The 1962 NSWRFL season was the 55th New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership, Australia's first rugby league competition. Ten teams from across Sydney competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a replay of the previous year's grand final between St. George and Western Suburbs.
Season summary The league approved the use of substitutions to replace injured players, on the condition that the replacement player had already appeared in a lower grade match on the same day.
The 1962 season was also the last in the playing career of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Brian Carlson.
Teams Balmain 55th seasonGround: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Harry Bath Captain: Billy Bischoff Jr. Canterbury-Bankstown 28th seasonGround: Belmore Sports Ground Coach: Eddie BurnsCaptain: Ray Beavan, Brian Davies Eastern Suburbs 55th seasonGround: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Dick DunnCaptain: Terry Fearnley Manly-Warringah 16th seasonGround: Brookvale Oval Captain-Coach: Ron Willey Newtown 55th seasonGround: Henson Park Coach: Allan Ellis Captain: Tony Brown & Barry NelsonNorth Sydney 55th seasonGround: North Sydney Oval Coach: Bob Sullivan Captain: Brian Carlson Parramatta 16th seasonGround: Cumberland Oval Coach: Ken KearneyCaptain: Ron Lynch South Sydney 55th seasonGround: Redfern Oval Coach: Denis DonoghueCaptain: Darrel Chapman St. George 42nd seasonGround: Jubilee Oval Captain-coach: Norm ProvanWestern Suburbs 55th seasonGround: Pratten Park Coach: Jack FitzgeraldCaptain: Arthur Summons, Kel O'Shea
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 BalmainSTG+8MAN0CBY−17SOU−7WES−21NOR+4PAR−9NEW−3EAS−3STG0MAN+8CBY−5SOU−1WES−20NOR+10PAR+5NEW−1EAS−11 Canterbury-BankstownNEW−3EAS+24BAL+17MAN+23STG−20SOU+5WES−12NOR−7PAR0NEW−22EAS−5BAL+5MAN−2STG−21SOU−2WES0NOR+12PAR+1 Eastern SuburbsMAN−4CBY−24SOU0WES−13NOR−16PAR−3NEW+2STG−3BAL+3MAN−6CBY+5SOU+17WES+4NOR+4PAR+15NEW−10STG+1BAL+11 Manly-WarringahEAS+4BAL0STG−12CBY−23SOU+3WES−9NOR+26PAR−3NEW−6EAS+6BAL−8STG−12CBY+2SOU+6WES−3NOR−11PAR+5NEW−1 NewtownCBY+3SOU+2WES−4NOR+8PAR+6STG−11EAS−2BAL+3MAN+6CBY+22SOU+12WES−7NOR+13PAR−4STG+1EAS+10BAL+1MAN+1XSTG−21WES−12 North SydneyWES−3STG−8PAR0NEW−8EAS+16BAL−4MAN−26CBY+7SOU+1WES−13STG−25PAR−7NEW−13EAS−4BAL−10MAN+11CBY−12SOU0 ParramattaSOU−7WES+2NOR0STG−21NEW−6EAS+3BAL+9MAN+3CBY0SOU+27WES+12NOR+7STG+11NEW+4EAS−15BAL−5MAN−5CBY−1WES−6 South SydneyPAR+7NEW−2EAS0BAL+7MAN−3CBY−5STG−17WES−5NOR−1PAR−27NEW−12EAS−17BAL+1MAN−6CBY+2STG−34WES−13NOR0 St. GeorgeBAL−8NOR+8MAN+12PAR+21CBY+20NEW+11SOU+17EAS+3WES+8BAL0NOR+25MAN+12PAR−11CBY+21NEW−1SOU+34EAS−1WES+8XNEW+21XWES+3 Western SuburbsNOR+3PAR−2NEW+4EAS+13BAL+21MAN+9CBY+12SOU+5STG−8NOR+13PAR−12NEW+7EAS−4BAL+20MAN+3CBY0SOU+13STG−8PAR+6XNEW+12STG−3 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 St. George181314373194+179272 Newtown181305290230+60263 Western Suburbs181215299210+89254 Parramatta18927236218+18205 Eastern Suburbs18918213230-17196 Canterbury18729228235-7167 Manly187110234270-36158 Balmain185211237300-63129 North Sydney184212263361-981010 South Sydney184212212337-12510
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.
Team1234567891011121314151617181 St. George 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 17 19 21 21 23 23 25 25 272 Newtown 2 4 4 6 8 8 8 10 12 14 16 16 18 18 20 22 24 263 Western Suburbs 2 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 14 16 16 18 18 20 22 23 25 254 Parramatta 0 2 3 3 3 5 7 9 10 12 14 16 18 20 20 20 20 205 Eastern Suburbs 0 0 1 1 1 1 3 3 5 5 7 9 11 13 15 15 17 196 Canterbury-Bankstown 0 2 4 6 6 8 8 8 9 9 9 11 11 11 11 12 14 167 Manly-Warringah 2 3 3 3 5 5 7 7 7 9 9 9 11 13 13 13 15 158 Balmain 2 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 6 8 8 8 8 10 12 12 129 North Sydney 0 0 1 1 3 3 3 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 9 9 1010 South Sydney 2 2 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 9 9 9 10
Finals HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeCrowd Semi-finals Western Suburbs6–0 Parramatta25 August 1962Sydney Sports GroundDarcy Lawler26,281 St. George30–9 Newtown1 September 1962Sydney Cricket GroundCol Pearce36,058 Preliminary Final Newtown13–25 Western Suburbs8 September 1962Sydney Cricket GroundCol Pearce26,554 Grand Final St. George9–6 Western Suburbs15 September 1962Sydney Cricket GroundJack Bradley41,184
Grand Final St. GeorgePositionWestern Suburbs 15. Kevin McDonald FB Kevin Bray 2. Eddie Lumsden WG 2. Dave Barsley 3. Reg Gasnier CE 3. Fred Norden 19. Johnny Riley CE 14. Gil MacDougall 5. Johnny King WG 5. Peter Dimond 8. Johnny Raper FE 7. Arthur Summons (c) 21. George Evans HB 6. Don Malone 25. Monty Porter PR 9. John Hayes 12. Ian Walsh HK 12. Noel Kelly 11. Billy Wilson PR 11. Denis Meaney 10. Norm Provan (Ca./Co) SR 13. Jim Cody 9. Kevin Ryan SR 4. Garry Russell 13. Elton Rasmussen LK 8. Kevin Smyth Coach Jack Fitzgerald Wests had finished third on the ladder but won two semi-finals for another crack at their nemesis in a rain-soaked and muddy Grand Final. St George were favoured by a strong breeze in the first half which dropped off in the second half, giving Wests no reciprocal advantage.
The only try of the match was scored in the 17th minute after Norm Provan burst through and found Kevin Ryan in support who in turn found Johnny King on the fly. The winger raced 30 yards over sodden ground to score, notching up another Grand Final try in his unblemished consistent record.
The score was 7–2 at half time, with the Dragons playing almost all the second half with twelve men after Billy “Bluey” Wilson was sent off.
The match was a tight forward struggle with misdemeanors from both sides. Provan and Rasmussen finished the game needing stitches and Jim Cody and Garry Russell suffered broken noses. Wests did all they could to contain Reg Gasnier with Gill McDougall enjoying some success in hammering Gasnier and keeping him bottled up.
Saints' best were Ryan, Ian Walsh and Johnny Raper playing at five-eighth in place of Brian Clay whose injury prone season had ended early with a broken arm.
The game is remembered for a couple of off-the-ball incidents which began with Provan being knocked out by Jim Cody five minutes before half time. “Sticks” Provan was carried from the field and didn't return again until well into the second half. Cody escaped any official punishment. Wilson came out as captain in the second half and apparently squared things up in the first seconds after kick-off before the first tackle took place. Accounts differ as to whether “Bluey” Wilson was provoked by Cody before Wilson hit him, but hit him he did and referee Jack Bradley sent Wilson off. With no replacements allowed in those days, St George were reduced to 11 men until Provan returned to the field 15 minutes later.
In what can only be described as a heroic defensive effort, St George held out Wests and won the match.
The match was Billy Wilson's final game for St George; he had appeared in six of the Grand Final victories. The Larry Writer reference suggests that the send-off may have soured Wilson's relationship with club officials in spite of the victory. Whether true or not, at 35 years of age, the end of Wilson's playing career was looming from the club's perspective and his contract was not renewed.
As of the 2015 NRL season, no forward since Wilson has been sent off in a Grand Final. In this game Wilson also became the only man to have been sent off in two grand finals following on from his dismissal by Darcy Lawler in 1953 for fighting with South Sydney's Martin Gallagher.
St. George 9 (Tries: King. Goals: McDonald 3.)
Western Suburbs 6 ( Goals: Bray 3.)
Player statistics The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 18.
Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField Goals116 Bob Landers6490109 Don Parish7440105 Ron Willey1510102 Brian Graham051090 Brian Carlson2420 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayer21 Eddie Lumsden15 Ken Irvine14 Johnny King12 Reg Gasnier12 Peter Dimond12 Ken Foord12 Len Wadling12 Michael Cleary
Top 5 goal scorers GoalsPlayer51 Brian Graham51 Ron Willey49 Bob Landers44 Don Parish42 Brian Carlson
References
External links Rugby League Tables - Season 1962 The World of Rugby League Writer, Larry (1995) Never Before, Never Again, Pan MacMillan, Sydney Results - 1961-70 at rabbitohs.com.au 1962 J J Giltinan Shield and WD HO Wills Cup at rleague.com NSWRFL season 1962 at rugbyleagueproject.com St. George 1962 season at showroom.com.au