The 1958 NSWRFL season was the 51st season of the New South Wales Rugby Football League, Australia's first rugby league football competition. Ten teams from across Sydney competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a grand final between St. George and Western Suburbs.

Season summary Having been wooden spooners in 1955, Wests embarked on a massive spending spree to recruit internationals Harry Wells, Kel O'Shea, Arthur Summons, Dick Poole, Darcy Henry and Ian Moir over a five-year period. The fruits of this labour began to show in 1958 when they finished in second place for the minor premiership and posed a challenge to St. George in the finals.

Harry Bath was the competition's leading goal scorer in 1958, with his St George teammate Eddie Lumsden the leading try scorer. Bath shattered the Dragons club's point scoring record with 225 season points from three tries and 108 goals.

Nineteen-year-old Reg Gasnier, later to be honoured as one of the Australian game's Immortals, made his Third Grade debut in 1958 and was immediately noticed, regularly scoring length-of-the-field tries.

The 1958 season also saw the retirement from the League of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Clive Churchill.

Teams Balmain 51st seasonGround: Leichhardt Oval Coach: John O'Toole Captain: Bill Marsh Canterbury-Bankstown 24th seasonGround: Belmore Sports Ground Coach: Cec CooperCaptain: Ray Gartner Eastern Suburbs 51st seasonGround: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Dave BrownCaptain: Terry Fearnley Manly-Warringah 12th seasonGround: Brookvale Oval Coach: Ken ArthursonCaptain: Ron Willey Newtown 51st seasonGround: Henson Park Coach: Dick PooleCaptain: Gordon Clifford North Sydney 51st seasonGround: North Sydney Oval Coach: Trevor AllenCaptain: Bob Honeysett Parramatta 12th seasonGround: Cumberland Oval Coach: Jack RaynerCaptain: Roy Fisher South Sydney 51st seasonGround: Redfern Oval Captain-Coach: Clive Churchill St. George 38th seasonGround: Jubilee Oval Captain-coach: Ken KearneyWestern Suburbs 51st seasonGround: Pratten Park Coach: Vic HeyCaptain: Harry Wells

Ladder TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 St. George181602480187+293322 Western Suburbs181206379263+116243 Manly181116291251+40234 Newtown181008297252+45205 Balmain181008254273−19206 North Sydney18909279322−43187 Eastern Suburbs188010244252−8168 South Sydney186012246391−145129 Canterbury184113207276−69910 Parramatta183015202412−2106

Finals The developing Western Suburbs side which would become such a force at the beginning of the 1960s, was already building around the class of internationals Keith "Yappy" Holman, Harry "Dealer" Wells, Kel "Twigs" O'Shea along with their hard men Neville "Boxhead" Charlton, Mark Patch and fiery nineteen-year-old Peter Dimond. With a simple game plan of "retaliate first", the Magpies' aggression in the semifinal stunned St George who were coming off a coasting run through the end of the season. In spite of having beaten Wests twice in the regular season, the Dragons were mauled by them 34–10 in the major-semi final with Dimond dominating his opposite five-eighth Peter Carroll and forcing the Dragons to a sudden death final against Balmain for the right to defend their title.

The lessons from this loss sat heavily with St George – how an early forward onslaught designed to knock the spirit of the rival pack could determine the course of the entire game. For the next eight years, in all of their finals appearances, the Dragons would play a deliberate tactic of giving the opposition the ball in the first fifteen minutes and setting about demoralising them with brutal defence.

HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeCrowd Playoff Newtown4–15 Balmain19 August 1958Redfern Oval10,430 Semifinals Manly-Warringah10–22 Balmain23 August 1958Sydney Cricket GroundDarcy Lawler27,985 St. George10–34 Western Suburbs30 August 1958Sydney Cricket GroundDarcy Lawler38,857 Preliminary Final St. George26–21 Balmain6 September 1958Sydney Cricket GroundDarcy Lawler39,132 Grand Final Western Suburbs9–20 St. George13 September 1958Sydney Cricket GroundDarcy Lawler62,283

Grand Final St. GeorgePositionWestern Suburbs Brian Graham FB Darcy Russell 2. Eddie Lumsden WG 2. Bernard Kelly 19. Ray Smith CE 3. Harry Wells (c) 4. Geoff Weekes CE 6. Darcy Henry 17. Brian Messiter WG 5. Don Malone 8. Brian Clay FE 4. Peter Dimond 7. Bob Bugden HB 7. Keith Holman 13. Billy Wilson PR 13. Mark Patch 12. Ken Kearney (Ca./Co.) HK 12. Bede Goff 10. Harry Bath PR 11. Neville Charlton 24. Monty Porter SR 10. Bill Carson 9. Norm Provan SR 9. Jack Bowman 8. Peter Provan LK 8. Doug Jones Coach Vic Hey In an effort to negate Peter Dimond, Saints dropped Peter Carroll for the Grand Final, selecting lock and hard hitting defender, Brian Clay at five-eighth. From the kick-off, the record crowd saw a furious St George team lay into Wests. High tackles and punches were the order of the day and referee Darcy Lawler penalised the Dragons seventeen times to Wests seven.

Wests were unable to counter the onslaught which saw a ruthless Dragon defence advancing upon them at every opportunity although the score remained close for most of the match. Eventually with the Magpies subdued, Norm Provan and Bob Bugden cut loose, with Provan scoring two tries and Bugden snatching an intercept try near the end. Saints won the fight, and the match. For eighty minutes Clay was all over Dimond who ended the match dazed and bleeding.

The Sydney Morning Herald described the match as the most “savage” game of the season.

St George 20 (Tries: N. Provan 2, Bugden, Lumsden. Goals: Bath 4.)

Wests 9 (Tries: Russell. Goals: Russell 3 )

Player statistics The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 18.

Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField Goals205 Harry Bath3980176 Darcy Russell2850146 Brian Carlson10580144 Ron Willey4660124 Gordon Clifford0620 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayer16 Brian Allsop15 Eddie Lumsden13 Jack Fifield13 Peter Dimond12 Darcy Henry12 Kevin Considine

Top 5 goal scorers GoalsPlayer98 Harry Bath85 Darcy Russell66 Ron Willey62 Gordon Clifford58 Brian Carlson

Great Britain Lions Tour

From May until August, the Great Britain Lions toured Australia and New Zealand. In Australia they played the three Test Ashes series against Australia as well as games against various sides including Sydney Firsts, New South Wales and a Sydney Representative Colts side that featured a young Reg Gasnier.

The team was coached by Jim Brough and was captained was Alan Prescott.

Note: Other than the Ashes Tests, only games in NSW listed Game Date Result Venue Attendance1 18 May Great Britain def. Southern Districts 36–18 Wollongong Showground, Wollongong 2 21 May Great Britain drew with Western Districts 24–24 Wade Park, Orange 3 24 May Great Britain def. Newcastle 35–16 Newcastle Sportsground, Newcastle 21,1264 28 May Great Britain def. Northern NSW 27–17 Scully Park, Tamworth 5 31 May Great Britain def. Sydney 20–15 Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney 48,6926 4 June Great Britain def. Riverina 29–10 Leeton 6,0007 7 June Great Britain def. New South Wales 19–10 Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney 52,9638 14 June def. 25–8 Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney 68,77715 5 July def. 25–18 Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane 33,56317 13 July Great Britain def. NSW North Coast 56–15 Oakes Oval, Oakes Oval, Lismore 5,54118 19 July def. 28–26 Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney 68,720?? 14 August Representative Colts vs Great Britain Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney ?? 17 August Coalfields vs Great Britain Maitland Showground, Maitland

References

External links 1958 Season Rugby League Tables Writer, Larry (1995) Never Before, Never Again, Pan MacMillan, Sydney Results:1951-60 at rabbitohs.com.au 1958 J J Giltinan Shield at rleague.com NSWRFL season 1958 at rugbyleagueproject.org 1958 Final at Dragons History site