1928 NSWRFL season

1928 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams 9
Premiers South Sydney (8th title)
Minor premiers St. George (1st title)
Matches played 59
Points scored 1597 (total)
27.068 (per match)
Top point scorer(s) Benny Wearing (94)
Top try scorer(s) Tony Redmond (9)

The 1928 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the twenty-first season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football club competition, Australia's first. During the season, which lasted from April until September, nine teams from across the city contested the premiership, culminating in a final between Eastern Suburbs and South Sydney.

Season summary

Teams

Balmain
21st season
Ground: Birchgrove Oval
Coach: Alf Fraser
Captain: Ray Elliott
Eastern Suburbs
21st season
Ground: RAS Showground
Captain: Arthur Toby
Glebe
21st season
Ground: Wentworth Park
Captain-coach: Jack Toohey
Newtown
21st season
Ground: Marrickville Oval
Captain(s): Charles Kell, Keith Ellis
North Sydney
21st season
Ground: North Sydney Oval
Coach: Tom McMahon
Captain: Jimmy Johnson
South Sydney
21st season
Ground: Sydney Sports Ground
Coach: Charlie Lynch
Captain: Pat Maher[1]
St. George
8th season
Ground: Earl Park
Coach: Frank Burge
Captain: Arthur Justice
University
9th season
Coach: Bill Kelly
Captain: A.S. Lane
Western Suburbs
21st season
Ground: Pratten Park
Coach: Chris McKivat
Captain: Frank McMillan

Earl Park riot

The season of 1928 was infamous for the Earl Park riot. In a St George home game 21-3 victory over Balmain, Tony Russell of Balmain became involved in a running feud with George Carstairs, the St George captain.

Referee Brannaghan began to lose control of the match when he sent off St George forward Harry Flower early in the second half but allowed Balmain players to stay on the field. After a later incident between Russell and Carstairs resulted in the latter being knocked unconscious and Brannaghan merely cautioning Russell, the crowd's aggravation grew and the situation escalated.

The Earl Park crowd took matters into their own hands by storming the field in an attempt to injure Russell. Police arrived and intervened using handcuffs, batons and fists but not before Russell was badly beaten by the crowd. He suffered leg and head injuries and was put into the same ambulance as George Carstairs where it was reported that Russell attempted to assault Carstairs and ambulance officers had to intervene to restrain him.

A week later, a NSWRL investigation blamed crowd violence and not the players or officials for the disturbance.

Ladder

The geographical locations of the teams that contested the 1928 premiership across Sydney.
Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 St. George 131201120098+10226
2 Eastern Suburbs 1211012192116+7626
3 South Sydney 138051216152+6418
4 North Sydney 126062157149+816
5 University 136071184176+814
6 Western Suburbs 124082174206-3212
7 Glebe 12408294149-5512
8 Balmain 134091180236-5610
9 Newtown 1210112112227-1156

Finals

Heading into the finals, top placed St. George and Eastern Suburbs were in top form, with St. George losing their only match in round 3 and Eastern Suburbs losing to St. George in round 7 of the 14-week competition. With Saints & Easts finishing on 26 points each, no playoff for the minor premiership was staged to award a right of challenge in the finals,[2] thus negating the good work done by both sides during the premiership rounds and ultimately providing an easier route than otherwise for Souths to win the title away from both of the minor premiers.

In the semi-finals, Eastern Suburbs beat fourth-placed North Sydney to make the final, whilst South Sydney beat St. George, whom they had lost to 9-8 just three weeks earlier.

Semi-finals Final
7 September 1928 - Wentworth Oval
  Eastern Suburbs 26  
  North Sydney 13  
 
22 September 1928 - Agricultural
      South Sydney 26
    Eastern Suburbs 5
7 September 1928 - Earl Park
  St. George 5
  South Sydney 13  

Final

South Sydney Position Eastern Suburbs
Alan Righton FB Arthur Toby
Benny Wearing WG Les Steel
Jack Why CE Larry Hedger
Harry Finch CE Nelson Hardy
Reg Williams WG Vic Webber
Harry Kadwell FE Gordon Fletcher
Jim Breen (c) HB Joe Busch
Harry Cavanough PR Arthur Oxford
Alf Binder HK Dick Brown
David Watson PR Harry Kavanagh
Edward Root SR Tom Fitzpatrick
George Treweek SR Sam Bryant
Oscar Quinlivan LK George Harris
Charlie Lynch Coach

A crowd of 25,000 were at the Royal Agricultural Society Grounds to watch the final between South Sydney and Easts, refereed by Lal Deane. George Treweek scored Souths' first try, crashing over under the posts after Easts' fullback Toby fumbled the high kick. Wearing converted. Then Jack Why, Root and Brien combined to put Williams over and Souths took an 8-0 lead. Before the half-ended Wearing kicked a penalty goal from halfway and Quinlivan crossed for another Souths try and a 13-0 lead at the break.

The second stanza started no better for Easts when Hardy took the ball close with the line wide open only to see his pass dropped. Harry Kadwell struck back for Souths who went to a 16-0 lead before the floodgates opened - Cavanough scored from the next kick-off and then Kadwell crossed again. Easts' only try of the match was by Steel under the posts and was the last of the match with bell sounding shortly after. Thus the Rabbitohs took their fourth successive title and become the first club to achieve that feat.

South Sydney 26 (Tries: Kadwell (2), Treweek, Williams, Quinlivan, Cavanough. Goals: Wearing 2, Quinlivan 2)

defeated

Eastern Suburbs 5 (Tries: Steel. Goal: Oxford)

References

  1. Alan Whiticker. "Pat Maher". rugbyleagueproject.org. Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson and Bill Bates. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  2. Finding The Premier Club at rl1908.com
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