The 1952 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the forty-fifth season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Ten teams from across Sydney contested for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season which culminated in a grand final between Western Suburbs and South Sydney.
Teams The tail-end of the season was played without star players selected to go on the Australian national team’s 1952–1953 Kangaroo Tour. Balmain 45th seasonGround: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Arthur PattonCaptain: Stan Ponchard Canterbury-Bankstown 18th seasonGround: Belmore Oval Coach: Alby WhyCaptain: Ken Charlton Eastern Suburbs 45th seasonGround: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Ernie Norman Captain: Ferris Ashton Manly-Warringah 6th seasonGround: Brookvale Oval Captain-Coach: Wally O'Connell Newtown 45th seasonGround: Erskineville Oval Coach: Frank Johnson Captain: Gordon Clifford North Sydney 45th seasonGround: North Sydney Oval Coach: Ross McKinnonCaptain: Bob Sullivan Parramatta 6th seasonGround: Cumberland Oval Coach: Vic HeyCaptain: Ian Johnston South Sydney 45th seasonGround: Redfern Oval Captain-Coach: Jack RaynerSt. George 32nd seasonGround: Jubilee Oval Captain-coach: Johnny HawkeWestern Suburbs 45th seasonGround: Pratten Park Coach: Tom McMahon Captain: Peter McLean
Regular season
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 F1 F2 F3 F4 GF BalmainCBY−1STG−11WES−9SOU−3NEW−1EAS−10MAN−10PAR+6NOR+7CBY+25STG+16WES−2SOU+2NEW+30MAN−2PAR−1NOR+8EAS+51 Canterbury-BankstownBAL+1NEW+1EAS−5MAN−23PAR+8NOR−21SOU−22STG−17WES−2BAL−25NEW−11EAS+2MAN−8PAR+2SOU−12STG−6WES0NOR−34 Eastern SuburbsPAR+10NOR+2CBY+5STG−4WES−3BAL+10NEW−1SOU−50MAN−4PAR−16NOR−24CBY−2STG−11WES−12NEW+20SOU−8MAN+1BAL−51 Manly-WarringahSOU+3PAR+17NOR+3CBY+23STG+17WES−1BAL+10NEW+20EAS+4SOU−5PAR+6NOR−13CBY+8STG−3BAL+2NEW−8EAS−1WES−9NOR−28 NewtownNOR−5CBY−1STG−16WES−1BAL+1SOU−4EAS+1MAN−20PAR+13NOR−4CBY+11STG−24WES−10BAL−30EAS−20MAN+8PAR+9SOU−39 North SydneyNEW+5EAS−2MAN−3PAR+32SOU+3CBY+21STG+22WES−20BAL−7NEW+4EAS+24MAN+13PAR+22SOU−6STG−4WES+5BAL−8CBY+34MAN+28XSTG+12SOU−14 ParramattaEAS−10MAN−17SOU−20NOR−32CBY−8STG−12WES−18BAL−6NEW−13EAS+16MAN−6SOU+6NOR−22CBY−2WES−4BAL+1NEW−9STG−26 South SydneyMAN−3WES−2PAR+20BAL+3NOR−3NEW+4CBY+22EAS+50STG+2MAN+5WES+5PAR−6BAL−2NOR+6CBY+12EAS+8STG−5NEW+39XWES+8XNOR+14WES−10 St. GeorgeWES−1BAL+11NEW+16EAS+4MAN−17PAR+12NOR−22CBY+17SOU−2WES+17BAL−16NEW+24EAS+11MAN+3NOR+4CBY+6SOU+5PAR+26XXNOR−12 Western SuburbsSTG+1SOU+2BAL+9NEW+1EAS+3MAN+1PAR+18NOR+20CBY+2STG−17SOU−5BAL+2NEW+10EAS+12PAR+4NOR−5CBY0MAN+9XSOU−8XXSOU+10 Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 F1 F2 F3 F4 GF
Bold – Home game X – Bye Opponent for round listed above margin
Ladder TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 Western Suburbs181413331264+67292 St. George181305375279+96263 South Sydney181206344189+155244 North Sydney181107384247+137225 Manly181107334261+73226 Balmain188010351256+95167 Newtown186012210341-131128 Eastern Suburbs186012259397-138129 Canterbury185112214386-1721110 Parramatta183015241423-1826
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 Western Suburbs 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 18 18 20 22 24 26 26 27 292 St. George 0 2 4 6 6 8 8 10 10 12 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 263 South Sydney 0 0 2 4 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 16 16 18 20 22 22 244 North Sydney 2 2 2 4 6 8 10 10 10 12 14 16 18 18 18 20 20 225 Manly-Warringah 2 4 6 8 10 10 12 14 16 16 18 18 20 20 22 22 22 226 Balmain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 6 8 8 10 12 12 12 14 167 Newtown 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 4 6 6 8 8 8 8 8 10 12 128 Eastern Suburbs 2 4 6 6 6 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 10 10 12 129 Canterbury-Bankstown 2 4 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 8 8 10 10 10 11 1110 Parramatta 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 4 4 4 6 6 6
Finals The 1952 season saw North Sydney reach the finals for the first time since 1943. Their win over St. George in their semi-final would prove North Sydney’s last victory in a first grade semi-final until their 1991 major preliminary semi-final against Manly-Warringah.Middleton, David; Rugby League 1991–92, pp. 97, 126 HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd Playoff North Sydney36–8 Manly-Warringah27 August 1952Sydney Cricket Ground8,770 Semifinals Western Suburbs10–18 South Sydney30 August 1952Sydney Cricket GroundJack O'Brien34,181 St. George9–21 North Sydney6 September 1952Sydney Cricket GroundGeorge Bishop41,976 Preliminary Final South Sydney26–12 North Sydney13 September 1952Sydney Cricket GroundJack O'Brien44,166 Grand Final Western Suburbs22–12 South Sydney20 September 1952Sydney Cricket GroundGeorge Bishop41,060
Grand Final Western SuburbsPositionSouth Sydney 16. George Bain FB 13. Don Murdoch 2. Bill Callinan WG 12. John Graves 3. Col Ratcliff CE 11. Frank Threlfo 4. Gerry Lowe CE 10. Malcolm Spencer 5. Jack Fitzgerald WG 9. Cliff Smailes 24. Dev Dines FE 8. Norm Spillane 16. Leo Trevena HB 7. Ken Brogan 13. Kevin Hansen PR Denis Donoghue 51. Hec Farrell HK 2. Ernie Hammerton 11. Bill Horder PR 3. Bryan Orrock 9. Don Schofield SR 5. Ken Macreadie 22. Ron Watson SR 4. Jack Rayner (Ca./Co.) 8. Peter McLean (c) LK 6. Ray Neilson Tom McMahon Coach The rl1908 referencerl1908.com Rayner Interview transcribes Sean Fagan’s 2002 interview with Souths captain-coach Jack Rayner fuelling the suggestion that dubious refereeing decisions cost the Rabbitohs the 1952 title and prevented Souths from stringing together all six premierships of 1950 to 1955. However, it cannot be argued that the Western Suburbs club were themselves a force of the 1950s, and their 1952 achievement was undeniably remarkable, as they played the whole second half of the season and the finals without their stars Frank Stanmore, Keith Holman and Arthur Collinson, who had all left with the touring Kangaroos to England and France.
Wests finished as minor premiers due in great part to their undefeated nine-game streak in the first full round of the 1952 season. In the final they met Souths who were seeking their third premiership in a row.
The controversy centered on a disallowed Rabbitohs try early in the game. Souths’ Frank Threlfo made a break and slipped the ball to Ken Macreadie who was in under the posts. Referee George Bishop ruled the pass forward and disallowed the try. In the interview Rayner also comments on the lopsided penalty count.
However the record-books show that Wests scored six tries to two, winning the match 22–12 and the club’s fourth premiership. Wests’ Hec Farrell and Souths’ Bryan Orrock were sent-off for fighting and went before the judiciary charged with kicking. Wests' coach Tom McMahon became the first coach to win a premiership in his debut coaching season.
Ironically, ten years later Wests would again threaten to break a string of premiership wins – the 1962 and 1963 Magpie sides both came close to ceasing St. George's long run – but again several refereeing controversies would affect the outcome. Both the 1962 and 1963 Grand Finals have been said to have been decided by questionable calls from referee Darcy Lawler and on those occasion Wests would be on the wrong end of disputed rulings.
Western Suburbs 22 (Tries: Schofield 2, Fitzgerald, Dines, Bain, McLean. Goals: Bain 2.)
South Sydney 12 (Tries: Smailes, Macreadie. Goals: Graves 3.)
Player statistics The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 18.
Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField Goals178 Ron Rowles8770153 Johnny Graves13570131 George Bain3610106 Gordon Clifford053097 Noel Pidding5410 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayer18 Peter O'Brien16 John McClean14 Bill Callinan14 Tommy Ryan13 Johnny Graves
Top 5 goal scorers GoalsPlayer77 Ron Rowles61 George Bain57 Johnny Graves53 Gordon Clifford48 Joe Jorgenson
References
External links Rugby League Tables – Season 1952 AFL Tables rl1908.com Sean Fagan's RL History Site Results:1951-60 at rabbitohs.com.au 1952 J J Giltinan Shield at rleague.com NSWRFL season 1952 at rugbyleagueproject.org