1934 NSWRFL season

Rugby league competition March 2024 1934 New South Wales Rugby Football League 8 16x16px Western Suburbs 2nd 16x16px Eastern Suburbs 5th 60 1823 16x16px Dave Brown (121) 16x16px Dave Brown (11)16x16px Fred Gardner (11)16x16px Vic Hey (11) University 7th 1933 NSWRFL season 1933 1935 NSWRFL season 1935 The 1934 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the twenty-seventh season of Sydney’s top-grade rugby league club competition, Australia’s first. Eight teams from across the city contested the premiership during the season which lasted from April until September and culminated in Western Suburbs’ victory over Eastern Suburbs in the premiership final.Premiership Roll of Honour https://web.archive.org/web/20070428143335/http://rl1908.com/clubcomps/Honours.htm 2007-04-28 at rl1908.com Season summary At the height of The Depression, the New South Wales Rugby Football League again banned radio broadcasts of matches, blaming them for a severe drop in crowd numbers. In Round 2 the University club began a losing streak which would run until the fourteenth round of the 1936 season, marking the record for the most consecutive losses in premiership history at 42. Teams Balmain, formed on January 23, 1908, at Balmain Town Hall Eastern Suburbs, formed on January 24, 1908, at Paddington Town Hall Newtown, formed on January 14, 1908 North Sydney, formed on February 7, 1908 South Sydney, formed on January 17, 1908, at Redfern Town Hall St. George, formed on November 8, 1920, at Kogarah School of Arts Western Suburbs, formed on February 4, 1908 University, formed in 1919 at Sydney University Balmain100px|center 27th seasonGround: Leichhardt Oval Coach: George RobinsonCaptain: Syd ChristensenEastern Suburbs100px|center 27th seasonGround: Trumper Oval, Sports Ground Coach: Arthur HallowayCaptain: Dave BrownNewtown100px|center 27th seasonGround: Marrickville Oval Coach: Charles Russell Captain: Keith EllisNorth Sydney100px|center 27th seasonGround: North Sydney Oval Coach: Herman Peters Captain: Doug Deitz St. George100px|center 14th seasonGround: Earl Park Coach: Albert JohnstonCaptain: Harry KadwellSouth Sydney100px|center 27th seasonGround: Sports Ground Coach: Charlie LynchCaptain: George TreweekUniversity100px|center 15th season Captain-Coach: Gordon FavelleWestern Suburbs100px|center 27th seasonGround: Pratten Park Captain-coach: Frank McMillan Ladder 230px|thumb|right|The geographical locations of the teams that contested the 1934 premiership across Sydney. TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts116x16px Eastern Suburbs141202308165+14324216x16px Western Suburbs141202263158+10524316x16px St. George14905251166+8518416x16px South Sydney14806213149+6416516x16px Newtown14509192229-3710616x16px North Sydney14509194234-4010716x16px Balmain144010206275-698816x16px Sydney University141013113364-2512 Finals In the two semi finals, the top two ranked teams Western Suburbs and Eastern Suburbs beat their lower-ranked opponents St. George and South Sydney. The two winners then played in a final in which Western beat Eastern Suburbs. 18 August 1934 - Sports Ground 16x16px Western Suburbs 16 16x16px St. George 6 25 August 1934 - Sports Ground 16x16px Eastern Suburbs 19 16x16px South Sydney 6 8 September 1934 - Sports GroundWests def. Sydney Roosters (15-12) - 08-Sep-1934 at nrlstats.com 16x16px Western Suburbs 15 16x16px Eastern Suburbs 12 Premiership Final Eastern SuburbsPositionWestern Suburbs13. Tom DowlingFB Frank McMillan (Ca./Co.)12. John LaneWG2. Alan Ridley11. Dave Brown (c)CE9. Charlie Cornwell10. Jack BeatonCE4. Stan Tancred42. Harry ThompsonWG5. Alan Brady8. Ernie NormanFE6. Vic Hey7. Viv ThicknesseHB7. Les Mead16. Ray StehrPR10. Jack McConnell Tom McLachlanHK12. Bob Lindfield3. Max NixonPR13. Alan Blake4. Harry PierceSR3. Vince Sheehan5. Joe PearceSR17. Max Gray6. Andy NorvalLK8. Frank SponbergArthur HallowayCoach After a hurried conference on Saturday, 1 September 1934, the league postponed the final for a week because of heavy rain and adverse ground conditions. It was the first postponement in the competition’s twenty-seven-year history. Eastern Suburbs players Viv Thicknesse and Stan Tancred made a return for the final which was refereed by J Murphy before a crowd of 25,174. Western Suburbs captain Frank McMillan won the toss and ran with the wind before Les Mead opened with a penalty goal. Regular stoppages for infringements ensued before Jack Beaton kicked accurately to level the match at 2–2. Western Suburbs Test winger Alan Ridley scored the first try of the match, crashing over on the right wing after powering through the defence. McMillan’s conversion made it 7–2, with the score remaining unchanged at halftime. After the break, Thicknesse hit back for Eastern Suburbs and crossed after excellent lead up work by Joe Pearce. Beaton missed the conversion but Dave Brown steered through a penalty from a scrum infringement shortly after and the scores were level at 7–7. Rain began to fall as Western Suburbs gathered momentum. The play shifted to Easts’ line and Vince Sheehan crossed for an unconverted try and Western Suburbs led 10–7. Eastern Suburbs continued to defend grimly before Western Suburbs surged to a comfortable 15–7 lead. Vic Hey received a lobbed pass and got the ball to Alan Ridley who scored under the upright for Mead to convert. The Roosters’ chances came in the final stages and Andy Norval crossed for his team’s second try, although the referee appeared to miss a blatant knock-on. Beaton converted but it was all too late, with Western Suburbs claiming their second premiership. right|thumb|300px|Frank McMillan 1934 premiership winning captain, to his right Alan Brady and Charlie CornwellA victory by a team who upset the Eastern Suburbs, who went on to win the next three titles. Alan Ridley played one of the best games for Western Suburbs along with team-mates Mead, Hey, Brady, Tancred. Current test skipper Frank McMillan (141 games) and hooker Bob Lindfield (138 matches) announced their retirement after the victory and were chaired from the field by team-mates. Western Suburbs 15 (Tries: Alan Ridley 2, Vince Sheehan. Goals: Les Mead 2, Frank McMillan) Eastern Suburbs 12 (Tries: Andy Norval, Viv Thicknesse. Goals: Jack Beaton 2, Dave Brown) References External links Rugby League Tables - Notes AFL Tables Rugby League Tables - Season 1934 AFL Tables Premiership History and Statistics RL1908 Results: 1931-40 at rabbitohs.com.au Nswrfl season Category:New South Wales Rugby League premiership