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1953 NSWRFL season

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1953 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams10
Premiers South Sydney (14th title)
Minor premiers South Sydney (13th title)
Matches played93
Points scored3241
Top points scorer(s) Ron Rowles (152)
Top try-scorer(s) Ian Moir (23)

The 1953 New South Wales Rugby Football League season was the forty-sixth season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Ten teams from across the city competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a final between South Sydney and St. George.

Teams

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Balmain

46th season
Ground: Leichhardt Oval
Coach: Arthur Patton
Captain: Bob Lulham

Canterbury-Bankstown

19th season
Ground: Belmore Oval
Coach: Jack Hampstead
Captain: Cec Cooper

Eastern Suburbs

46th season
Ground: Sydney Sports Ground
Captain-Coach: Col Donohoe

Manly-Warringah

7th season
Ground: Brookvale Oval
Captain-Coach: Roy Bull

Newtown

46th season
Ground: Erskineville Oval
Captain-Coach: Frank Johnson

North Sydney

46th season
Ground: North Sydney Oval
Coach: Ross McKinnon
Captain: Lloyd Hudson

Parramatta

7th season
Ground: Cumberland Oval
Coach: Vic Hey
Captain: Ian Johnston

South Sydney

46th season
Ground: Redfern Oval
Captain-coach: Jack Rayner

St. George

33rd season
Ground: Jubilee Oval
Coach: Norm Tipping
Captain: Ken Kearney

Western Suburbs

46th season
Ground: Pratten Park
Captain-Coach: Peter McLean

Ladder

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Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 South Sydney 18 11 1 6 384 278 +106 23
2 St. George 18 11 0 7 313 289 +24 22
3 North Sydney 18 10 1 7 421 283 +138 21
4 Eastern Suburbs 18 10 1 7 330 310 +20 21
5 Newtown 18 9 2 7 292 268 +24 20
6 Canterbury 18 9 2 7 252 291 -39 20
7 Parramatta 18 8 1 9 271 291 -20 17
8 Balmain 18 7 0 11 313 377 -64 14
9 Manly 18 6 0 12 294 393 -99 12
10 Western Suburbs 18 5 0 13 287 377 -90 10

Finals

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Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Crowd
Semifinals
South Sydney 5–4 North Sydney 29 August 1953 Sydney Cricket Ground Jack O'Brien 30,392
St. George 25–7 Eastern Suburbs 5 September 1953 Sydney Cricket Ground Darcy Lawler 37,753
Final
South Sydney 31–12 St. George 12 September 1953 Sydney Cricket Ground Darcy Lawler 44,581

Chart

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Semi-finalsFinalGrand final
1 Souths5
MP SouthsX
3 Norths4
Souths31 SouthsX
St George12
2 St George25
4 Easts7

Final

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South Sydney Position St. George
13. Clive Churchill FB 3. Noel Pidding
12. Ian Moir WG 15. Kevin Hole
18. Martin Gallagher CE 5. Tommy Ryan
14. Kevin Woolfe CE 44. Merv Lees
11. Frank Threlfo WG 2. Ross Kite
21. John Dougherty FE 4. Allan Staunton
22. Greg Hawick HB 20. Peter Bracken
  1. Denis Donoghue
PR 39. Kevin Brown
2. Ernie Hammerton HK 12. Ken Kearney (c)
5. Jim Richards PR 11. Bob Bower
41. Bob Moon SR 10. Barry Passfield
4. Jack Rayner (Ca./Co.) SR 9. Norm Provan
6. Les Cowie LK 8. Billy Wilson
Coach Norm Tipping

To win the 1953 premiership St George would need to beat minor premiers Souths in both a final and a Grand final, emulating the feats of the Dragons of 1949 from which team only Noel Pidding was still playing. A crowd of 44,581 were at the Sydney Cricket Ground to see the first phase of this attempt.

Souths opened the scoring with a penalty goal in the ninth minute kicked by Clive Churchill from 40 yards. The Dragons threatened Souths' line continuously in the next stanza but bombed three tries and then lost some momentum in the 14 minutes before half-time during the absence of centre Merv Lees while he was off the field having stitches to his lip after driving a tooth through it. Souths scored 13 points in this period. Ian Moir capitalised on a spillage of the ball by Pidding behind his own line after a heavy tackle, Churchill then featured when he firstly sent Threlfo in and then set up Moir for his second try. The score at half time was 15–0.

Early in the second half Pidding kicked a penalty and a few minutes later Wilson and Gallagher were sent off for fighting. With Wilson gone Rabbitoh hard-men Rayner and Donoghue then took control and four Souths tries flowed to Woolfe, Dougherty, Hammerton and Moir’s third. Two late Dragons’ tries to Brown and Lees made no difference and South Sydney powered to their fourteenth premiership.

South Sydney Rabbitohs 31
Tries: Moir (3), Woolfe, Threlfo, Dougherty, Hammerton
Goals: Dougherty (4), Churchill (1)

St George Dragons 12
Tries: Lees, Brown
Goals: Pidding (3)

Player statistics

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The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 18.

References

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  • "Rugby League Tables – Season 1953". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. The World of Rugby League
  • Haddan, Steve [2007] The finals – 100 Years of National Rugby League Finals, Steve Haddan Publishing, Brisbane
  • "Results: 1951-60". rabbitohs.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012.
  • "J J Giltinan Shield". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012.
  • "NSWRFL season 1953". rugbyleagueproject.org. Archived from the original on 23 October 2008.