1959's New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 52nd 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 grand final between St. George and Manly-Warringah.

1959 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams10
Premiers St. George (6th title)
Minor premiers St. George (6th title)
Matches played94
Points scored3107
Attendance896911
Top points scorer(s) Darcy Russell (206)
Top try-scorer(s) Ken Irvine (19)

Season summary

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The St. George team went through the 1959 season undefeated[1] – a feat achieved by five teams prior to 1959 but by none since. The club won nineteen of their twenty matches and played a draw against Balmain. They were able to score more than forty points on six occasions. After eighteen premiership rounds St. George had scored an average of over thirty points per match and conceded an average of ten points.

Future Immortals Reg Gasnier and Johnny Raper both debuted for St. George in first grade in 1959 and both made the Australian side, aged just 19. Seven St. George players made that year's Kangaroo Tour.

The 1959 season also saw the retirement from the League of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Harry Bath.

Teams

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Balmain
 

52nd season
Ground: Leichhardt Oval
Coach: John O'Toole
Captain: Keith Barnes

Canterbury-Bankstown
 

25th season
Ground: Belmore Oval
Coach: Cec Cooper
Captain: Brian Davies

Eastern Suburbs
 

52nd season
Ground: Sydney Sports Ground
Coach: Dave Brown
Captain: Terry Fearnley

Manly-Warringah
 

13th season
Ground: Brookvale Oval
Coach: Ken Arthurson
Captain: Ron Willey

Newtown
 

52nd season
Ground: Henson Park
Coach: Charles Cahill
Captain: Tony Brown

North Sydney
 

52nd season
Ground: North Sydney Oval
Coach: Ross McKinnon
Captain: Bob Honeysett

Parramatta
 

13th season
Ground: Cumberland Oval
Coach: Jack Rayner
Captain: Roy Fisher

South Sydney
 

52nd season
Ground: Redfern Oval
Coach: Denis Donoghue
Captain: Bernie Purcell

St. George
 

39th season
Ground: Kogarah Oval
Captain-coach: Ken Kearney

Western Suburbs
 

52nd season
Ground: Pratten Park
Coach: Vic Hey
Captain: Dick Poole

Regular season

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Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 F1 F2 F3 GF
Balmain MAN
−3
STG
−14
CBY
−4
EAS
+12
NOR
−8
WES
−19
PAR
+8
NEW
−15
SOU
+9
MAN
−2
STG
0
CBY
+12
EAS
−4
NOR
+6
WES
−9
PAR
+16
NEW
−5
SOU
−8
Canterbury-Bankstown SOU
−10
MAN
−6
BAL
+4
STG
−12
EAS
−9
NOR
−33
WES
−38
PAR
+7
NEW
−12
SOU
−1
MAN
+5
BAL
−12
STG
−51
EAS
+6
NOR
−22
WES
0
PAR
+1
NEW
−1
Eastern Suburbs NEW
−3
SOU
−20
MAN
−11
BAL
−12
CBY
+9
STG
−9
NOR
−20
WES
−3
PAR
−4
NEW
+7
SOU
+9
MAN
−12
BAL
+4
CBY
−6
STG
−16
NOR
+6
WES
−28
PAR
+6
Manly-Warringah BAL
+3
CBY
+6
EAS
+11
NOR
−7
WES
−11
PAR
+5
NEW
−4
SOU
+8
STG
−10
BAL
+2
CBY
−5
EAS
+12
NOR
+1
WES
−3
PAR
+21
NEW
+17
SOU
+3
STG
−5
NEW
+17
X WES
+1
STG
−20
Newtown EAS
+3
NOR
−6
WES
−7
PAR
+9
STG
−17
SOU
+2
MAN
+4
BAL
+15
CBY
+12
EAS
−7
NOR
+2
WES
−2
PAR
+8
STG
−35
SOU
−12
MAN
−17
BAL
+5
CBY
+1
MAN
−17
North Sydney PAR
+23
NEW
+6
SOU
+20
MAN
+7
BAL
+8
CBY
+33
EAS
+20
STG
−21
WES
−5
PAR
+20
NEW
−2
SOU
−10
MAN
−1
BAL
−6
CBY
+22
EAS
−6
STG
−7
WES
−12
Parramatta NOR
−23
WES
−10
STG
−39
NEW
−9
SOU
+5
MAN
−5
BAL
−8
CBY
−7
EAS
+4
NOR
−20
WES
−22
STG
−57
NEW
−8
SOU
−6
MAN
−21
BAL
−16
CBY
−1
EAS
−6
South Sydney CBY
+10
EAS
+20
NOR
−20
WES
+1
PAR
−5
NEW
−2
STG
−33
MAN
−8
BAL
−9
CBY
+1
EAS
−9
NOR
+10
WES
+5
PAR
+6
NEW
+12
STG
−3
MAN
−3
BAL
+8
St. George WES
+1
BAL
+14
PAR
+39
CBY
+12
NEW
+17
EAS
+9
SOU
+33
NOR
+21
MAN
+10
WES
+30
BAL
0
PAR
+57
CBY
+51
NEW
+35
EAS
+16
SOU
+3
NOR
+7
MAN
+5
X WES
+10
X MAN
+20
Western Suburbs STG
−1
PAR
+10
NEW
+7
SOU
−1
MAN
+11
BAL
+19
CBY
+38
EAS
+3
NOR
+5
STG
−30
PAR
+22
NEW
+2
SOU
−5
MAN
+3
BAL
+9
CBY
0
EAS
+28
NOR
+12
X STG
−10
MAN
−1
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 F1 F2 F3 GF

Bold – Home game
X – Bye
Opponent for round listed above margin

Ladder

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Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1   St. George 18 17 1 0 550 190 +360 35
2   Western Suburbs 18 13 1 4 405 273 +132 27
3   Manly 18 11 0 7 283 239 +44 22
4   Newtown 18 10 0 8 254 296 -42 20
5   North Sydney 18 9 0 9 371 282 +89 18
6   South Sydney 18 9 0 9 257 276 -19 18
7   Balmain 18 6 1 11 308 336 -28 13
8   Eastern Suburbs 18 6 0 12 211 314 -103 12
9   Canterbury 18 5 1 12 194 378 -184 11
10   Parramatta 18 2 0 16 150 399 -249 4

Ladder progression

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  • Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 4.
  • Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
  • Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
1   St. George 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35
2   Western Suburbs 0 2 4 4 6 8 10 12 14 14 16 18 18 20 22 23 25 27
3   Manly-Warringah 2 4 6 6 6 8 8 10 10 12 12 14 16 16 18 20 22 22
4   Newtown 2 2 2 4 4 6 8 10 12 12 14 14 16 16 16 16 18 20
5   North Sydney 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 14 14 16 16 16 16 16 18 18 18 18
6   South Sydney 2 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 6 8 8 10 12 14 16 16 16 18
7   Balmain 0 0 0 2 2 2 4 4 6 6 7 9 9 11 11 13 13 13
8   Eastern Suburbs 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 4 6 6 8 8 8 10 10 12
9   Canterbury-Bankstown 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 6 6 6 8 8 9 11 11
10   Parramatta 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Finals

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Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Crowd
Semifinals
  Manly-Warringah 17–0   Newtown 25 July 1959 Sydney Cricket Ground Darcy Lawler 8,967
  St. George 35–25   Western Suburbs 1 August 1959 Sydney Cricket Ground Darcy Lawler 42,347
Preliminary Final
  Western Suburbs 13–14   Manly-Warringah 8 August 1959 Sydney Cricket Ground Darcy Lawler 28,385
Grand Final
  St. George 20–0[2]   Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 15 August 1959 Sydney Cricket Ground Darcy Lawler 49,457

Grand Final

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St. George Position Manly-Warringah
  1. Brian Graham
FB
  1. Ron Willey (c)
2. Eddie Lumsden WG 15. Len Wadling
15. Johnny Raper CE 3. Kevin Mosman
16. Geoff Weekes CE 4. Bill Lloyd
5. Brian Messiter WG 5. George Hugo
6. Brian Clay FE 14. Alf Madden
7. Bob Bugden HB 19. Peter Burke
13. Harry Bath PR 13. Bill Delamere
12. Ken Kearney (Ca./Co.) HK 12. George Lenon
11. Billy Wilson PR 22. Roy Bull
10. Monty Porter SR 11. Rex Mossop
9. Norm Provan SR 9. Peter Diversi
8. Peter Provan LK 8. Jim Peebles
Coach Ken Arthurson

In the lead up to the Grand Final, rumours were circulating that Manly-Warringah's Rex Mossop was carrying a broken cheekbone. From the kick off, Saints' forwards took turns at testing Mossop's injury with Harry Bath giving him particular attention. For most of the match the Manly forward copped a hammering until in frustration, Mossop retaliated by standing on Bath's head. A brawl broke out between the two and the referee Lawler sent both off.

In the meantime, St. George's forwards were steamrolling Manly-Warringah and the red and white backs were cutting loose. Winger Eddie Lumsden had a magnificent match, scoring a hat trick of tries. Lumsden beat Ron Willey cold for his first try and then was on the end of later backline passing bursts for two more.

As the Manly-Warringah pack tired in the second half, experienced St. George second rower Norm Provan began to easily break their defence out wide, linking with his backs and being rewarded himself with a try. Reserve grade centre Geoff Weekes had been promoted when Gasnier and Johnny Riley were both injured in the major semi final. He scored a try as did St. George's steady and safe custodian Brian Graham.

St. George outclassed Manly-Warringah 20–0 in a ruthless display of speed and strength. The match was future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee Harry Bath's last game.

St. George 20 (Tries: Lumsden 3, Graham, Weekes, N Provan. Goals: Bath 1.)

Manly-Warringah 0

Player statistics

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

References

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  1. ^ Clarkson, Alan (1986-09-26). "The best Grand Finals I've seen". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. p. 77. Retrieved 2010-09-14.
  2. ^ "Sydney Rugby". The Age. 1959-08-17. p. 20. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
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