1917 NSWRFL season

1917 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams	8
Premiers	Balmain (3rd title)
Minor premiers	Balmain (3rd title)
Matches played	56
Points scored	1280 (total) 22.857 (per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Charles Fraser (67)
Top try scorer(s)	Harold Horder (17)

The 1917 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the tenth season of Sydney's professional rugby league football club competition, Australia's first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season and Balmain finished on top of the ladder to claim the premiership.^[1]

Season summary

After nine seasons with only nineteen wins and two draws from 115 matches,^[2] Western Suburbs finally made a significant impact on the league, finishing a respectable third behind the traditionally strong sides of Balmain and South Sydney. Their advance was almost entirely due to centre Herb Gilbert, who moved from Easts, Hull and South Sydney to add skill and knowledge to team crying out for guidance, besides scoring nine of the team's thirty-four tries.^[3]

Balmain ultimately won their third consecutive premiership finishing eight points ahead of second placed South Sydney. The Balmain side only failed to win one of their games during the season against Newtown in round 8. Balmain's secure defence only allowed 61 points to be scored against them in 14 games, a statistic indicating their dominance. Annandale managed to avoid bottom spot thanks to Glebe surrendering their two points to them following a 31-5 win for Glebe in round 8. The points were moved over to Annandale due to Glebe fielding Dan "Laddo" Davies – an ineligible player under the residential criteria of the time.

As well as losing Davies, fourteen of Glebe's first grade players were suspended for a year after the players boycotted a match against Balmain. The NSWRFL changed the venue of the game from the Sydney Cricket Ground to Birchgrove Oval in Balmain, drastically reducing spectator numbers and, in doing so, cutting Glebe's share of the big gate takings expected at the SCG. A team consisting of lower grade players was fielded and Glebe lost heavily, 40–9. The NSWRFL suspended all the footballers who refused to play, including Frank, Laidley and Albert Burge.

Balmain also won the three round City Cup played in the late season. Members of the Balmain premiership winning side included Bob Craig, Bill Schultz and E. Burnicle.

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 8th season Ground: Wentworth Park Coach: Captain: Walter Haddock	Balmain 10th season Ground: Birchgrove Oval Coach-Captain: Arthur Halloway	Eastern Suburbs 10th season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Captain: Sandy Pearce	Glebe 10th season Ground: Wentworth Park Coaches: Chris McKivat & Alex Burdon Captain: Frank Burge
Newtown 10th season Ground: Erskineville Oval Coach: Captain: Felix Ryan	North Sydney 10th season Ground: St. Lukes Oval Coach: Captain: Sid Deane	South Sydney 10th season Ground: RAS Showground, S.C.G. Coach: Captain: Roy Almond	Western Suburbs 10th season Ground: St Luke's Oval Coach: Captain: Herb Gilbert

Ladder

The geographical locations of the teams that contested the 1917 premiership across Sydney.

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Balmain	14	13	0	1	269	61	+208	26
2	South Sydney	14	9	0	5	236	143	+93	18
3	Western Suburbs	14	7	1	6	162	160	+2	15
4	Newtown	14	7	1	6	114	123	-9	15
5	Glebe	14	8	0	6	207	165	+42	14
6	Eastern Suburbs	14	7	0	7	131	145	-14	14
7	Annandale	14	1	2	11	71	214	-143	6
8	North Sydney	14	2	0	12	90	269	-179	4

Glebe were stripped of two competition points due to fielding an ineligible player in one game.

References

↑ Premiership Roll of Honour at rl1908.com
↑ Western Suburbs: Season Summary
↑ Lester, Gary; Clouds of Dust, Buckets of Blood: the Story of the Western Suburbs Rugby League Magpies; p. 46. ISBN 0949853526

Rugby League Tables - Notes The World of Rugby League
Rugby League Tables - Season 1917 The World of Rugby League
Premiership History and Statistics RL1908
1917 - Third Title In A Row For Balmain RL1908
Collis, Ian; Whiticker, Alan (2007). 100 Years of Rugby League. Chatswood, NSW: New Holland. vol.1, page 63. ISBN 978-1-74110-463-9.
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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