1969 NSWRFL season explained

Year:	1969
Competition:	New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams:	12
Count:	11th
Mpcount:	15th
Matches:	136
Points:	4258
Attendance:	1788112
Top Point Scorer:	Eric Simms (265)
Top Try Scorer:	Ken Irvine (17)
Player Of The Year:	Denis Pittard (Rothmans Medal)
Prevseason Link:	1968 NSWRFL season
Prevseason Year:	1968
Nextseason Link:	1970 NSWRFL season
Nextseason Year:	1970

The 1969 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 62nd season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six Sydney-based foundation teams and another six from the Sydney area competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between Balmain and South Sydney.

Season summary

South Sydney fullback Eric Simms' tally of 265 points for the season from 112 goals, 19 field-goals and one try topped the season point scoring record that had been set in the 1935 season by Dave Brown.

The 1969 season's Rothmans Medallist was South Sydney's Denis Pittard.

The 1969 season also saw the retirement from the League of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, John Raper.

Teams

Regular season

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	F1	F2	F3	GF
Balmain	SOU +9	CRO +18	EAS +14	PEN +1	MAN +5	CBY −4	NEW +15	WES +9	PAR +2	STG +5	NOR +8	SOU −17	CRO +3	EAS +2	PEN −4	MAN −3	CBY +24	NEW +10	WES −7	PAR +5	STG +9	NOR +2	X	SOU −1	MAN +1	SOU +9
Canterbury-Bankstown	NEW +18	WES −21	PAR +16	STG +10	NOR +6	BAL +4	CRO +27	EAS −5	PEN −5	MAN −8	SOU −20	NEW −8	WES +5	PAR −9	STG +4	NOR −1	BAL −24	CRO +11	EAS −15	PEN −2	MAN +12	SOU −28
Cronulla-Sutherland	NOR −11	BAL −18	SOU −39	EAS −10	PEN −20	MAN −9	CBY −27	NEW +16	WES −1	PAR −7	STG −4	NOR +8	BAL −3	SOU −5	EAS −5	PEN +3	MAN −7	CBY −11	NEW +11	WES −10	PAR +8	STG −6
Eastern Suburbs	STG +13	NOR −9	BAL −14	CRO +10	SOU −4	PEN +3	MAN −7	CBY +5	NEW +7	WES −11	PAR −12	STG −4	NOR 0	BAL −2	CRO +5	SOU −27	PEN +1	MAN −28	CBY +15	NEW −18	WES −17	PAR −8
Manly-Warringah	WES +11	PAR +2	STG −21	NOR +18	BAL −5	CRO +9	EAS +7	PEN +1	SOU −12	CBY +8	NEW −5	WES +1	PAR +16	STG −1	NOR −10	BAL +3	CRO +7	EAS +28	PEN +9	SOU −4	CBY −12	NEW +7	STG +9	X	BAL −1
Newtown	CBY −18	SOU −14	WES −18	PAR −25	STG −3	NOR −9	BAL −15	CRO −16	EAS −7	PEN 0	MAN +5	CBY +8	SOU −20	WES +6	PAR −1	STG −18	NOR +6	BAL −10	CRO −11	EAS +18	PEN +7	MAN −7
North Sydney	CRO +11	EAS +9	PEN +3	MAN −18	CBY −6	NEW +9	WES −3	PAR +4	STG −23	SOU +9	BAL −8	CRO −8	EAS 0	PEN +29	MAN +10	CBY +1	NEW −6	WES −5	PAR +3	STG −8	SOU −20	BAL −2
Parramatta	PEN +11	MAN −2	CBY −16	NEW +25	WES +6	SOU −27	STG +1	NOR −4	BAL −2	CRO +7	EAS +12	PEN −2	MAN −16	CBY +9	NEW +1	WES +6	SOU +9	STG −25	NOR −3	BAL −5	CRO −8	EAS +8
Penrith	PAR −11	STG −24	NOR −3	BAL −1	CRO +20	EAS −3	SOU −1	MAN −1	CBY +5	NEW 0	WES +6	PAR +2	STG −1	NOR −29	BAL +4	CRO −3	EAS −1	SOU −22	MAN −9	CBY +2	NEW −7	WES −10
South Sydney	BAL −9	NEW +14	CRO +39	WES +10	EAS +4	PAR +27	PEN +1	STG −4	MAN +12	NOR −9	CBY +20	BAL +17	NEW +20	CRO +5	WES +7	EAS +27	PAR −9	PEN +22	STG +21	MAN +4	NOR +20	CBY +28	X	BAL +1	X	BAL −9
St. George	EAS −13	PEN +24	MAN +21	CBY −10	NEW +3	WES −2	PAR −1	SOU +4	NOR +23	BAL −5	CRO +4	EAS +4	PEN +1	MAN +1	CBY −4	NEW +18	WES +11	PAR +25	SOU −21	NOR +8	BAL −9	CRO +6	MAN −9
Western Suburbs	MAN −11	CBY +21	NEW +18	SOU −10	PAR −6	STG +2	NOR +3	BAL −9	CRO +1	EAS +11	PEN −6	MAN −1	CBY −5	NEW −6	SOU −7	PAR −6	STG −11	NOR +5	BAL +7	CRO +10	EAS +17	PEN +10
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	F1	F2	F3	GF

Bold – Home game
X – Bye
Opponent for round listed above margin

Ladder

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	South Sydney	22	18	0	4	489	222	+267	36
2	Balmain	22	17	0	5	410	304	+106	34
3	St. George	22	14	0	8	411	323	+88	28
4	Manly-Warringah	22	14	0	8	355	298	+57	28
5	Western Suburbs	22	11	0	11	315	288	+27	22
6	Parramatta	22	11	0	11	323	338	-15	22
7	North Sydney	22	10	1	11	343	362	-19	21
8	Canterbury-Bankstown	22	10	0	12	316	349	-33	20
9	Eastern Suburbs	22	8	1	13	307	409	-102	17
10	Penrith	22	6	1	15	311	398	-87	13
11	Newtown	22	6	1	15	279	421	-142	13
12	Cronulla-Sutherland	22	5	0	17	301	448	-147	10

Ladder progression

• Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 4.
• Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
• Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.

width=20 abbr="Position"		width=250	Team	width=20 abbr="Round 1"	1	width=20 abbr="Round 2"	2	width=20 abbr="Round 3"	3	width=20 abbr="Round 4"	4	width=20 abbr="Round 5"	5	width=20 abbr="Round 6"	6	width=20 abbr="Round 7"	7	width=20 abbr="Round 8"	8	width=20 abbr="Round 9"	9	width=20 abbr="Round 10"	10	width=20 abbr="Round 11"	11	width=20 abbr="Round 12"	12	width=20 abbr="Round 13"	13	width=20 abbr="Round 14"	14	width=20 abbr="Round 15"	15	width=20 abbr="Round 16"	16	width=20 abbr="Round 17"	17	width=20 abbr="Round 18"	18	width=20 abbr="Round 19"	19	width=20 abbr="Round 20"	20	width=20 abbr="Round 21"	21	width=20 abbr="Round 22"	22
1		0	2	4	6	8	10	12	12	14	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	26	28	30	32	34	36
2		2	4	6	8	10	10	12	14	16	18	20	20	22	24	24	24	26	28	28	30	32	34
3		0	2	4	4	6	6	6	8	10	10	12	14	16	18	18	20	22	24	24	26	26	28
4		2	4	4	6	6	8	10	12	12	14	14	16	18	18	18	20	22	24	26	26	26	28
5		0	2	4	4	4	6	8	8	10	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	14	16	18	20	22
6		2	2	2	4	6	6	8	8	8	10	12	12	12	14	16	18	20	20	20	20	20	22
7		2	4	6	6	6	8	8	10	10	12	12	12	13	15	17	19	19	19	21	21	21	21
8		2	2	4	6	8	10	12	12	12	12	12	12	14	14	16	16	16	18	18	18	20	20
9		2	2	2	4	4	6	6	8	10	10	10	10	11	11	13	13	15	15	17	17	17	17
10		0	0	0	0	2	2	2	2	4	5	7	9	9	9	11	11	11	11	11	13	13	13
11		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	5	5	7	7	7	9	9	9	11	13	13
12		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	8	8	10	10

Finals

In the preliminary final, Balmain trailed 12-14 against Manly-Warringah until late in the match when winger George Ruebner charged for the corner post to snatch a win in dramatic fashion.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
width=17%	Date and Time	width=17%	Venue	width=11%	Referee	width=7%	Crowd
Semi-finals
align=left	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	19–10	align=left	St. George Dragons	30 August 1969	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	40,977
align=left	South Sydney Rabbitohs	14–13	align=left	Balmain Tigers	6 September 1969	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	44,159
Preliminary Final
align=left	Balmain Tigers	15–14	align=left	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	13 September 1969	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	41,410
Grand Final
align=left	South Sydney Rabbitohs	2–11	align=left	Balmain Tigers	20 September 1969	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	58,825

Grand Final

South Sydney	Position	Balmain
Eric Simms		Robert Smithies
	WG	2. George Ruebner
	CE	3. Allan Fitzgibbon
	CE	4. Terry Parker
5. Brian James		5. Len Killeen
		6. Keith Outten
7. Bob Grant	HB	7. Dave Bolton
13. John Sattler (c)	PR	13. Garry Leo
12. Elwyn Walters
		11. Barry McTaggart
	SR	10. John Spencer
	SR	9. Joe Walsh
		8. Peter Provan (c)
	Reserve	14. Sid Williams
Clive Churchill	Coach	Leo Nosworthy

Balmain were not given a chance of winning the Premiership after the retirement of Keith Barnes. Souths had won the last two premierships, beaten the Tigers in the major semi-final to advance to the Grand Final and boasted eleven internationals in their side.

However, as a result their favouritism Souths were overconfident and showed insufficient respect to the young Tigers, who had shown early-season form in beating them in round 1, and to their rookie coach Leo Nosworthy, who presented a well-prepared and determined Balmain team.

The Tigers led 6–0 at halftime after two penalty goals by Len Killeen and a Dave Bolton field-goal. Souths refusal to kick on the last tackle played into Balmain's hands as novice replacement hooker Peter Boulton managed to consistently regain possession from the scrums. Balmain backed up with a robust defensive line and kept South pinned in their own half.

After the break a Bob McCarthy fumble after a mix up with Paul Sait saw Bolton swoop on the ball deep in Souths territory. From the ruck Terry Parker slipped a beautiful pass to replacement winger Sid Williams who juggled but held the ball to cross the line for the only try of the match. With a 9–0 lead early in the second half and a penalty count that continued to mount in their favour, Balmain took control of the game and appeared to begin a ploy of feigning injury whenever Souths looked to build rhythm, stopping the Rabbitohs' flow of play.^[1] Hence the match is still referred to today as "the lay-down grand final".^[2]

Souths' protests proved pointless as referee Keith Page (in his first Grand Final) was powerless to stop the Tigers tactics under the rules of the day, and Balmain secured and held an 11–2 lead to win their first premiership since 1947 and to give a fairy-tale career farewell for their captain and 159-game veteran Peter Provan.

With the merging of Balmain and Western Suburbs in 1999 to become the Wests Tigers, the 1969 premiership remains the eleventh and last for the Balmain Tigers.

Balmain 11 (Tries: Williams. Goals: Killeen 2. Field Goal: D Bolton 2)

South Sydney 2 (Goals: Simms 1.)

Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22.Top 5 point scorers

width=50	Points	width=200	Player	width=30	Tries	width=30	Goals	width=30	Field Goals
255	Eric Simms	1	108	18
185	Len Killeen	9	73	6
166	Bob Batty	2	77	3
158	Bob Landers	6	70	0
156	Graeme Langlands	4	72	0

Top 5 try scorers

width=50	Tries	width=200	Player
17	Ken Irvine
16	Johnny King
12	Denis Pittard
10	Bob McCarthy
10	John McDonald
10	Barry Beath
10	George Ambrum

Top 5 goal scorers

width=50	Goals	width=200	Player
108	Eric Simms
77	Bob Batty
73	Len Killeen
72	Graeme Langlands
70	Bob Landers

External links

• Rugby League Tables - Season 1969 The World of Rugby League
• 1969 Grand Final at eraofthebiff.com
• Results:1961-70 at rabbitohs.com.au
• 1969 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup at rleague.com
• NSWRFL season 1969 at rugbyleagueproject.com

Notes and References

1. News: Sean Fagan . Sean Fagan . In league, we leave the dead where they fall . . Australia . . 3 October 2010 . 3 October 2010.
2. News: Coady . Ben . Grand final dramas . WA Today . Australia . Fairfax Digital . 2009-09-28 . 2010-01-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181004074123/http://blogs.watoday.com.au/executive-style/sportandstyle/bencoady/2009/09/28/grandfinaldra.html . 2018-10-04 . dead .