 22 (Tries: Dunn 3, J Arnold. Goals: Dunn 5)
defeated
Balmain 18 (Tries: Ponchard 2, Dawes, Nielsen. Goals: Jorgenson 3)
The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 14.Top 5 point scorers
| width=50 | Points | width=200 | Player | width=30 | Tries | width=30 | Goals | width=30 | Field Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 118 | Dick Dunn | 8 | 47 | 0 | |||||
| 103 | Joe Jorgenson | 5 | 44 | 0 | |||||
| 98 | Tom Kirk | 0 | 49 | 0 | |||||
| 50 | Doug Deitz | 0 | 25 | 0 | |||||
| 41 | George Endycott | 1 | 19 | 0 |
| width=50 | Tries | width=200 | Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Charles Cahill | ||
| 12 | Athol Stewart | ||
| 11 | Sid Goodwin | ||
| 11 | Jack Snare | ||
| 9 | Harry Leo |
| width=50 | Goals | width=200 | Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| 49 | Tom Kirk | ||
| 47 | Dick Dunn | ||
| 44 | Joe Jorgenson | ||
| 25 | Doug Deitz | ||
| 19 | George Endycott |