1916 NSWRFL season

1916 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams	8
Premiers	Balmain (2nd title)
Minor premiers	Balmain (2nd title)
Matches played	57
Points scored	1174 (total) 20.596 (per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Charles Fraser (94)
Top try scorer(s)	Frank Burge (22)

The 1916 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the ninth season of Sydney's top-level professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season which culminated in a grand final between Balmain and South Sydney.^[1]

Season summary

Three teams dominated the season, Balmain, South Sydney and Glebe. With two rounds to go, each of the three teams had a genuine chance of winning the premiership, each separated by one game or less. This created an interesting scenario with Balmain (20, 1st) facing South Sydney (18, 3rd) and Glebe (19, 2nd) facing Eastern Suburbs who were placed fourth at the time. As it turned out, Balmain lost 11-7 to Souths, leaving the competition wide open for Glebe to take the competition lead by one point. However, Glebe ended up losing crucially to Eastern suburbs 8-5 on the same day. With both Balmain and Souths now equal on 20 points with one game to play, it would have taken a miracle for Glebe to come back given that they were still on 19 points. All three teams won their final games, but it was equal placed Balmain and South Sydney that would play off in a premiership decider.

The geographical locations of the teams that contested the 1916 premiership across Sydney.

Teams

The teams remained unchanged from the previous season.

Annandale
Balmain, formed on January 23, 1908 at Balmain Town Hall
Eastern Suburbs, formed on January 24, 1908 at Paddington Town Hall
Glebe, formed on January 9, 1908
Newtown, formed on January 14, 1908
North Sydney, formed on February 7, 1908
South Sydney, formed on January 17, 1908 at Redfern Town Hall
Western Suburbs, formed on February 4, 1908


Annandale 7th season Ground: Wentworth Park Coach: Captain: Walter Haddock	Balmain 9th season Ground: Birchgrove Oval Captain-coach: Arthur Halloway	Eastern Suburbs 9th season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Captain: Jack Watkins	Glebe 9th season Ground: Wentworth Park Coach: Captain: Frank Burge
Newtown 9th season Ground: Erskineville Oval Coach: Captain: Paddy McCue	North Sydney 9th season Ground: St Lukes Oval Coach: Denis Lutge Captain: Con Sullivan	South Sydney 9th season Ground: RAS Showground Coach: Captain: Roy Almond	Western Suburbs 9th season Ground: St. Lukes Oval Coach: Captain: Harold Leddy

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Balmain	14	11	0	3	181	100	+81	22
2	South Sydney	14	11	0	3	170	117	+53	22
3	Glebe	14	10	1	3	217	106	+111	21
4	Eastern Suburbs	14	7	2	5	170	89	+81	16
5	North Sydney	14	5	0	9	108	189	-81	10
6	Newtown	14	4	1	9	134	153	-19	9
7	Annandale	14	4	0	10	94	163	-69	8
8	Western Suburbs	14	2	0	12	92	249	-157	4

Final

Balmain	Position	South Sydney
Lyall Wall	FB	Wally Dymant
Reg Latta	WG	Gordon Vaughan
Charles Fraser	CE	C. Phelps
Jim Craig	CE	Rex Norman
Jack 'Junker' Robinson	WG	Bill Cann
Albert "Rick" Johnston	FE	Roy Norman
Arthur Halloway (c)	HB	George McGowan
Alf Fraser	PR	Roy Almond
D. Cranston	HK	John Kerwick
Edward Burnicle	PR	Owen McCarthy
Bill Schultz	SR	Arthur Oxford
D. Stewart	SR	George Moore
Robert Craig	LK	William Groves

Having won all 3 grades in 1915 the Balmain Tigers returned in 1916 to repeat the effort for a second straight season. At the conclusion of the season Balmain and Souths were equal aloft the premiership ladder with 22 points apiece. The League didn't expect such a finish and a Final had to be scheduled.

For the first time a Final was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground where they were to be held for many years to come. The game played on July 26, 1916 in front of just 6,000 people, saw the lead change three times in the first half with Balmain ahead 5-3 at the break after a try by Arthur Halloway and a penalty goal by Charles "Chook" Fraser. The second half saw the game played predominantly on Balmain's line, with South Sydney putting on repeated attacks. However, the Balmain defence never gave in and the score didn't change by game's end - a two point margin securing Balmain's second consecutive title.

Balmain Tigers 5 (Try: Arthur Halloway. Goal: Charles Fraser)

defeated

South Sydney Rabbitohs 3 (Try: Gordon Vaughan )

References

↑ Premiership Roll of Honour at rl1908.com

Rugby League Tables - Notes The World of Rugby League
Rugby League Tables - Season 1916 The World of Rugby League
Premiership History and Statistics RL1908
1916 - Balmain Beats Souths In Final RL1908
Results: 1911-20 at rabbitohs.com.au

NRL seasons

NSWRL era	1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

ARL / SL war	1995 1996 1997 (ARL / SL)

NRL era	1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

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