1935 NSWRFL season explained

Year:1935
Competition:New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams:9
Premiers: Eastern Suburbs
Count:5th
Minor Premiers: Eastern Suburbs
Mpcount:6th
Matches:75
Top Point Scorer: Dave Brown (244)
Top Try Scorer: Dave Brown (38)
Prevseason Link:1934 NSWRFL season
Prevseason Year:1934
Nextseason Link:1936 NSWRFL season
Nextseason Year:1936

The 1935 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the twenty-eighth season of Sydney’s top-grade rugby league club competition, Australia’s first. The season culminated in Eastern Suburbs’ victory over South Sydney in the final.[1]

Teams

The addition of Canterbury-Bankstown meant that the League involved nine clubs for the first time since 1929.[2]

Records set in 1935

The University club did not win a single match in 1935, continuing a losing streak that started in round 2, 1934 and which would run till round 14, 1936, and which marks the most consecutive losses in NSWRL/NRL premiership history at 42.[3]

On 11 May at Earl Park, St. George defeated newcomers Canterbury 91–6, this remaining the biggest winning margin and most points scored by one team in the history of the NSWRFL/NSWRL/ARL/NRL, beating South Sydney’s 67–nil win over Western Suburbs in 1910.[4] The following weekend on 18 May, Eastern Suburbs defeated the “Cantabs” (as Canterbury were initially known) 87–7, this remaining the second-highest score and winning margin in the history of the competition.[4] The record in any grade occurred on 19 July 1913 when South Sydney reserves defeated Mosman by 102 points to 2.[5] [6]

In the second half of the Earl Park match, St. George scored fourteen tries and sixty-eight points, this being the most scored in one half of any match.[7]

Eastern Suburbs winger Rod O'Loan scored a club record of seven tries in a 61–5 win over University. This tally stands second (behind Frank Burge's eight tries in 1920) on the list of most individual tries in a premiership match. Dave Brown’s six tries in a 1935 game against Canterbury stands in equal third place in that same list, Easts winning the match 65–10.[8]

The standing record for most tries in one season also comes from 1935, being 38 by Brown.[9]

Dave Brown’s season tally of 244 points stood for 34 years as the record points scored in a season until topped by Eric Simms in 1969.

Ladder

[10]

width=175 TeamPldWDLBPFPAPDPts
1 Easts1615012599157+44234
2 Souths1611052314222+9226
3 Wests1610062345243+10224
4 Norths169162248253-523
5 Balmain168172320225+9521
6 St. George168082334162+17220
7 Newtown168082280248+3220
8 Canterbury1620142150660-5108
9 University1600162109529-4204

Finals

In the two semi-finals played as a double-header at the Sydney Cricket Ground on the same day, the top two ranked teams Eastern Suburbs and South Sydney beat their lower-ranked opponents Western Suburbs and North Sydney. Eastern Suburbs and South Sydney won their respective matches and met each other in the Final.

Premiership Final

Eastern SuburbsPositionSouth Sydney
13. Tom DowlingFB32. Les McDonald
9. Rod O’LoanWG15. Harry Thompson
10. Ross McKinnonCE18. Harry Eyers
12. Jack BeatonCE34. Eddie Finucane
24. Fred TotteyWG54. George Shankland
8. Ernie NormanFE12. Jack 'Paddy' Stewart
7. Viv ThicknesseHB10. Percy Williams(c)
  1. Ray Stehr (c)
PR6. Jack McCormack
14. Tom McLachlanHK7. George Kilham
3. Max NixonPR4. Eric Lewis
4. Harry PierceSR
  1. Frank Curran
5. Joe PearceSR2. Michael Williams
6. Andy NorvalLK3. Eddie Hinson
Arthur HallowayCoachDave Watson
Before a crowd of 22,106 and refereed by Tom McMahon, Easts led 9–nil at half-time and were never headed despite being without their record-breaking centre, Dave Brown.[11]

Scorers

Tries: Rod O'Loan 2, Harry Pierce, Fred Tottey, Jack Beaton. Goals: Ross McKinnon 2

Try: George Shankland

Source:[12]

Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 18.Top 5 point scorers

width=50 Pointswidth=200 Playerwidth=30 Trieswidth=30 Goalswidth=30 Field Goals
244 Dave Brown38650
154 Syd Christensen12590
125 Les Griffin7520
118 Les Mead4530
116 Percy Williams4520
Top 5 try scorers
width=50 Trieswidth=200 Player
38 Dave Brown
25 Rod O'Loan
17 Fred Tottey
16 Sid Goodwin
15 Alan Ridley
Top 5 goal scorers
width=50 Goalswidth=200 Player
65 Dave Brown
59 Syd Christensen
53 Les Mead
52 Percy Williams
52 Les Griffin

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20060511185232/http://www.rl1908.com/clubcomps/Honours.htm Premiership Roll of Honour
  2. Web site: History of the Premiership . https://web.archive.org/web/20080209104018/http://www.centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au/site/about/history/history-of-the-premiership.aspx . dead . 9 February 2008 . centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au . . 21 October 2013 .
  3. http://afltables.com/rl/teams/all/overall_st.html#3 Rugby League Tables – Most Consecutive Games Lost
  4. http://afltables.com/rl/teams/all/overall_gr.html Rugby League Tables – Game Records
  5. ‘Rugby League: Second Grade‘; The Sunday Times, 20 July 1913, p. 13
  6. ‘Records Made: St. George and Griffen’; Sydney Morning Herald, 13 May 1935, p. 17
  7. See Middleton, David; Rugby League 1996; pp. 123, 125
  8. http://afltables.com/rl/scorers/misc.html#mtg Rugby League Tables – Most Individual Tries in a Game
  9. 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.
  10. Web site: 1935 Ladder . afltables.com . 31 January 2021.
  11. News: The Rugby Season Has Ended . . XLVII . 1225 . New South Wales, Australia . 18 September 1935 . 2 July 2024 . 32 . National Library of Australia.
  12. Web site: Finals Scorers,1935 . stats.rleague.com . 29 October 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121019181834/https://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/scorers/games/193599.html . 19 October 2012 .