The 1974 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 67th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from across Sydney, competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a grand final match for the WD & HO Wills Cup between the Eastern Suburbs and Canterbury-Bankstown clubs. This season NSWRFL teams also competed for the inaugural Amco Cup.
Season summary The preseason saw Eastern Suburbs defeat South Sydney 43–0 in the final of the preseason competition at the Sydney Sports Ground, while Parramatta beat Cronulla 20–8 in the playoff for third at Belmore Oval.
This season the NSWRFL made the financial commitment to bring suburban football grounds up to a higher standard in order to take more games to the fans on a home-and-away basis.
Twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March until August, resulting in a top five of Eastern Suburbs, Manly-Warringah, Canterbury-Bankstown, Western Suburbs and Souths who battled it out in the finals. This season would mark the first time since 1950 where St. George failed to make the finals and the first time since 1911 that Balmain would finish last and take out the wooden spoon.
The 1974 Rothmans Medal was awarded to Manly-Warringah's fullback Graham Eadie. Rugby League Week awarded their player of the year award to Eastern Suburbs' forward Arthur Beetson.
Teams Balmain Tigers 67th seasonGround(s): Leichhardt Oval &Lidcombe Oval Coach: Alan MasonCaptain: John SpencerCanterbury-Bankstown 44th seasonGround: Belmore Sports Ground Coach: Malcolm CliftCaptain: Barry PhillisCronulla-Sutherland 8th seasonGround: Endeavour Field Coach: Noel ThorntonCaptain: Greg PierceEastern Suburbs 67th seasonGround: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Jack GibsonCaptain: Arthur Beetson Manly-Warringah 28th seasonGround: Brookvale Oval Coach: Ron WilleyCaptain: Fred JonesNewtown 67th seasonGround: Henson Park Coach: Clarrie JeffriesCaptain: Lionel WilliamsonNorth Sydney 67th seasonGround: North Sydney Oval Coach: Noel KellyCaptain: Tim PickupParramatta 28th seasonGround: Cumberland Oval Coach: Dave BoltonCaptain: Denis PittardPenrith 8th seasonGround: Penrith Football Stadium Coach: Jack ClareCaptain: Mike StephensonSouth Sydney 67th seasonGround: Redfern Oval Coach: Clive ChurchillCaptain: Bob McCarthy St. George Dragons 54th seasonGround: Kogarah Oval Captain-coach: Graeme Langlands Western Suburbs 67th seasonGround(s): Lidcombe Oval &Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Don ParishCaptain: 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 23 24 25 F1 F2 F3 GF Balmain TigersWES−57NEW−32EAS−37SOU−8CBY−8PEN−15CRO−7STG−10XPAR+10MAN−21NOR0XXNEW0WES+5EAS−26SOU−5CBY−2PEN+13CRO−7STG−10NOR−4PAR+18MAN−23 Canterbury-BankstownSOU+1STG+8PEN+17CRO+9BAL+8NOR−8PAR+3MAN+2XNEW−4EAS−4WES−17XXSTG−11SOU+15PEN+3CRO+26BAL+2NOR−4PAR+14MAN−7WES+14NEW−1EAS−10MAN+6EAS+2XEAS−15 Cronulla-Sutherland SharksNEW−8EAS−31SOU+2CBY−9PEN−4STG−35BAL+7NOR+1PAR+21MAN+9WES−10XNEW+1XEAS−25XSOU−10CBY−26PEN−3STG+14BAL+7NOR+6PAR−17MAN−1WES−12 Eastern Suburbs RoostersPEN+25CRO+31BAL+37NOR−9PAR+41MAN+10WES+22NEW+2XSOU+7CBY+4XPEN−10XCRO+25STG−1BAL+26NOR+8PAR+2MAN+19WES+8NEW+11STG+32SOU+15CBY+10XCBY−2WES+23CBY+15 Manly Warringah Sea EaglesNOR−12PAR+36STG+12WES+9NEW+22EAS−10SOU+13CBY−2XCRO−9BAL+21XNOR+33PEN+16PAR+15XSTG+18WES−5NEW+27EAS−19SOU−1CBY+7PEN+15CRO+1BAL+23CBY−6WES−3 Newtown JetsCRO+8BAL+32NOR+5PAR+7MAN−22WES+13STG+25EAS−2SOU−5CBY+4PEN−4XCRO−1XBAL0XNOR−2PAR+23MAN−27WES−18STG−8EAS−11SOU0CBY+1PEN−1 North Sydney BearsMAN+12WES0NEW−5EAS+9SOU−2CBY+8PEN+5CRO−1XSTG+3PAR+34BAL0MAN−33XWES−10XNEW+2EAS−8SOU−5CBY+4PEN+6CRO−6BAL+4STG−6PAR+14 Parramatta EelsSTG−13MAN−36WES+4NEW−7EAS−41SOU+6CBY−3PEN+16CRO−21BAL−10NOR−34XSTG+15XMAN−15XWES−6NEW−23EAS−2SOU−10CBY−14PEN−8CRO+17BAL−18NOR−14 Penrith PanthersEAS−25SOU−22CBY−17STG−5CRO+4BAL+15NOR−5PAR−16XWES+6NEW+4XEAS+10MAN−16SOU−3XCBY−3STG+1CRO+3BAL+13NOR−6PAR+8MAN−15WES−18NEW+1 South Sydney RabbitohsCBY−1PEN+22CRO−2BAL+8NOR+2PAR−6MAN−13WES+1NEW+5EAS−7STG−19XXXPEN+3CBY−15CRO+10BAL+5NOR+5PAR+10MAN+1WES−8NEW0EAS−15STG+4WES−16 St. George DragonsPAR+13CBY−8MAN−12PEN+5WES−10CRO+35NEW−25BAL+10XNOR−3SOU+19XPAR−15XCBY+11EAS+1MAN−18PEN−1WES−8CRO−14NEW+8BAL+10EAS−32NOR+6SOU−4 Western Suburbs MagpiesBAL+57NOR0PAR−4MAN−9STG+10NEW−13EAS−22SOU−1XPEN−6CRO+10CBY+17XXNOR+10BAL−5PAR+6MAN+5STG+8NEW+18EAS−8SOU+8CBY−14PEN+18CRO+12SOU+16MAN+3EAS−23 Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 F1 F2 F3 GF
Bold – Home game X – Bye Opponent for round listed above margin
Ladder TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 Eastern Suburbs221903513198+315382 Manly-Warringah221507526316+210303 Canterbury-Bankstown221309364308+56264 Western Suburbs221219402305+97255 South Sydney221219317327-10256 North Sydney221129297272+25247 Newtown229211278261+17208 St. George2210012331363-32209 Penrith229013353465-1121810 Cronulla-Sutherland229013314437-1231811 Parramatta225017237454-2171012 Balmain224216255481-22610
Ladder progression Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 5. 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. Underlined numbers indicate that the team had a bye during that round.
Team123456789101112131415161718192021222324251 Eastern Suburbs Roosters 2 4 6 6 8 10 12 14 14 16 18 18 18 18 20 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 382 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 0 2 4 6 8 8 10 10 10 10 12 12 14 16 18 18 20 20 22 22 22 24 26 28 303 Canterbury-Bankstown 2 4 6 8 10 10 12 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 16 18 20 22 22 24 24 26 26 264 Western Suburbs Magpies 2 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 9 9 9 11 11 13 15 17 19 19 21 21 23 255 South Sydney Rabbitohs 0 2 2 4 6 6 6 8 10 10 10 10 10 10 12 12 14 16 18 20 22 22 23 23 256 North Sydney Bears 2 3 3 5 5 7 9 9 9 11 13 14 14 14 14 14 16 16 16 18 20 20 22 22 247 Newtown Jets 2 4 6 8 8 10 12 12 12 14 14 14 14 14 15 15 15 17 17 17 17 17 18 20 208 St. George Dragons 2 2 2 4 4 6 6 8 8 8 10 10 10 10 12 14 14 14 14 14 16 18 18 20 209 Penrith Panthers 0 0 0 0 2 4 4 4 4 6 8 8 10 10 10 10 10 12 14 14 14 16 16 16 1810 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 0 0 2 2 2 2 4 6 8 10 10 10 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 14 16 18 18 18 1811 Parramatta Eels 0 0 2 2 2 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 10 10 1012 Balmain Tigers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 3 3 4 6 6 6 6 8 8 8 8 10 10
Finals HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd Qualifying Finals Manly-Warringah14–20 Canterbury-Bankstown31 August 1974Sydney Cricket GroundKeith Page23,600 Western Suburbs24–8 South Sydney1 September 1974Sydney Sports GroundLaurie Bruyeres26,276 Semi-finals Eastern Suburbs17–19 Canterbury-Bankstown7 September 1974Sydney Cricket GroundKeith Page31,432 Manly-Warringah20–23 Western Suburbs8 September 1974Sydney Cricket GroundLaurie Bruyeres40,050 Preliminary final Eastern Suburbs25–2 Western Suburbs14 September 1974Sydney Cricket GroundLaurie Bruyeres43,072 Grand final Canterbury-Bankstown4–19 Eastern Suburbs21 September 1974Sydney Cricket GroundLaurie Bruyeres57,214
Chart
Grand final Canterbury-BankstownPositionEastern Suburbs Garry Dowling FB Russell Fairfax 2. Chris Anderson WG 2. Jim Porter 3. Stan Cutler CE 3. John Brass 4. Peter Winchester CE 4. Mark Harris 5. Terry Murphy WG 5. Bill Mullins 6. Mark Hughes FE 6. John Peard 7. Don Moseley HB 7. Johnny Mayes 13. Brian Lockwood PR 13. Ken Jones 12. George Peponis HK 12. Elwyn Walters 11. Bill Noonan PR 10. Ian Mackay 10. Geoff Connell SR 11. Arthur Beetson (c) 9. John McDonell (c) SR 9. Barry "Bunny" Reilly 8. John Peek LK 8. Ron Coote 18. Henry Tatana Reserve 16. Harry Cameron Reserve 24. Greg Bandiera Malcolm Clift Coach Jack Gibson
Eastern Suburbs 19 (Tries: Beetson, Harris, Mullins. Goals: Peard 3, Brass 2.)
defeated
Canterbury-Bankstown 4 (Goals: Cutler 2.)
Player statistics The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22.
Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField Goals200 Graham Eadie10850188 John Brass7831136 Eric Simms2650136 Reg Walton4620135 John Dorahy6581 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayer21 Kevin Junee19 Bill Mullins14 Bob Fulton14 Chris Anderson14 Glenn West
Top 5 goal scorers GoalsPlayer85 Graham Eadie83 John Brass65 Eric Simms62 Reg Walton60 Henry Tatana
References
External links Rugby League Tables – Season 1974 Results:1971-80 at rabbitohs.com.au 1974 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup at rleague.com NSWRFL season 1974 ‘Souths lose centre, five-eighth’; Sun-Herald, 1 September 1974, p. 48