1968 NSWRFL season

1968 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams	12
Premiers	South Sydney (18th title)
Minor premiers	South Sydney (14th title)
Matches played	136
Points scored	4027
Attendance	1894627
Top points scorer(s)	Eric Simms (212)
Player of the year	Terry Hughes (Rothmans Medal)
Top try-scorer(s)	Stan Gorton (22)
← 1967 1969 →

The 1968 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 61st season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Twelve teams, including six Sydney-based foundation teams and another six from around Sydney competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield and the WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between South Sydney and Manly-Warringah.

Season summary[]

The 1968 season's Rothmans Medallist was Cronulla-Sutherland's Terry Hughes.

The Balmain club narrowly missed out on a place in the top four, which was made up of South Sydney, Manly-Warringah, St. George and Eastern Suburbs.

Teams[]

Balmain 61st season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Captain-Coach: Keith Barnes	Canterbury-Bankstown Ground: Belmore Sports Ground Captain-coach: Kevin Ryan	Cronulla-Sutherland 2nd season Ground: Endeavour Field Coach: Ken Kearney Captain: Warren Ryan	Eastern Suburbs 61st season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Jack Gibson Captain: Jim Matthews
Manly-Warringah Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: George Hunter Captain: Bob Fulton	Newtown 61st season Ground: Henson Park Coach: Dick Poole Captain: Bobby Keyes	North Sydney 61st season Ground: North Sydney Oval Captain-coach: Colin Greenwood	Parramatta Ground: Cumberland Oval Coach: Ian Johnston Captain: Dick Thornett
Penrith Ground: Penrith Park Captain-Coach: Bob Boland	South Sydney Ground: Redfern Oval Coach: Clive Churchill Captain: John Sattler	St. George 48th season Ground: Jubilee Oval Coach: Norm Provan Captain: Johnny Raper	Western Suburbs 61st season Ground: Lidcombe Oval Captain-coach: Noel Kelly

Ladder[]

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	South Sydney	22	16	0	6	394	271	+123	32
2	Manly-Warringah	22	15	1	6	379	282	+97	31
3	St. George	22	13	3	6	416	320	+96	29
4	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	22	14	1	7	362	274	+88	29
5	Balmain	22	14	0	8	393	284	+109	28
6	Parramatta	22	12	1	9	308	284	+24	25
7	Western Suburbs	22	12	0	10	328	279	+49	24
8	Penrith	22	11	0	11	298	352	-54	22
9	Canterbury-Bankstown	22	9	1	12	259	301	-42	19
10	Cronulla-Sutherland	22	6	0	16	259	405	-146	12
11	North Sydney	22	4	0	18	259	388	-129	8
12	Newtown	22	2	1	19	257	472	-215	5

Finals[]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semi Finals
St. George	17–10	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	31 August 1968	Sydney Cricket Ground	Col Pearce	49,747
South Sydney	15–23	Manly-Warringah	7 September 1968	Sydney Cricket Ground	Col Pearce	49,128
Preliminary Final
South Sydney	20–8	St. George	14 September 1968	Sydney Cricket Ground	Col Pearce	44,803
Grand Final
Manly-Warringah	9–13	South Sydney	21 September 1968	Sydney Cricket Ground	Col Pearce	54,255

Grand Final[]

Manly was making its fourth ever Grand Final appearance and still looking for its first title. 21-year-old captain Bob Fulton led a young Sea Eagles side, while Souths was skippered by John Sattler who that season had been honoured as "Catholic Sportsman of the Year". Neither team lineup had any players older than 29 years of age. The depth of the Souths line-up was indicated by the fact that it’s stars Kevin Longbottom, Bob McCarthy and Ray Branighan were all named and played in the Rabbitohs' reserve grade side which ominously won its grand final match-up also against Manly.

The first-grade match began furiously with the toughening-up period resulting in four cautions by referee Pearce in the first four minutes. Ron Coote clashed with Bill Bradstreet and the opposing giants Hamilton and John O'Neill also measured up. Souths, with a strong breeze at its back, was the first to score when Michael Cleary intercepted a pass meant for Manly winger Les Hanigan and raced 80 yards to score. Simms punished Manly with a conversion and three successful penalty goals in the first half and at the break Souths led 11–2.

The Sea Eagles refused to lay down and mid-way through the second half second-rower John Morgan crashed over for a try which was converted by Bob Batty. Then a Bob Fulton field goal with fourteen minutes left brought Manly within reach. But despite the Manly fightback Souths was too resilient and hung on to win its second successive premiership and the club's 18th title.

South Sydney 13 (Tries: Cleary. Goals: Simms 5.)

Manly-Warringah 9 (Tries: Morgan. Goals: Batty 2. Fld Goals: Fulton 1.)

References[]

External links[]

• Rugby League Tables – Season 1968 The World of Rugby League
• Results:1961-70 at rabbitohs.com.au
• 1968 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup at rleague.com^{[dead link]}
• NSWRFL season 1968 at rugbyleagueproject.com