1960 NSWRFL season
| 1960 New South Wales Rugby Football League | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 10 |
| Premiers |
 St. George (7th title) |
| Minor premiers |
St. George (7th title) |
| Matches played | 98 |
| Points scored |
3084 (total) 31.469 (per match) |
| Attendance |
1,032,655 (total) 10,537 (per match) |
| Top point scorer(s) |
Brian Graham (193) |
| Top try scorer(s) |
Reg Gasnier (25) |
1960's New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 53rd season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Ten teams from across the city competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between St. George and Eastern Suburbs.
Season summary
With four teams finishing on equal second place at the end of the regular season, and no weight given to the "for" and "against" points differential, minor premiers St. George watched Western Suburbs, Eastern Suburbs, Balmain and Canterbury-Bankstown go through a four-match series of play offs before the real finals commenced. In a double header at the Sydney Sports Ground, Easts and Wests won the right to play off for second and third spots, while Canterbury and Balmain's losses meant they would play off for the fourth and final place in the finals series.
Also in 1960, NSWRFL president Henry "Jersey" Flegg died and Bill Buckley took up the position.
This season the Western Suburbs Magpies won the NSWRFL Club Championship.
Teams
 53rd season |
 26th season |
Eastern Suburbs 53rd season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Dick Dunn Captain: Jack Gibson |
Manly-Warringah 14th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Ken Arthurson Captain: Ron Willey |
 53rd season Ground: Henson Park |
 53rd season Ground: North Sydney Oval Captain-coach: Greg Hawick |
Parramatta 14th season Ground: Cumberland Oval Coach: Jack Rayner Captain: Ron Boden |
South Sydney 53rd season Ground: Redfern Oval Coach: Denis Donoghue Captain: Bernie Purcell |
| St. George 40th season Ground: Kogarah Oval Captain-coach: Ken Kearney |
Western Suburbs 53rd season Ground: Pratten Park Coach: Dudley Beger Captain: Dick Poole |
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. George |
18 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 456 | 176 | +280 | 28 |
| 2 |  Western Suburbs |
18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 350 | 298 | +52 | 22 |
| 3 |  Eastern Suburbs |
18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 264 | 221 | +43 | 22 |
| 4 |  Balmain |
18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 286 | 254 | +32 | 22 |
| 5 |  Canterbury |
18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 249 | 285 | -36 | 22 |
| 6 |  Manly |
18 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 231 | 217 | +14 | 20 |
| 7 |  North Sydney |
18 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 317 | 357 | -40 | 16 |
| 8 |  South Sydney |
18 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 211 | 256 | -45 | 12 |
| 9 |  Newtown |
18 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 251 | 313 | -62 | 12 |
| 10 |  Parramatta |
18 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 215 | 453 | -238 | 4 |
Finals
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Playoffs | ||||||||
| Western Suburbs |
28-10 | Balmain |
9 August 1960 | Sydney Sports Ground | 21,308 | |||
| Eastern Suburbs |
20-11 | Canterbury |
9 August 1960 | Sydney Sports Ground | 21,308 | |||
| Western Suburbs |
18-7 | Eastern Suburbs |
13 August 1960 | Sydney Cricket Ground | 21,855 | |||
| Balmain |
7-18 | Canterbury |
14 August 1960 | Sydney Sports Ground | 16,507 | |||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
| St. George |
31-7 | Western Suburbs |
20 August 1960 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Col Pearce | 38,407 | ||
| Eastern Suburbs |
16-9 | Canterbury |
21 August 1960 | Sydney Sports Ground | Darcy Lawler | 18,455 | ||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Western Suburbs |
15-20 | Eastern Suburbs |
27 August 1960 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Darcy Lawler | 29,393 | ||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| St. George |
31-6 | Eastern Suburbs |
3 September 1960 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Darcy Lawler | 53,156 | ||
Grand Final
| St George | Position | Eastern Suburbs |
|---|---|---|
| Brian Graham | FB | John Andrew |
| Johnny King | WG | Boyce Beeton |
| John Stathers | CE | Bill Roney |
| Reg Gasnier | CE | Doug Ricketson |
| Dave Brown | WG | Bob Landers |
| Brian Clay | FE | Billy McNamara |
| Bob Bugden | HB | Bruce Rainier |
| Kevin Ryan | PR | Bob McDonagh |
| Ken Kearney (Ca./Co.) | HK | Ken Ashcroft |
| Billy Wilson | PR | Jack Gibson (c) |
| Monty Porter | SR | Brian Wright |
| Norm Provan | SR | Bob Heffernan |
| Johnny Raper | LK | Dick See |
| Coach | Dick Dunn | |
St. George had lost to Eastern Suburbs late in the regular season and expected them to be a finals force. But due to the playoffs for the minor premiership placements the Roosters were playing their sixth match in four weeks, including an extra-time tussle in the minor semi against Canterbury.
For the first grand final in four the defending premiers left their strongarm tactics in the locker room and let their skilled backline excel. Five minutes into the game Bob Bugden toed a loose ball through and fell on it to open the scoring. At 23 minutes the second try was set up by Brian Clay who beat his opposite Billy McNamara and passed to Reg Gasnier who dazzled the opposition with a change of pace that left them flatfooted.
Prop Kevin Ryan may have been in his rookie St. George season but he had already represented for Australia at rugby union and for Queensland in boxing. He had fit into the tough St. George pack with ease and featured on Grand Final day in setting up firstly fellow newcomer Johnny King for a first half try, then Gasnier after the break for his second before being sent off at the 60 minute mark, along with Easts forward Brian Wright, for fighting.
Norm Provan and Dave Brown also scored in the second half and two minutes before the bell an interplay between Provan and Brian Graham resulted in King getting his second try. Only a few weeks earlier Johnny King had been the third grade fullback, having been declined a contract offer early in the season from South Sydney.
Although they were on the wrong side of a 17-6 penalty caning, St. George scored seven tries to nil, walloping Eastern Suburbs 31-6.
Ken Kearney became the oldest player to appear in a grand final (36 years 123 days) and also equalled Jack Rayner's record of five grand finals won as captain.
St. George 31 (Tries: Gasnier 2, King 2, Bugden, Brown, Provan. Goals: Graham 5.)
Eastern Suburbs 6 (Goals: Landers 3.)
References
- Rugby League Tables - Season 1960 The World of Rugby League
- Writer, Larry (1995) Never Before, Never Again, Pan MacMillan, Sydney
- Results:1951-1960 at rabbitohs.com.au
- 1960 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup at rleague.com
- NSWRFL season 1960 at rugbyleagueproject.com
- 1960 Final at Dragons History site
| ||||||||||||||