1959 NSWRFL season

Rugby league competition March 2024 1959 New South Wales Rugby Football League 10 16x16px St. George 6th 16x16px St. George 6th 94 3107 896911 16x16px Darcy Russell (206) 16x16px Ken Irvine (19) Parramatta 7th 1958 NSWRFL season 1958 1960 NSWRFL season 1960 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. Season summary The St. George team went through the 1959 season undefeated Clarkson Alan The best Grand Finals I've seen The Sydney Morning Herald 77 Fairfax Media 1986-09-26 http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=smh&Page=1&docID=news860926_0120_2297 2010-09-14 – 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 Balmain100px|center 52nd seasonGround: Leichhardt Oval Coach: John O'Toole Captain: Keith BarnesCanterbury-Bankstown100px|center 25th seasonGround: Belmore Oval Coach: Cec CooperCaptain: Brian DaviesEastern Suburbs100px|center 52nd seasonGround: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Dave BrownCaptain: Terry FearnleyManly-Warringah100px|center 13th seasonGround: Brookvale Oval Coach: Ken ArthursonCaptain: Ron WilleyNewtown100px|center 52nd seasonGround: Henson Park Coach: Charles CahillCaptain: Tony BrownNorth Sydney100px|center 52nd seasonGround: North Sydney Oval Coach: Ross McKinnonCaptain: Bob HoneysettParramatta100px|center 13th seasonGround: Cumberland Oval Coach: Jack RaynerCaptain: Roy FisherSouth Sydney100px|center 52nd seasonGround: Redfern Oval Coach: Denis DonoghueCaptain: Bernie PurcellSt. George100px|center 39th seasonGround: Kogarah Oval Captain-coach: Ken KearneyWestern Suburbs100px|center 52nd seasonGround: Pratten Park Coach: Vic HeyCaptain: Dick Poole Regular season Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 F1 F2 F3 GF BalmainMAN−3STG−14CBY−4EAS+12NOR−8WES−19PAR+8NEW−15SOU+9MAN−2STG0CBY+12EAS−4NOR+6WES−9PAR+16NEW−5SOU−8 Canterbury-BankstownSOU−10MAN−6BAL+4STG−12EAS−9NOR−33WES−38PAR+7NEW−12SOU−1MAN+5BAL−12STG−51EAS+6NOR−22WES0PAR+1NEW−1 Eastern SuburbsNEW−3SOU−20MAN−11BAL−12CBY+9STG−9NOR−20WES−3PAR−4NEW+7SOU+9MAN−12BAL+4CBY−6STG−16NOR+6WES−28PAR+6 Manly-WarringahBAL+3CBY+6EAS+11NOR−7WES−11PAR+5NEW−4SOU+8STG−10BAL+2CBY−5EAS+12NOR+1WES−3PAR+21NEW+17SOU+3STG−5NEW+17XWES+1STG−20 NewtownEAS+3NOR−6WES−7PAR+9STG−17SOU+2MAN+4BAL+15CBY+12EAS−7NOR+2WES−2PAR+8STG−35SOU−12MAN−17BAL+5CBY+1MAN−17 North SydneyPAR+23NEW+6SOU+20MAN+7BAL+8CBY+33EAS+20STG−21WES−5PAR+20NEW−2SOU−10MAN−1BAL−6CBY+22EAS−6STG−7WES−12 ParramattaNOR−23WES−10STG−39NEW−9SOU+5MAN−5BAL−8CBY−7EAS+4NOR−20WES−22STG−57NEW−8SOU−6MAN−21BAL−16CBY−1EAS−6 South SydneyCBY+10EAS+20NOR−20WES+1PAR−5NEW−2STG−33MAN−8BAL−9CBY+1EAS−9NOR+10WES+5PAR+6NEW+12STG−3MAN−3BAL+8 St. GeorgeWES+1BAL+14PAR+39CBY+12NEW+17EAS+9SOU+33NOR+21MAN+10WES+30BAL0PAR+57CBY+51NEW+35EAS+16SOU+3NOR+7MAN+5XWES+10XMAN+20 Western SuburbsSTG−1PAR+10NEW+7SOU−1MAN+11BAL+19CBY+38EAS+3NOR+5STG−30PAR+22NEW+2SOU−5MAN+3BAL+9CBY0EAS+28NOR+12XSTG−10MAN−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 TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 16x16px St. George181710550190+360352 16x16px Western Suburbs181314405273+132273 16x16px Manly181107283239+44224 16x16px Newtown181008254296-42205 16x16px North Sydney18909371282+89186 16x16px South Sydney18909257276-19187 16x16px Balmain186111308336-28138 16x16px Eastern Suburbs186012211314-103129 16x16px Canterbury185112194378-1841110 16x16px Parramatta182016150399-2494 Ladder progression 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. Team1234567891011121314151617181St. George 16 St. George 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 352Western Suburbs 16 Western Suburbs 0 2 4 4 6 8 10 12 14 14 16 18 18 20 22 23 25 273Manly 16 Manly-Warringah 2 4 6 6 6 8 8 10 10 12 12 14 16 16 18 20 22 224Newtown 16 Newtown 2 2 2 4 4 6 8 10 12 12 14 14 16 16 16 16 18 205North Sydney 16 North Sydney 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 14 14 16 16 16 16 16 18 18 18 186South Sydney 16 South Sydney 2 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 6 8 8 10 12 14 16 16 16 187Balmain 16 Balmain 0 0 0 2 2 2 4 4 6 6 7 9 9 11 11 13 13 138Eastern Suburbs 16 Eastern Suburbs 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 4 6 6 8 8 8 10 10 129Canterbury 16 Canterbury-Bankstown 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 6 6 6 8 8 9 11 1110Parramatta 16 Parramatta 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 Finals HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd Semifinals 23x23px Manly-Warringah17–0 23x23px Newtown25 July 1959Sydney Cricket GroundDarcy Lawler8,967 23x23px St. George35–25 23x23px Western Suburbs1 August 1959Sydney Cricket GroundDarcy Lawler42,347 Preliminary Final 23x23px Western Suburbs13–14 23x23px Manly-Warringah8 August 1959Sydney Cricket GroundDarcy Lawler28,385 Grand Final 23x23px St. George20–0 Sydney Rugby The Age 20 1959-08-17 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-aUUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Tq8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4016,2669106 2009-11-20 23x23px Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles15 August 1959Sydney Cricket GroundDarcy Lawler49,457 Grand Final St. GeorgePositionManly-Warringah Brian Graham FB 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 ce 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 The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 18. Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField Goals189St. George Harry Bath5870189Western Suburbs Darcy Russell5870142Manly Ron Willey2680121North Sydney Johnny Jones1590110Newtown Kevin Considine10400 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayer19North Sydney Ken Irvine18St. George Brian Messiter15St. George Bob Bugden15Balmain Ron Mack14Western Suburbs Darcy Henry Top 5 goal scorers GoalsPlayer87St. George Harry Bath87Western Suburbs Darcy Russell68Manly Ron Willey59North Sydney Johnny Jones48Balmain Keith Barnes References External links Rugby League Tables - Season 1959 The World of Rugby League Writer, Larry (1995) Never Before, Never Again, Pan MacMillan, Sydney Results: 1951-60 at rabbitohs.com.au 1959 J J Giltinan Shield at rleague.com NSWRFL season 1959 at rugbyleagueproject.com 1959 Final at Dragons History site Category:New South Wales Rugby League premiership Nswrfl season