1969 NSWRFL season

1969 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams	12
Premiers	Balmain (11th title)
Minor premiers	South Sydney (15th title)
Matches played	136
Points scored	4258
Attendance	1788112
Top points scorer(s)	Eric Simms (265)
Player of the year	Denis Pittard (Rothmans Medal)
Top try-scorer(s)	Ken Irvine (17)
← 1968 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[]

Balmain 62nd season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Leo Nosworthy Captain: Peter Provan	Canterbury-Bankstown 35th season Ground: Belmore Oval Coach: Kevin Ryan Captain: Kevin Ryan→Bob Hagan	Cronulla-Sutherland 3rd season Ground: Endeavour Field Coach: Ken Kearney Captain: Noel Thornton	Eastern Suburbs Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Captain-Coach: Louis Neumann
Manly-Warringah Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: George Hunter Captain(s): Bob Fulton / Fred Jones	Newtown 62nd season Ground: Henson Park Coach: Harry Bath Captain:	North Sydney 62nd season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Roy Francis Captain: Ken Irvine	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 49th season Ground: Kogarah Oval Captain-coach: Johnny Raper	Western Suburbs 62nd season Ground: Lidcombe Oval Captain-Coach: Noel Kelly

Ladder[]

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	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

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
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semi Finals
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	19–10	St. George Dragons	30 August 1969	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	40,977
South Sydney Rabbitohs	14–13	Balmain Tigers	6 September 1969	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	44,159
Preliminary Final
Balmain Tigers	15–14	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	13 September 1969	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	41,410
Grand Final
South Sydney Rabbitohs	2–11	Balmain Tigers	20 September 1969	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	58,825

Grand Final[]

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.)

References[]

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^{[dead link]}
• NSWRFL season 1969 at rugbyleagueproject.com