1953 NSWRFL season

1953 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams	10
Premiers	South Sydney (14th title)
Minor premiers	South Sydney (13th title)
Matches played	93
Points scored	3241 (total) 34.849 (per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Ron Rowles (152)
Top try scorer(s)	Ian Moir (23)

1953's New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 46th season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Ten teams from across the competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a final between South Sydney and St. George.

Teams


Balmain 46th season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Arthur Patton Captain: Bob Lulham	Canterbury-Bankstown 19th season Ground: Belmore Oval Coach: Jack Hampstead Captain: Cec Cooper	Eastern Suburbs 46th season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Captain-Coach: Col Donohoe	Manly-Warringah 7th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Captain-Coach: Roy Bull
Newtown 46th season Ground: Erskineville Oval Captain-Coach: Frank Johnson	North Sydney 46th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Ross McKinnon Captain: Lloyd Hudson	Parramatta 7th season Ground: Cumberland Oval Coach: Vic Hey Captain: Ian Johnston	South Sydney 46th season Ground: Redfern Oval Captain-coach: Jack Rayner
	St. George 33rd season Ground: Jubilee Oval Coach: Norm Tipping Captain: Ken Kearney	Western Suburbs 46th season Ground: Pratten Park Captain-Coach: Peter McLean

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	South Sydney	18	11	1	6	384	278	+106	23
2	St. George	18	11	0	7	313	289	+24	22
3	North Sydney	18	10	1	7	421	283	+138	21
4	Eastern Suburbs	18	10	1	7	330	310	+20	21
5	Newtown	18	9	2	7	292	268	+24	20
6	Canterbury	18	9	2	7	252	291	-39	20
7	Parramatta	18	8	1	9	271	291	-20	17
8	Balmain	18	7	0	11	313	377	-64	14
9	Manly	18	6	0	12	294	393	-99	12
10	Western Suburbs	18	5	0	13	287	377	-90	10

Finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
Home	Score	Away	Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semi Finals
South Sydney	5-4	North Sydney	29 August 1953	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack O'Brien	30,392
St. George	25-7	Eastern Suburbs	5 September 1953	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	37,753
Final
South Sydney	31-12	St. George	12 September 1953	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	44,581

Final

South Sydney	Position	St George
Clive Churchill	FB	Noel Pidding
Ian Moir	WG	Kevin Hole
Martin Gallagher	CE	Tommy Ryan
Kevin Woolfe	CE	Merv Lees
Frank Threlfo	WG	Ross Kite
John Dougherty	FE	Allan Staunton
Ray Mason	HB	Peter Bracken
Denis Donoghue	PR	Kevin Brown
Ernie Hammerton	HK	Ken Kearney (c)
Jim Richards	PR	Bob Bower
Bob Moon	SR	Norm Provan
Jack Rayner (Ca./Co.)	SR	Barry Passfield
Les Cowie	LK	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 & 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 14th 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)

References

"Rugby League Tables - Season 1953". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. The World of Rugby League
Haddan, Steve [2007] The Finals - 100 Years of National Rugby League Finals, Steve Haddan Publishing, Brisbane
"Results: 1951-60". rabbitohs.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012.
"J J Giltinan Shield". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012.
"NSWRFL season 1953". rugbyleagueproject.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2008.

South Sydney squad - 1953 NSWRFL Premiers(14th title)

1. Clive Churchill 2. Ian Moir 3. Martin Gallagher 4. Kevin Woolfe 5. Fred Threlfo 6. John Dougherty 7. Ray Mason 8. Denis Donoghue 9. Ernie Hammerton 10. Jim Richards 11. Bob Moon 12. Jack Rayner (Ca./Co.) 13. Les Cowie

South Sydney Rabbitohs

Est. 1908 at Redfern Town Hall, Sydney, New South Wales

The club	History Honours Players Coaches Records Representatives Results

Home grounds	Current ANZ Stadium Past Sydney Sports Ground Redfern Oval Sydney Football Stadium

Culture	Charity Shield South Side Story Book of Feuds Ron Coote Cup Rivalries Return to Redfern South Sydney Leagues Club Red and Green Ball George Piggins Medal Souths Cares Rabbitohs Hall Of Fame

Important figures	Arthur Hennessy Benny Wearing George Treweek Jack Rayner Clive Churchill John Sattler Bob McCarthy George Piggins Russell Crowe

League	Current NRL Past NSWRL ARL

Titles	Premierships – 21 1908 1909 1914 1918 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1931 1932 1950 1951 1953 1954 1955 1967 1968 1970 1971 2014 Minor Premierships – 17 1908 1909 1914 1918 1925 1926 1927 1929 1932 1949 1950 1951 1953 1968 1969 1970 1989 World Club Champions – 1 2015

Seasons (105)	1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 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 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Other competitions	Current Auckland Nines National Youth Competition S. G. Ball Cup Harold Matthews Cup Past Amco Cup New South Wales Cup Jersey Flegg Cup

Affiliations	South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League North Sydney Bears

Related articles	The Burrow Reggie the Rabbit South Sydney Central

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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