The 1969 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 62nd season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six Sydney-based foundation teams and another six from the Sydney area competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between Balmain and South Sydney.
Season summary South Sydney fullback Eric Simms' tally of 265 points for the season from 112 goals, 19 field-goals and one try topped the season point scoring record that had been set in the 1935 season by Dave Brown.
In Round 20, Ken Irvine scored his 153rd career try, surpassing Harold Horder as the highest try scorer in NSWRL history. He held the record until Alex Johnston broke it in 2026.
The 1969 season's Rothmans Medallist was South Sydney's Denis Pittard.
The 1969 season also saw the retirement from the League of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, John Raper.
Teams Balmain 62nd seasonGround: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Leo NosworthyCaptain: Peter ProvanCanterbury-Bankstown 35th seasonGround: Belmore Oval Coach: Kevin RyanCaptain: Kevin Ryan→Bob HaganCronulla-Sutherland 3rd seasonGround: Endeavour Field Coach: Ken KearneyCaptain: Noel ThorntonEastern Suburbs 62nd seasonGround: Sydney Sports Ground Captain-Coach: Louis Neumann Manly-Warringah 23rd seasonGround: Brookvale Oval Coach: George HunterCaptain(s): Bob Fulton / Fred JonesNewtown 62nd seasonGround: Henson Park Coach: Harry BathCaptain: Bob Carnegie North Sydney 62nd seasonGround: North Sydney Oval Coach: Roy FrancisCaptain: Ken Irvine Parramatta 23rd seasonGround: Cumberland Oval Coach: Ian JohnstonCaptain: Dick ThornettPenrith 3rd seasonGround: Penrith Park Captain-coach: Bob BolandSouth Sydney 62nd seasonGround: Redfern Oval Coach: Clive ChurchillCaptain: John SattlerSt. George 49th seasonGround: Kogarah Oval Captain-coach: Johnny RaperWestern Suburbs 62nd seasonGround: Lidcombe Oval Captain-Coach: Noel Kelly
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 BalmainSOU+9CRO+18EAS+14PEN+1MAN+5CBY−4NEW+15WES+9PAR+2STG+5NOR+8SOU−17CRO+3EAS+2PEN−4MAN−3CBY+24NEW+10WES−7PAR+5STG+9NOR+2XSOU−1MAN+1SOU+9 Canterbury-BankstownNEW+18WES−21PAR+16STG+10NOR+6BAL+4CRO+27EAS−5PEN−5MAN−8SOU−20NEW−8WES+5PAR−9STG+4NOR−1BAL−24CRO+11EAS−15PEN−2MAN+12SOU−28 Cronulla-SutherlandNOR−11BAL−18SOU−39EAS−10PEN−20MAN−9CBY−27NEW+16WES−1PAR−7STG−4NOR+8BAL−3SOU−5EAS−5PEN+3MAN−7CBY−11NEW+11WES−10PAR+8STG−6 Eastern SuburbsSTG+13NOR−9BAL−14CRO+10SOU−4PEN+3MAN−7CBY+5NEW+7WES−11PAR−12STG−4NOR0BAL−2CRO+5SOU−27PEN+1MAN−28CBY+15NEW−18WES−17PAR−8 Manly-WarringahWES+11PAR+2STG−21NOR+18BAL−5CRO+9EAS+7PEN+1SOU−12CBY+8NEW−5WES+1PAR+16STG−1NOR−10BAL+3CRO+7EAS+28PEN+9SOU−4CBY−12NEW+7STG+9XBAL−1 NewtownCBY−18SOU−14WES−18PAR−25STG−3NOR−9BAL−15CRO−16EAS−7PEN0MAN+5CBY+8SOU−20WES+6PAR−1STG−18NOR+6BAL−10CRO−11EAS+18PEN+7MAN−7 North SydneyCRO+11EAS+9PEN+3MAN−18CBY−6NEW+9WES−3PAR+4STG−23SOU+9BAL−8CRO−8EAS0PEN+29MAN+10CBY+1NEW−6WES−5PAR+3STG−8SOU−20BAL−2 ParramattaPEN+11MAN−2CBY−16NEW+25WES+6SOU−27STG+1NOR−4BAL−2CRO+7EAS+12PEN−2MAN−16CBY+9NEW+1WES+6SOU+9STG−25NOR−3BAL−5CRO−8EAS+8 PenrithPAR−11STG−24NOR−3BAL−1CRO+20EAS−3SOU−1MAN−1CBY+5NEW0WES+6PAR+2STG−1NOR−29BAL+4CRO−3EAS−1SOU−22MAN−9CBY+2NEW−7WES−10 South SydneyBAL−9NEW+14CRO+39WES+10EAS+4PAR+27PEN+1STG−4MAN+12NOR−9CBY+20BAL+17NEW+20CRO+5WES+7EAS+27PAR−9PEN+22STG+21MAN+4NOR+20CBY+28XBAL+1XBAL−9 St. GeorgeEAS−13PEN+24MAN+21CBY−10NEW+3WES−2PAR−1SOU+4NOR+23BAL−5CRO+4EAS+4PEN+1MAN+1CBY−4NEW+18WES+11PAR+25SOU−21NOR+8BAL−9CRO+6MAN−9 Western SuburbsMAN−11CBY+21NEW+18SOU−10PAR−6STG+2NOR+3BAL−9CRO+1EAS+11PEN−6MAN−1CBY−5NEW−6SOU−7PAR−6STG−11NOR+5BAL+7CRO+10EAS+17PEN+10 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 South Sydney221804489222+267362 Balmain221705410304+106343 St. George221408411323+88284 Manly221408355298+57285 Western Suburbs2211011315288+27226 Parramatta2211011323338-15227 North Sydney2210111343362-19218 Canterbury2210012316349-33209 Eastern Suburbs228113307409-1021710 Penrith226115311398-871311 Newtown226115279421-1421312 Cronulla225017301448-14710
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. Team123456789101112131415161718192021221 South Sydney 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 12 14 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 26 28 30 32 34 362 Balmain 2 4 6 8 10 10 12 14 16 18 20 20 22 24 24 24 26 28 28 30 32 343 St. George 0 2 4 4 6 6 6 8 10 10 12 14 16 18 18 20 22 24 24 26 26 284 Manly-Warringah 2 4 4 6 6 8 10 12 12 14 14 16 18 18 18 20 22 24 26 26 26 285 Western Suburbs 0 2 4 4 4 6 8 8 10 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 14 16 18 20 226 Parramatta 2 2 2 4 6 6 8 8 8 10 12 12 12 14 16 18 20 20 20 20 20 227 North Sydney 2 4 6 6 6 8 8 10 10 12 12 12 13 15 17 19 19 19 21 21 21 218 Canterbury-Bankstown 2 2 4 6 8 10 12 12 12 12 12 12 14 14 16 16 16 18 18 18 20 209 Eastern Suburbs 2 2 2 4 4 6 6 8 10 10 10 10 11 11 13 13 15 15 17 17 17 1710 Penrith 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 4 5 7 9 9 9 11 11 11 11 11 13 13 1311 Newtown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 5 5 7 7 7 9 9 9 11 13 1312 Cronulla-Sutherland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 6 6 6 8 8 10 10
Finals In the preliminary final, Balmain trailed 12-14 against Manly-Warringah until late in the match when winger George Ruebner charged for the corner post to snatch a win in dramatic fashion. HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd Semi-finals Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles19–10 St. George Dragons30 August 1969Sydney Cricket GroundKeith Page40,977 South Sydney Rabbitohs14–13 Balmain Tigers6 September 1969Sydney Cricket GroundKeith Page44,159 Preliminary Final Balmain Tigers15–14 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles13 September 1969Sydney Cricket GroundKeith Page41,410 Grand Final South Sydney Rabbitohs2–11 Balmain Tigers20 September 1969Sydney Cricket GroundKeith Page58,825
Grand Final South SydneyPositionBalmain Eric Simms FB Robert Smithies 2. Michael Cleary WG 2. George Ruebner 3. Bob Honan CE 3. Allan Fitzgibbon 4. Kerry Burke CE 4. Terry Parker 5. Brian James WG 5. Len Killeen 6. Denis Pittard FE 6. Keith Outten 7. Bob GrantHB7. Dave Bolton 13. John Sattler (c) PR 13. Garry Leo 12. Elwyn Walters HK 12. Peter Boulton 11. John O'Neill PR 11. Barry McTaggart10. Bob McCarthy SR10. John Spencer9. Bob Moses SR 9. Joe Walsh 8. Ron Coote LK 8. Peter Provan (c) 17. Paul Sait Reserve 14. Sid Williams Clive Churchill Coach Leo Nosworthy Balmain were not given a chance of winning the Premiership after the retirement of Keith Barnes. Souths had won the last two premierships, beaten the Tigers in the major semi-final to advance to the Grand Final and boasted eleven internationals in their side.
However, as a result their favouritism Souths were overconfident and showed insufficient respect to the young Tigers, who had shown early-season form in beating them in round 1, and to their rookie coach Leo Nosworthy, who presented a well-prepared and determined Balmain team.
The Tigers led 6–0 at halftime after two penalty goals by Len Killeen and a Dave Bolton field-goal. Souths refusal to kick on the last tackle played into Balmain's hands as novice replacement hooker Peter Boulton managed to consistently regain possession from the scrums. Balmain backed up with a robust defensive line and kept South pinned in their own half.
After the break a Bob McCarthy fumble after a mix up with Paul Sait saw Bolton swoop on the ball deep in Souths territory. From the ruck Terry Parker slipped a beautiful pass to replacement winger Sid Williams who juggled but held the ball to cross the line for the only try of the match. With a 9–0 lead early in the second half and a penalty count that continued to mount in their favour, Balmain took control of the game and appeared to begin a ploy of feigning injury whenever Souths looked to build rhythm, stopping the Rabbitohs' flow of play. Hence the match is still referred to today as "the lay-down grand final".
Souths' protests proved pointless as referee Keith Page (in his first Grand Final) was powerless to stop the Tigers tactics under the rules of the day, and Balmain secured and held an 11–2 lead to win their first premiership since 1947 and to give a fairy-tale career farewell for their captain and 159-game veteran Peter Provan.
This was the 11th and most recent premiership for the Tigers as just Balmain, and in 1999, the club formed a 50/50 joint venture with the Western Suburbs Magpies to become the Wests Tigers. The joint venture that continues to this day
Balmain 11 (Tries: Williams. Goals: Killeen 2. Field Goal: D Bolton 2)
South Sydney 2 (Goals: Simms 1.)
Player statistics The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22.
Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField Goals255 Eric Simms110818185 Len Killeen9736166 Bob Batty2773158 Bob Landers6700156 Graeme Langlands4720 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayer17 Ken Irvine16 Johnny King12 Denis Pittard10 Bob McCarthy10 John McDonald10 Barry Beath10 George Ambrum
Top 5 goal scorers GoalsPlayer108 Eric Simms77 Bob Batty73 Len Killeen72 Graeme Langlands70 Bob Landers
References
External links Rugby League Tables - Season 1969 The World of Rugby League 1969 Grand Final at eraofthebiff.com Results:1961-70 at rabbitohs.com.au 1969 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup at rleague.com NSWRFL season 1969 at rugbyleagueproject.com