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1948 NSWRFL season

Rugby league competition


Rugby league competition

FieldValue
year1948
competitionNew South Wales Rugby Football League
imagesize125px
teams10
premiers[[Image:Western Suburbs colours.svg16x16px]] Western Suburbs
count3rd
minor premiers[[Image:Western Suburbs colours.svg16x16px]] Western Suburbs
mpcount2nd
matches94
points2829
top point scorer[[Image:St. George colours.svg16x16px]] Jack Lindwall (101)
top try scorer[[Image:Newtown colours.svg16x16px]] Norm Jacobson (27)
wooden_spoonNorth Sydney
wooden_spoon_count6th
prevseason_link1947 NSWRFL season
prevseason_year1947
nextseason_link1949 NSWRFL season
nextseason_year1949

The 1948 NSWRFL season was the forty-first New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership season, Sydney’s top-level rugby league football competition, and Australia’s first. The teams remained unchanged from the previous season, with ten clubs from across the city contesting the premiership during the season which culminated in Western Suburbs’ victory over Balmain in the grand final.

Season summary

When Balmain’s young stars of 1946 and 1947 Pat Devery and Harry Bath left for big money offers in England it seemed doubtful that the Tigers would be able to continue their run of success. However Balmain gave themselves every chance to achieve their third title in a row and made it through to the Grand Final match up against Wests.

Teams

  • Balmain, formed on January 23, 1908, at Balmain Town Hall
  • Canterbury-Bankstown
  • Eastern Suburbs, formed on January 24, 1908, at Paddington Town Hall
  • Manly-Warringah
  • Newtown, formed on January 14, 1908
  • North Sydney, formed on February 7, 1908
  • Parramatta, formed in November 1946
  • South Sydney, formed on January 17, 1908, at Redfern Town Hall
  • St. George, formed on November 8, 1920, at Kogarah School of Arts
  • Western Suburbs, formed on February 4, 1908
North Sydney[[Image:North Sydney Jersey 1941.png100pxcenter]]Parramatta[[Image:Parramatta Jersey 1948.png100pxcenter]]South Sydney[[Image:South Sydney Jersey 1930.png100pxcenter]]St. George[[Image:St George Jersey 1948.png100pxcenter]]Western Suburbs[[Image:Western Suburbs Jersey 1924.png100pxcenter]]

Ladder

TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts
1[[Image:Western Suburbs colours.svg16x16px]] Western Suburbs (P)181602322189+133
2[[Image:Newtown colours.svg16x16px]] Newtown181305386248+138
3[[Image:Balmain colours.svg16x16px]] Balmain181224287222+65
4[[Image:St. George colours.svg16x16px]] St. George181017332262+70
5[[Image:Canterbury colours.svg16x16px]] Canterbury18729282276+6
6[[Image:Eastern Suburbs colours.svg16x16px]] Eastern Suburbs18729225248-23
7[[Image:South Sydney colours.svg16x16px]] South Sydney187110265302-37
8[[Image:Parramatta colours.svg16x16px]] Parramatta185112237346-109
9[[Image:Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg16x16px]] Manly184113221334-113
10[[Image:North Sydney colours.svg16x16px]] North Sydney183213191321-130

Finals

In Balmain’s preliminary final match up with St George, Balmain winger Arthur Patton refused to leave the field whilst injured as the Tigers held on to win 13–12. At game’s end it was found that he had a broken leg.

HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd
Semifinals
[[Image:Western Suburbs colours.svg23x23px]] Western Suburbs7–8[[Image:Balmain colours.svg23x23px]] Balmain28 August 1948Sydney Cricket GroundGeorge Bishop25,907
[[Image:Newtown colours.svg23x23px]] Newtown8–20[[Image:St. George colours.svg23x23px]] St. George4 September 1948Sydney Cricket GroundJack O'Brien31,310
Preliminary Final
[[Image:Balmain colours.svg23x23px]] Balmain13–12[[Image:St. George colours.svg23x23px]] St. George11 September 1948Sydney Cricket GroundJack O'Brien37,404
Grand Final
[[Image:Western Suburbs colours.svg23x23px]] Western Suburbs8–5[[Image:Balmain colours.svg23x23px]] Balmainurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304215230/http://www.nrlstats.com/archive/match.cfm?MatchID=2421date=2012-03-04 }} at nrlstats.comSydney Sports GroundGeorge Bishop29,122

Grand Final

Western SuburbsPositionBalmain
13. William KeatoFB
49. Col HudsonWG30. Leo Nosworthy
10. Eric BennettCE6. George Williams
12. Lindsay RoddaCE4. Tom Bourke (c)
11. John LackeyWG42. Mitchell Wallace
8. Frank StanmoreFE32. William Sneddon
7. Neville HoganHB20. Des Bryan
19. Bill HorderPR10. Jim Thomson
2. William BrownHK45Robert Crane
PR8. Jack Spencer
14. Kevin HansenSR12. Sid Ryan
5. Don MiltonSR25. Pat Madden
6. Peter McLeanLK13. Jack Hampstead
Jeff SmithCoachAthol Smith

After rainy conditions the Grand Final was played on a soft Sydney Sports Ground surface. | access-date = 2009-11-20}} The Tigers led the game until the final quarter when a 40-metre run by Wests’ second rower Kevin Hansen saw him tackled right on the tryline. The referee awarded the try and Wests held an 8–5 break until full-time to record their third premiership win.

Western Suburbs Magpies 8 (Tries: Hudson, Hansen. Goals: Keato)

defeated

Balmain Tigers 5 (Tries: Bourke. Goals: Bourke)

Player statistics

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

PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField Goals10194939281
Jack Lindwall9370
Colin Schomberg0470
Bill Keato1450
Oriel Kennerson2430
Norm Jacobson2700

Top 5 try scorers

TriesPlayer271811119999
Norm Jacobson
Arthur Patton
Eddie Tracey
Len Allmond
Eric Bennett
Pat Leal
Len Smith
Jack Lindwall

Top 5 goal scorers

GoalsPlayer4745433733
Colin Schomberg
Bill Keato
Oriel Kennerson
Jack Lindwall
Joe Jorgenson

References

References

  1. [http://rl1908.com/clubcomps/Honours.htm Premiership Roll of Honour] {{webarchive. link. (April 28, 2007 at ''rl1908.com'')
  2. link. (2012-03-04 at ''nrlstats.com'')
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