1971 NSWRFL season

Rugby league competition March 2024 1971 New South Wales Rugby Football League 125px 12 16x16px South Sydney 20th 16x16px Manly-Warringah 1st 136 4477 1562338 16x16px Graeme Langlands (196) 16x16px Paul Cross (18) South Sydney 16 Denis Pittard Rothmans Medal 16x16px Western Suburbs 11th 1970 NSWRFL season 1970 1972 NSWRFL season 1972 The 1971 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the sixty-fourth season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six foundation clubs and another six admitted since 1908, competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a Grand Final match for the W.D. & H.O. Wills between the South Sydney and St. George clubs. Season summary The season saw the number of tackles in a set increased from four to six. In addition, the number of points awarded for a field goal was reduced from two to one.Middleton David League of Legends: 100 Years of Rugby League in Australia National Museum of Australia 2008 31 http://www.nma.gov.au/shared/libraries/attachments/league_of_legends/rugby_league_a_work_in_progress/files/22453/F_RL_work_in_progress.pdf 978-1-876944-64-3 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20110317093000/http://www.nma.gov.au/shared/libraries/attachments/league_of_legends/rugby_league_a_work_in_progress/files/22453/F_RL_work_in_progress.pdf 2011-03-17 Each side met all others twice in twenty-two regular season rounds, resulting in the top four teams consisting of Manly-Warringah, South Sydney, St. George and Parramatta who fought out three finals for the right to play in the Grand Final. The 1971 Rothmans Medal was won by South Sydney's five-eighth Denis Pittard while Rugby League Week awarded their player of the year award to South Sydney's halfback Bob Grant. This season marked the end of a 23-year run where all but two of the premierships were won by St. George or South Sydney.The only exceptions were Western Suburbs winning in 1952 and Balmain winning in 1969. The 1971 season saw a ban imposed by the NSWRL on TV coverage of games in the Sydney premiership. It was believed that TV coverage was a contributing factor to falling attendances at games. As a result, only the Grand Final was televised, and even then as a one-hour late night highlights package rather than live coverage. The ban was lifted for the 1972 season onwards, as in practice it was shown to have negligible effect on match attendances. In the sixteenth round, a “double-header” — Balmain played St. George at 1 P.M. and Parramatta played South Sydney at 2:30 P.M. — was held for the first time at the Sydney Cricket Ground, although it did not meet expectation.Clarkson Allan Dismissal, Injuries Hit Souths Sydney Morning Herald 12 July 1971 13 The “double header” was decided uponClarkson Allan League May Get Bonanza Sydney Morning Herald 9 July 1971 11 after it was feared that protests against the apartheid South Africa rugby union tourists, who were scheduled to play in Sydney that Saturday, would affect attendances at League games.Humphries Rod League Men To Check on Union Protesters: Souths–P'Matta Still at S.C.G. Sydney Morning Herald 6 July 1971 17 Teams Balmain100px|center 64th seasonGround: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Leo NosworthyCaptain: Keith OuttenCanterbury-Bankstown100px|center 37th seasonGround:Belmore Sports Ground Coach: Bob HaganCaptain(s): Johnny Greaves / Terry Reynolds Cronulla-Sutherland100px|center 5th seasonGround: Endeavour Field Captain-coach: Tommy BishopEastern Suburbs100px|center 64th seasonGround: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Don Furner Captain: Kevin JuneeManly-Warringah100px|center 25th seasonGround: Brookvale Oval Coach: Ron WilleyCaptain: Fred JonesNewtown100px|center 64th seasonGround: Henson Park Coach: Harry Bath Captain: Brian Moore / Barry BriggsNorth Sydney100px|center 64th seasonGround: North Sydney Oval Coach: Merv Hicks Captain: Noel CavanaghParramatta100px|center 25th seasonGround: Cumberland Oval Coach: Ian WalshCaptain: Dick ThornettPenrith100px|center 5th seasonGround: Penrith Park Coach: Bob BolandCaptain: Ian McKechnieSouth Sydney100px|center 64th seasonGround: Redfern Oval Coach: Clive ChurchillCaptain: John Sattler St. George100px|center 51st seasonGround: Kogarah Jubilee Oval Coach: Jack GibsonCaptain: Graeme LanglandsWestern Suburbs 64th seasonGround: Lidcombe Oval Coach: Ron WatsonCaptain: Tommy Raudonikis Regular season 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 BalmainPEN+22SOU−17NEW+15EAS+3STG−25MAN−24PAR−8WES+9CRO+23CBY−12NOR+19PEN−4SOU−26NEW+3EAS+6STG−9MAN−18PAR−11WES+4CRO+2CBY+18NOR−2 Canterbury-BankstownWES−43PAR−24MAN−27NOR−7PEN+10SOU−17STG+5EAS−17NEW−10BAL+12CRO+16WES+20PAR+1MAN−10NOR+7PEN+12SOU+3STG−12EAS+4NEW+14BAL−18CRO−6 Cronulla-SutherlandNOR+39PEN+19SOU−1NEW−1EAS−6STG−4WES+14MAN+7BAL−23PAR−9CBY−16NOR+1PEN−4SOU−1NEW+23EAS−4STG+4WES+9MAN−15BAL−2PAR+6CBY+6 Eastern SuburbsNEW+19MAN−14STG−16BAL−3CRO+6WES+11NOR+2CBY+17PAR−8PEN−9SOU−16NEW+13MAN−5STG0BAL−6CRO+4WES−4NOR−2CBY−4PAR+26PEN+5SOU−11 Manly-WarringahPAR+29EAS+14CBY+27STG+4NOR+10BAL+24SOU+8CRO−7PEN+8WES+25NEW−12PAR+17EAS+5CBY+10STG−17NOR+43BAL+18SOU+1CRO+15PEN+21WES+5NEW+20XSOU−6STG−3 NewtownEAS−19STG−11BAL−15CRO+1WES+1PAR−10PEN+23NOR0CBY+10SOU−11MAN+12EAS−13STG−2BAL−3CRO−23WES−8PAR+5PEN−17NOR+4CBY−14SOU−9MAN−20 North SydneyCRO−39WES+5PAR−26CBY+7MAN−10PEN−5EAS−2NEW0SOU−2STG−4BAL−19CRO−1WES−2PAR−3CBY−7MAN−43PEN−4EAS+2NEW−4SOU−33STG+7BAL+2 ParramattaMAN−29CBY+24NOR+26PEN−12SOU−7NEW+10BAL+8STG+9EAS+8CRO+9WES+16MAN−17CBY−1NOR+3PEN+11SOU−11NEW−5BAL+11STG−1EAS−26CRO−6WES+8STG−11 PenrithBAL−22CRO−19WES+9PAR+12CBY−10NOR+5NEW−23SOU−2MAN−8EAS+9STG−16BAL+4CRO+4WES+6PAR−11CBY−12NOR+4NEW+17SOU+7MAN−21EAS−5STG−17 South SydneySTG+6BAL+17CRO+1WES+24PAR+7CBY+17MAN−8PEN+2NOR+2NEW+11EAS+16STG−2BAL+26CRO+1WES+18PAR+11CBY−3MAN−1PEN−7NOR+33NEW+9EAS+11XMAN+6XSTG+6 St. GeorgeSOU−6NEW+11EAS+16MAN−4BAL+25CRO+4CBY−5PAR−9WES+6NOR+4PEN+16SOU+2NEW+2EAS0MAN+17BAL+9CRO−4CBY+12PAR+1WES+2NOR−7PEN+17PAR+11XMAN+3SOU−6 Western SuburbsCBY+43NOR−5PEN−9SOU−24NEW−1EAS−11CRO−14BAL−9STG−6MAN−25PAR−16CBY−20NOR+2PEN−6SOU−18NEW+8EAS+4CRO−9BAL−4STG−2MAN−5PAR−8 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 TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 16x16px Manly221903528260+268382 16x16px South Sydney221705499308+191343 16x16px St. George221516392283+109314 16x16px Parramatta2212010383355+28245 16x16px Balmain2211011366398-32226 16x16px Canterbury2211011335422-87227 16x16px Cronulla2210012352310+42208 Old Penrith 16 Penrith2210012283372-89209 16x16px Eastern Suburbs229112344339+51910 16x16px Newtown227114282401-1191511 16x16px North Sydney225116265446-1811112 16x16px Western Suburbs224018336471-1358 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. Team123456789101112131415161718192021221Manly 16 Manly-Warringah 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 14 16 18 18 20 22 24 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 382South Sydney 16 South Sydney 2 4 6 8 10 12 12 14 16 18 20 20 22 24 26 28 28 28 28 30 32 343St. George 16 St. George 0 2 4 4 6 8 8 8 10 12 14 16 18 19 21 23 23 25 27 29 29 314Parramatta 16 Parramatta 0 2 4 4 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 16 16 18 20 20 20 22 22 22 22 245Balmain 16 Balmain 2 2 4 6 6 6 6 8 10 10 12 12 12 14 16 16 16 16 18 20 22 226Canterbury 16 Canterbury-Bankstown 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 4 4 6 8 10 12 12 14 16 18 18 20 22 22 227Cronulla 16 Cronulla-Sutherland 2 4 4 4 4 4 6 8 8 8 8 10 10 10 12 12 14 16 16 16 18 208Old Penrith 16 Penrith 0 0 2 4 4 6 6 6 6 8 8 10 12 14 14 14 16 18 20 20 20 209Eastern Suburbs 16 Eastern Suburbs 2 2 2 2 4 6 8 10 10 10 10 12 12 13 13 15 15 15 15 17 19 1910Newtown 16 Newtown 0 0 0 2 4 4 6 7 9 9 11 11 11 11 11 11 13 13 15 15 15 1511North Sydney 16 North Sydney 0 2 2 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 7 9 1112Western Suburbs 16 Western Suburbs 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 6 8 8 8 8 8 8 Finals Under the guidance of revolutionary head-coach Jack Gibson who was in 1971 beginning to embrace the attitude and training methods used in the United States' National Football League, St. George in 1971 had reached the Grand Final in all three grades. They were to lose all three matches. (5–11 v Canterbury-Bankstown in Third Grade; 5–19 v Canterbury-Bankstown in Reserve Grade and 10–16 v South Sydney in the top grade). HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd Semi-finals 23x23px St. George19–8 23x23px Parramatta28 August 1971Sydney Cricket GroundKeith Page38,157 23x23px Manly-Warringah13–19 23x23px South Sydney4 September 1971Sydney Cricket GroundKeith Holman50,261 Preliminary Final 23x23px Manly-Warringah12–15 23x23px St. George11 September 1971Sydney Cricket GroundKeith Page45,883 Grand Final 23x23px South Sydney16–10 23x23px St. George18 September 1971Sydney Cricket GroundKeith Holman62,838 Grand Final South SydneyPositionSt. George Eric Simms FB Graeme Langlands (c) 2. Keith Edwards WG 2. Ken Batty 3. Paul Sait CE 3. Bob Clapham 4. Bob Honan CE 4. Ken Maddison 5. Ray Branighan WG 5. Geoff Carr 6. Denis Pittard FE 6. Tony Branson 7. Bob Grant HB 7. Billy Smith 13. John Sattler (c) PR 13. Harry Eden 12. George Piggins HK 12. Colin Rasmussen 11. John O'Neill PR 11. Grahame Bowen 10. Bob McCarthy SR 10. Peter Fitzgerald 9. Gary Stevens SR 9. Barry Beath 8. Ron Coote LK 8. Ted Walton Reserve 22. Mick Dryden Reserve 39. Russell Cox Clive Churchill Coach Jack Gibson Against a battle-hardened South Sydney side with a larger pack, the young Dragons went into the Grand Final as clear underdogs. Only Smith, Madison and Langlands for St. George had Grand Final experience of the level enjoyed by the entire Rabbitoh pack. Many of the Rabbitohs were playing in their fourth or fifth successive Grand Final. The first half was a gruelling affair, with the sole point coming from an Eric Simms field goal. McCarthy crossed the Dragons’ try-line in the sixth minute but was called back on a forward pass ruling by referee Holman. Simms attempted a long-range field goal in the eighth minute which was unsuccessful, and Grant took another vain field goal shot minutes later. Souths dominated possession and field-position in the first fifteen minutes and were just held at bay by the rugged defence of the Dragons, especially from their centre, Clapham. Pittard made a 75 m yard break at the fourteen-minute mark and was brought down 3 m yard 2 from the Dragons’ line by a desperate diving tackle from Smith. In the fifteenth minute Simms took another field goal attempt from dead in front and was successful. Souths attack was free-flowing, and they kept the play alive with late offloads whilst St. George adopted a more structured play of one-off running or moving the ball across the backline. In the twentieth minute Beath was stopped in the Souths' corner by a classy Coote cover tackle. Langlands missed two penalty goal attempts in the first half, one mid-way through the period and another shortly before the break. Only Beath and Smith regularly broke through Souths' defences. At the interval Souths were in front by the unlikely scoreline of 1–0. When play resumed Souths continued with their adventurous style of keeping the ball alive, they broke through poor Dragon defence and Branighan scored in the corner. Simms hit the post with the conversion attempt. Cox had replaced Bowen for St. George at half-time. Sattler tested out Cox early in the half with niggle and surreptitious fouls and appeared to eye-gouge Langlands in the 55th minute. The match began to turn spiteful at that point when Beath was penalised for using his knees on McCarthy. Coote scored the second try after a break by Sait, Simms converted and then added a penalty goal a few minutes later. At this stage Souths held an 11–0 lead and looked to be racing away with the match as St. George failed to complete tackles allowing the Rabbitohs to continually off-load. The Dragons then rallied and fought back with a try to Barry Beath after a brave blind-side fifth tackle move by Billy Smith which was followed by a magnificent sideline conversion from Langlands. Smith was proving to be the Dragons’ only attacking spark until he was collared by Piggins and Sattler in a cynical head high tackle at the 65th minute. With the penalty that ensued Langlands took play to the other end of the field and Ted Walton scored for St. George. Langlands again converted from out wide. With the score at 11–10 and only twelve minutes remaining, Saints looked to be getting on top of their more fancied rivals. However a match-winning try two minutes from full-time by Bob McCarthy running freely off Ron Coote, showed the experience of the Rabbitohs, who took their fourth title in a five-year period. McCarthy and Coote had starred for Souths and continually threatened to split the Dragons' defence. Souths hooker George Piggins who had been called into the side to replace regular season rake Elwyn Walters, was hailed as a hero, playing himself to a standstill in what was ultimately a closely fought encounter. The victory was to be South Sydney's last for a period of 43 years, with the club not to win another Premiership until 2014. South Sydney 16 (Tries: Branighan, Coote, McCarthy. Goals: Simms 3. Field Goal: Simms.) St. George 10 (Tries: Beath, Walton. Goals: Langlands 2.) Player statistics The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22. Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField Goals171St. George Graeme Langlands11690169South Sydney Eric Simms3800137Manly Derek Moritz13490135Parramatta Keith Campbell1660130Eastern Suburbs Allan McKean0650 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayer18Balmain Paul Cross17Cronulla Ray Corcoran15South Sydney Bob McCarthy15Manly Bob Fulton14Manly Ken Irvine Top 5 goal scorers GoalsPlayer80South Sydney Eric Simms69St. George Graeme Langlands66Parramatta Keith Campbell65Eastern Suburbs Allan McKean52Manly Bob Batty Notes "note" References External links Rugby League Tables - Season 1971 The World of Rugby League Results:1971-80 at rabbitohs.com.au 1971 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup at rleague.comJanuary 2025 medicmedic NSWRFL season 1971 at rugbyleagueproject.com Category:1971 in Australian rugby league 1971