The 1953 New South Wales Rugby Football League season was the forty-sixth season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Ten teams from across the city competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a final between South Sydney and St. George.
Teams Balmain 46th seasonGround: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Arthur PattonCaptain: Bob LulhamCanterbury-Bankstown 19th seasonGround: Belmore Oval Coach: Jack HampsteadCaptain: Cec CooperEastern Suburbs 46th seasonGround: Sydney Sports Ground Captain-Coach: Col DonohoeManly-Warringah 7th seasonGround: Brookvale Oval Captain-Coach: Roy BullNewtown 46th seasonGround: Erskineville Oval Captain-Coach: Frank JohnsonNorth Sydney 46th seasonGround: North Sydney Oval Coach: Ross McKinnonCaptain: Lloyd HudsonParramatta 7th seasonGround: Cumberland Oval Coach: Vic HeyCaptain: Ian JohnstonSouth Sydney 46th seasonGround: Redfern Oval Captain-coach: Jack RaynerSt. George 33rd seasonGround: Jubilee Oval Coach: Norm TippingCaptain: Ken KearneyWestern Suburbs 46th seasonGround: Pratten Park Captain-Coach: Peter McLean
Ladder TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1 South Sydney181116384278+106232 St. George181107313289+24223 North Sydney181017421283+138214 Eastern Suburbs181017330310+20215 Newtown18927292268+24206 Canterbury18927252291-39207 Parramatta18819271291-20178 Balmain187011313377-64149 Manly186012294393-991210 Western Suburbs185013287377-9010
Finals HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeCrowd Semifinals South Sydney5–4 North Sydney29 August 1953Sydney Cricket GroundJack O'Brien30,392 St. George25–7 Eastern Suburbs5 September 1953Sydney Cricket GroundDarcy Lawler37,753 Final South Sydney31–12 St. George12 September 1953Sydney Cricket GroundDarcy Lawler44,581
Chart
Final South SydneyPositionSt. George 13. Clive Churchill FB 3. Noel Pidding 12. Ian Moir WG 15. Kevin Hole 18. Martin Gallagher CE 5. Tommy Ryan 14. Kevin Woolfe CE 44. Merv Lees 11. Frank Threlfo WG 2. Ross Kite 21. John Dougherty FE 4. Allan Staunton 22. Greg Hawick HB 20. Peter Bracken Denis Donoghue PR 39. Kevin Brown 2. Ernie Hammerton HK 12. Ken Kearney (c) 5. Jim Richards PR 11. Bob Bower 41. Bob Moon SR 10. Barry Passfield 4. Jack Rayner (Ca./Co.) SR 9. Norm Provan 6. Les Cowie LK 8. Billy Wilson Coach Norm Tipping To win the 1953 premiership St George would need to beat minor premiers Souths in both a final and a Grand final, emulating the feats of the Dragons of 1949 from which team only Noel Pidding was still playing. A crowd of 44,581 were at the Sydney Cricket Ground to see the first phase of this attempt.
Souths opened the scoring with a penalty goal in the ninth minute kicked by Clive Churchill from 40 yards. The Dragons threatened Souths' line continuously in the next stanza but bombed three tries and then lost some momentum in the 14 minutes before half-time during the absence of centre Merv Lees while he was off the field having stitches to his lip after driving a tooth through it. Souths scored 13 points in this period. Ian Moir capitalised on a spillage of the ball by Pidding behind his own line after a heavy tackle, Churchill then featured when he firstly sent Threlfo in and then set up Moir for his second try. The score at half time was 15–0.
Early in the second half Pidding kicked a penalty and a few minutes later Wilson and Gallagher were sent off for fighting. With Wilson gone Rabbitoh hard-men Rayner and Donoghue then took control and four Souths tries flowed to Woolfe, Dougherty, Hammerton and Moir’s third. Two late Dragons’ tries to Brown and Lees made no difference and South Sydney powered to their fourteenth premiership.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 31 Tries: Moir (3), Woolfe, Threlfo, Dougherty, Hammerton Goals: Dougherty (4), Churchill (1)
St George Dragons 12 Tries: Lees, Brown Goals: Pidding (3)
Player statistics The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 18.
Top 5 point scorers PointsPlayerTriesGoalsField Goals152 Ron Rowles8640114 Bob Hobbs254099 Noel Pidding345091 Norm Stewart144088 Gordon Clifford0440 Top 5 try scorers TriesPlayer20 Ian Moir18 Horrie Toole18 Ray Preston14 Barry Stenhouse13 Peter O'Brien
Top 5 goal scorers GoalsPlayer64 Ron Rowles54 Bob Hobbs45 Noel Pidding44 Norm Stewart44 Gordon Clifford
References
External links The World of Rugby League Haddan, Steve The finals – 100 Years of National Rugby League Finals, Steve Haddan Publishing, Brisbane