The 1968 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 61st season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Twelve teams, including six Sydney-based foundation teams and another six from around Sydney competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield and the WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between South Sydney and Manly-Warringah.
Season summary The 1968 season saw the introduction of an official Best and Fairest Player award in the form of the Rothmans Medal. The inaugural medal was won by Cronulla-Sutherland's Terry Hughes.
The Balmain club narrowly missed out on a place in the top four, which was made up of South Sydney, Manly-Warringah, St. George and Eastern Suburbs.
Teams Balmain 61st seasonGround: Leichhardt Oval Captain-Coach: Keith Barnes Canterbury-Bankstown 34th seasonGround: Belmore Sports Ground Captain-coach: Kevin RyanCronulla-Sutherland 2nd seasonGround: Endeavour Field Coach: Ken KearneyCaptain: Warren RyanEastern Suburbs 61st seasonGround: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Jack GibsonCaptain: Jim MatthewsManly-Warringah 22nd seasonGround: Brookvale Oval Coach: George HunterCaptain: Bob FultonNewtown 61st seasonGround: Henson Park Coach: Dick PooleCaptain: Bobby KeyesNorth Sydney 61st seasonGround: North Sydney Oval Captain-coach: Colin GreenwoodParramatta 22nd seasonGround: Cumberland Oval Coach: Ian JohnstonCaptain: Dick ThornettPenrith 2nd seasonGround: Penrith Park Captain-Coach: Bob BolandSouth Sydney 61st seasonGround: Redfern Oval Coach: Clive ChurchillCaptain: John SattlerSt. George 48th seasonGround: Jubilee Oval Coach: Norm Provan Captain: Johnny Raper Western Suburbs 61st seasonGround: Lidcombe Oval Captain-coach: Noel Kelly
Ladder TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 South Sydney221606394271+123322 Manly221516379282+97313 St. George221336416320+96294 Eastern Suburbs221417362274+88295 Balmain221408393284+109286 Parramatta221219308284+24257 Western Suburbs2212010328279+49248 Penrith2211011298352-54229 Canterbury229112259301-421910 Cronulla226016259405-1461211 North Sydney224018259388-129812 Newtown222119257472-2155
Finals HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd Semi-finals St. George17–10 Eastern Suburbs Roosters31 August 1968Sydney Cricket GroundCol Pearce49,747 South Sydney15–23 Manly-Warringah7 September 1968Sydney Cricket GroundCol Pearce49,128 Preliminary Final South Sydney20–8 St. George14 September 1968Sydney Cricket GroundCol Pearce44,803 Grand Final Manly-Warringah9–13 South Sydney21 September 1968Sydney Cricket GroundCol Pearce54,255
Grand Final Manly-Warringah Sea EaglesPositionSouth Sydney Rabbitohs Bob Batty FB Eric Simms 2. Michael McLean WG 2. Brian James 3. Alec Tennant CE 3. Bob Honan 4. Frank Stanton CE 4. Arthur Branighan 5. Les Hanigan WG 5. Michael Cleary 6. Bob Fulton (c) FE 6. Denis Pittard 7. Denis Ward HB 7. Bob Grant 13. Bill Hamilton PR 13. Jim Morgan 12. Fred Jones HK 12. Elwyn Walters 11. Norm Pounder PR 11. John O'Neill 10. David Knox SR 19. John Sattler (c) 9. John Morgan SR 9. Bob Moses 8. Bill Bradstreet LK 8. Ron Coote Res. George Hunter Coach Clive Churchill Manly was making its fourth ever Grand Final appearance and still looking for its first title. 21-year-old captain Bob Fulton led a young Sea Eagles side, while Souths was skippered by John Sattler who that season had been honoured as "Catholic Sportsman of the Year". Neither team lineup had any players older than 29 years of age. The depth of the Souths line-up was indicated by the fact that it's stars Kevin Longbottom, Bob McCarthy and Ray Branighan were all named and played in the Rabbitohs' reserve grade side which ominously won its grand final match-up also against Manly.
The first-grade match began furiously with the toughening-up period resulting in four cautions by referee Pearce in the first four minutes. Ron Coote clashed with Bill Bradstreet and the opposing giants Hamilton and John O'Neill also measured up. Souths, with a strong breeze at its back, was the first to score when Michael Cleary intercepted a pass meant for Manly winger Les Hanigan and raced 80 yards to score. Simms punished Manly with a conversion and three successful penalty goals in the first half and at the break Souths led 11–2.
The Sea Eagles refused to lay down and mid-way through the second half second-rower John Morgan crashed over for a try which was converted by Bob Batty. Then a Bob Fulton field goal with fourteen minutes left brought Manly within reach. But despite the Manly fightback Souths was too resilient and hung on to win its second successive premiership and the club's 18th title.
South Sydney 13 (Tries: Cleary. Goals: Simms 5.)
Manly-Warringah 9 (Tries: Morgan. Goals: Batty 2. Fld Goals: Fulton 1.)
Player statistics The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22.
Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField Goals184 Eric Simms06527181 Dennis Preston7800167 Terry Hughes7676152 Len Killeen8640136 Allan McKean0671 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayer20 Stan Gorton13 Les Hanigan12 Mick Alchin11 George Ruebner9 Ron Coote9 Bob Mara9 Johnny Rhodes
Top 5 goal scorers GoalsPlayer80 Dennis Preston67 Allan McKean67 Terry Hughes65 Eric Simms64 Len Killeen
References
External links Rugby League Tables – Season 1968 The World of Rugby League Results:1961-70 at rabbitohs.com.au 1968 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup at rleague.com NSWRFL season 1968 at rugbyleagueproject.com