The 1972 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 65th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, and Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from across Sydney, competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season. The competition culminated in a grand final match between the Manly-Warringah and Eastern Suburbs clubs.

1972 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams12
Premiers Manly-Warringah (1st title)
Minor premiers Manly-Warringah (2nd title)
Matches played136
Points scored4670
Attendance1469899
Top points scorer(s) Allan McKean (220)
Rothmans Medal Tommy Raudonikis
Top try-scorer(s) Bob Fulton (19)

Season summary

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The 1972 season's Rothmans Medal winner was Western Suburbs' halfback Tommy Raudonikis. Rugby League Week awarded their player of the year award to Eastern Suburbs' five-eighth John Ballesty.

This season, for the first time since 1966, Souths would fail to reach the grand final, and for the first time since 1948, the Grand Final did not feature either Souths or St George.

Following the grand final, several players travelled to France to represent Australia in the 1972 Rugby League World Cup.

Teams

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Balmain
 

65th season
Ground: Sydney Sports Ground
Coach: Leo Nosworthy
Captain: Garry Leo

Canterbury-Bankstown
 

38th season
Ground: Belmore Oval
Coach: Bob Hagan
Captain: Johnny Greaves

Cronulla-Sutherland
 

6th season
Ground: Endeavour Field
Coach: Tommy Bishop
Captain: Cliff Watson / Ken Maddison

Eastern Suburbs
 

65th season
Ground: Sydney Sports Ground
Coach: Don Furner
Captain: Ron Coote

Manly-Warringah
 

26th season
Ground: Brookvale Oval
Coach: Ron Willey
Captain: Fred Jones

Newtown
 

65th season
Ground: Henson Park
Coach: Harry Bath
Captain: Lionel Williamson

North Sydney
 

65th season
Ground: North Sydney Oval
Captain-coach: Merv Hicks

Parramatta
 

26th season
Ground: Cumberland Oval
Coach: Ian Walsh
Captain: Bob O'Reilly

Penrith
 

6th season
Ground: Penrith Park
Coach: Bob Boland
Captain: Ron Lynch

South Sydney
 

65th season
Ground: Redfern Oval
Coach: Clive Churchill
Captain: John Sattler

St. George
 

52nd season
Ground: Kogarah Oval
Captain-coach: Graeme Langlands

Western Suburbs

65th season
Ground: Lidcombe Oval, Pratten Park
Coach: Don Parish
Captain: Tom Raudonikis

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 19 20 21 22 F1 F2 F3 GF
Balmain WES
+4
NOR
−10
PAR
0
PEN
−5
EAS
−11
STG
−9
CBY
−6
NEW
+5
MAN
+10
SOU
−18
CRO
−4
WES
+9
NOR
+7
PAR
−7
PEN
+9
EAS
−7
STG
−8
CBY
−2
NEW
−13
MAN
−22
SOU
−21
CRO
−23
Canterbury-Bankstown STG
+4
NEW
−12
SOU
−14
WES
−4
PAR
+10
EAS
+6
BAL
+6
MAN
−29
CRO
+21
NOR
−1
PEN
+23
STG
−3
NEW
−2
SOU
−16
WES
+15
PAR
+9
EAS
−7
BAL
+2
MAN
−14
CRO
+5
NOR
+3
PEN
+7
Cronulla-Sutherland NOR
+13
PEN
−3
STG
−37
NEW
−15
SOU
−14
WES
−6
PAR
+14
EAS
−17
CBY
−21
MAN
−14
BAL
+4
NOR
−2
PEN
+2
STG
−1
NEW
−2
SOU
+11
WES
+18
PAR
+18
EAS
−7
CBY
−5
MAN
−5
BAL
+23
Eastern Suburbs NEW
+23
SOU
−9
WES
+16
PAR
+38
BAL
+11
CBY
−6
MAN
+7
CRO
+17
NOR
+14
PEN
+23
STG
0
NEW
−15
SOU
+5
WES
+20
PAR
+21
BAL
+7
CBY
+7
MAN
−3
CRO
+7
NOR
+2
PEN
+23
STG
+9
X MAN
−24
STG
+2
MAN
−5
Manly-Warringah PEN
+28
STG
−18
NEW
+1
SOU
+7
WES
+4
PAR
+2
EAS
−7
CBY
+29
BAL
−10
CRO
+14
NOR
+12
PEN
+20
STG
0
NEW
+1
SOU
+8
WES
+25
PAR
+22
EAS
+3
CBY
+14
BAL
+22
CRO
+5
NOR
+23
X EAS
+24
X EAS
+5
Newtown EAS
−23
CBY
+12
MAN
−1
CRO
+15
NOR
0
PEN
+18
STG
−10
BAL
−5
SOU
−9
WES
−3
PAR
+12
EAS
+15
CBY
+2
MAN
−1
CRO
+2
NOR
+10
PEN
0
STG
−20
BAL
+13
SOU
+8
WES
+6
PAR
−10
North Sydney CRO
−13
BAL
+10
PEN
+19
STG
−8
NEW
0
SOU
−5
WES
−29
PAR
+24
EAS
−14
CBY
+1
MAN
−12
CRO
+2
BAL
−7
PEN
+27
STG
−3
NEW
−10
SOU
−26
WES
+3
PAR
−16
EAS
−2
CBY
−3
MAN
−23
Parramatta SOU
−34
WES
0
BAL
0
EAS
−38
CBY
−10
MAN
−2
CRO
−14
NOR
−24
PEN
+7
STG
−22
NEW
−12
SOU
−10
WES
−42
BAL
+7
EAS
−21
CBY
−9
MAN
−22
CRO
−18
NOR
+16
PEN
−12
STG
−18
NEW
+10
Penrith MAN
−28
CRO
+3
NOR
−19
BAL
+5
STG
−24
NEW
−18
SOU
−6
WES
−18
PAR
−7
EAS
−23
CBY
−23
MAN
−20
CRO
−2
NOR
−27
BAL
−9
STG
−5
NEW
0
SOU
+6
WES
+21
PAR
+12
EAS
−23
CBY
−7
South Sydney PAR
+34
EAS
+9
CBY
+14
MAN
−7
CRO
+14
NOR
+5
PEN
+6
STG
−17
NEW
+9
BAL
+18
WES
+14
PAR
+10
EAS
−5
CBY
+16
MAN
−8
CRO
−11
NOR
+26
PEN
−6
STG
+10
NEW
−8
BAL
+21
WES
−19
STG
−4
St. George CBY
−4
MAN
+18
CRO
+37
NOR
+8
PEN
+24
BAL
+9
NEW
+10
SOU
+17
WES
−4
PAR
+22
EAS
0
CBY
+3
MAN
0
CRO
+1
NOR
+3
PEN
+5
BAL
+8
NEW
+20
SOU
−10
WES
+1
PAR
+18
EAS
−9
SOU
+4
X EAS
−2
Western Suburbs BAL
−4
PAR
0
EAS
−16
CBY
+4
MAN
−4
CRO
+6
NOR
+29
PEN
+18
STG
+4
NEW
+3
SOU
−14
BAL
−9
PAR
+42
EAS
−20
CBY
−15
MAN
−25
CRO
−18
NOR
−3
PEN
−21
STG
−1
NEW
−6
SOU
+19
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 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   Manly 22 18 1 3 460 255 +205 37
2   Eastern Suburbs 22 17 1 4 514 297 +217 35
3   St. George 22 16 2 4 398 221 +177 34
4   South Sydney 22 14 0 8 456 331 +125 28
5   Newtown 22 11 2 9 402 371 +31 24
6   Canterbury 22 12 0 10 382 373 +9 24
7   Western Suburbs 22 8 1 13 367 398 -31 17
8   Cronulla 22 8 0 14 332 378 -46 16
9   North Sydney 22 7 1 14 320 405 -85 15
10   Balmain 22 6 1 15 333 455 -122 13
11   Penrith 22 5 1 16 278 490 -212 11
12   Parramatta 22 4 2 16 317 585 -268 10

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 19 20 21 22
1   Manly-Warringah 2 2 4 6 8 10 10 12 12 14 16 18 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37
2   Eastern Suburbs 2 2 4 6 8 8 10 12 14 16 17 17 19 21 23 25 27 27 29 31 33 35
3   St. George 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 14 16 17 19 20 22 24 26 28 30 30 32 34 34
4   South Sydney 2 4 6 6 8 10 12 12 14 16 18 20 20 22 22 22 24 24 26 26 28 28
5   Newtown 0 2 2 4 5 7 7 7 7 7 9 11 13 13 15 17 18 18 20 22 24 24
6   Canterbury-Bankstown 2 2 2 2 4 6 8 8 10 10 12 12 12 12 14 16 16 18 18 20 22 24
7   Western Suburbs 0 1 1 3 3 5 7 9 11 13 13 13 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 17
8   Cronulla-Sutherland 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 6 6 8 8 8 10 12 14 14 14 14 16
9   North Sydney 0 2 4 4 5 5 5 7 7 9 9 11 11 13 13 13 13 15 15 15 15 15
10   Balmain 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 5 7 7 7 9 11 11 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13
11   Penrith 0 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 7 9 11 11 11
12   Parramatta 0 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 8 8 8 10

Finals

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Home Score Away Match information
Date and time Venue Referee Crowd
Semi-finals
  St. George 14–10   South Sydney 26 August 1972 Sydney Cricket Ground Keith Page 47,945
  Manly-Warringah 32–8   Eastern Suburbs 2 September 1972 Sydney Cricket Ground Keith Page 43,695
Preliminary Final
  Eastern Suburbs 8–6   St. George 9 September 1972 Sydney Cricket Ground Keith Page 41,313
Grand Final
  Manly-Warringah 19–14   Eastern Suburbs 16 September 1972 Sydney Cricket Ground Keith Page 54,537

Grand final

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Manly-Warringah Position Eastern Suburbs
  1. Graham Eadie
FB
  1. Allan McKean
2. Ken Irvine WG 2. Jim Porter
3. Ray Branighan CE 3. Harry Cameron
4. Bob Fulton CE 4. Mark Harris
5. Max Brown WG 5. Bill Mullins
6. Ian Martin FE 6. John Ballesty
7. Dennis Ward HB 7. Kevin Junee
13. Bill Hamilton PR 13. John Armstrong
12. Fred Jones (c) HK 12. Peter Moscatt
11. John O'Neill PR 11. Arthur Beetson
10. Allan Thomson SR 10. Greg Bandiera
9. Terry Randall SR 9. John Quayle
8. Mal Reilly LK 8. Ron Coote (c)
Bench 16. Laurie Freier
Ron Willey Coach Don Furner

After twenty-five years in the competition and five Grand Final losses, Manly finally broke through to win the club's first NSWRFL premiership.[1]

In a controversial match, the Sea-Eagles downed the Eastern Suburbs Roosters 19 to 14, thus shedding their 'bridesmaids' tag. The Roosters were highly critical of referee Keith Page after the match, claiming both of Manly's tries shouldn't have been awarded. To add to their rage, Easts crossed for two tries that were disallowed.

A dour first half saw the teams go to the break tied 4–4, before a try by hooker Fred Jones put Manly ahead. Jones appeared to drop the ball as he attempted to ground it, but was awarded a try nonetheless. For his part Jones contends that he did place the ball with downward pressure. Midway through the second half, controversy flared again when Manly centre Ray Branighan appeared to stop over the Eastern Suburbs try line after accepting what looked like a forward pass from prop Bill Hamilton. However, referee Page allowed it and the Manly fans began celebrating, knowing that at 19–4 their first premiership victory was assured. Although Easts fought back with two late tries to John Ballesty and Bill Mullins and brought the score to 19–14, time ran out for the Roosters and Manly had won their first ever premiership in first grade.

In the end, it was Manly's part-time goal kicker Ray Branighan who proved the difference, kicking six goals from eight attempts.

Manly-Warringah 19 (Tries: Fred Jones, Ray Branighan. Goals: Ray Branighan 6. Field Goal: Bob Fulton)

Eastern Suburbs 14 (Tries: John Ballesty, Bill Mullins. Goals: Allan McKean 4)

Man of the Match: Dennis Ward (Manly).

Referee: Keith Page

Attendance: 54,537

Player statistics

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The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22.

References

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  1. ^ Clarkson, Alan (17 September 1972). "Manly – deserved winners". The Sun-Herald. Australia. p. 72. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
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