1969 NSWRFL season

The 1969 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 62nd season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six Sydney-based foundation teams and another six from the Sydney area competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between Balmain and South Sydney.

1969 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams	12
Premiers	Balmain (11th title)
Minor premiers	South Sydney (15th title)
Matches played	136
Points scored	4258
Attendance	1788112
Top points scorer(s)	Eric Simms (265)
Player of the year	Denis Pittard (Rothmans Medal)
Top try-scorer(s)	Ken Irvine (17)
← 1968 1970 →

Season summary

South Sydney fullback Eric Simms' tally of 265 points for the season from 112 goals, 19 field-goals and one try topped the season point scoring record that had been set in the 1935 season by Dave Brown.

The 1969 season's Rothmans Medallist was South Sydney's Denis Pittard.

The 1969 season also saw the retirement from the League of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, John Raper.

Teams

Balmain   62nd season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Leo Nosworthy Captain: Peter Provan	Canterbury-Bankstown   35th season Ground: Belmore Oval Coach: Kevin Ryan Captain: Kevin Ryan→Bob Hagan	Cronulla-Sutherland   3rd season Ground: Endeavour Field Coach: Ken Kearney Captain: Noel Thornton	Eastern Suburbs   62nd season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Captain-Coach: Louis Neumann
Manly-Warringah   23rd season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: George Hunter Captain(s): Bob Fulton / Fred Jones	Newtown   62nd season Ground: Henson Park Coach: Harry Bath Captain: Bob Carnegie	North Sydney   62nd season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Roy Francis Captain: Ken Irvine	Parramatta   23rd season Ground: Cumberland Oval Coach: Ian Johnston Captain: Dick Thornett
Penrith   3rd season Ground: Penrith Park Captain-coach: Bob Boland	South Sydney   62nd season Ground: Redfern Oval Coach: Clive Churchill Captain: John Sattler	St. George   49th season Ground: Kogarah Oval Captain-coach: Johnny Raper	Western Suburbs   62nd season Ground: Lidcombe Oval Captain-Coach: Noel Kelly

Regular season

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	F1	F2	F3	GF
Balmain	SOU +9	CRO +18	EAS +14	PEN +1	MAN +5	CBY −4	NEW +15	WES +9	PAR +2	STG +5	NOR +8	SOU −17	CRO +3	EAS +2	PEN −4	MAN −3	CBY +24	NEW +10	WES −7	PAR +5	STG +9	NOR +2	X	SOU −1	MAN +1	SOU +9
Canterbury-Bankstown	NEW +18	WES −21	PAR +16	STG +10	NOR +6	BAL +4	CRO +27	EAS −5	PEN −5	MAN −8	SOU −20	NEW −8	WES +5	PAR −9	STG +4	NOR −1	BAL −24	CRO +11	EAS −15	PEN −2	MAN +12	SOU −28
Cronulla-Sutherland	NOR −11	BAL −18	SOU −39	EAS −10	PEN −20	MAN −9	CBY −27	NEW +16	WES −1	PAR −7	STG −4	NOR +8	BAL −3	SOU −5	EAS −5	PEN +3	MAN −7	CBY −11	NEW +11	WES −10	PAR +8	STG −6
Eastern Suburbs	STG +13	NOR −9	BAL −14	CRO +10	SOU −4	PEN +3	MAN −7	CBY +5	NEW +7	WES −11	PAR −12	STG −4	NOR 0	BAL −2	CRO +5	SOU −27	PEN +1	MAN −28	CBY +15	NEW −18	WES −17	PAR −8
Manly-Warringah	WES +11	PAR +2	STG −21	NOR +18	BAL −5	CRO +9	EAS +7	PEN +1	SOU −12	CBY +8	NEW −5	WES +1	PAR +16	STG −1	NOR −10	BAL +3	CRO +7	EAS +28	PEN +9	SOU −4	CBY −12	NEW +7	STG +9	X	BAL −1
Newtown	CBY −18	SOU −14	WES −18	PAR −25	STG −3	NOR −9	BAL −15	CRO −16	EAS −7	PEN 0	MAN +5	CBY +8	SOU −20	WES +6	PAR −1	STG −18	NOR +6	BAL −10	CRO −11	EAS +18	PEN +7	MAN −7
North Sydney	CRO +11	EAS +9	PEN +3	MAN −18	CBY −6	NEW +9	WES −3	PAR +4	STG −23	SOU +9	BAL −8	CRO −8	EAS 0	PEN +29	MAN +10	CBY +1	NEW −6	WES −5	PAR +3	STG −8	SOU −20	BAL −2
Parramatta	PEN +11	MAN −2	CBY −16	NEW +25	WES +6	SOU −27	STG +1	NOR −4	BAL −2	CRO +7	EAS +12	PEN −2	MAN −16	CBY +9	NEW +1	WES +6	SOU +9	STG −25	NOR −3	BAL −5	CRO −8	EAS +8
Penrith	PAR −11	STG −24	NOR −3	BAL −1	CRO +20	EAS −3	SOU −1	MAN −1	CBY +5	NEW 0	WES +6	PAR +2	STG −1	NOR −29	BAL +4	CRO −3	EAS −1	SOU −22	MAN −9	CBY +2	NEW −7	WES −10
South Sydney	BAL −9	NEW +14	CRO +39	WES +10	EAS +4	PAR +27	PEN +1	STG −4	MAN +12	NOR −9	CBY +20	BAL +17	NEW +20	CRO +5	WES +7	EAS +27	PAR −9	PEN +22	STG +21	MAN +4	NOR +20	CBY +28	X	BAL +1	X	BAL −9
St. George	EAS −13	PEN +24	MAN +21	CBY −10	NEW +3	WES −2	PAR −1	SOU +4	NOR +23	BAL −5	CRO +4	EAS +4	PEN +1	MAN +1	CBY −4	NEW +18	WES +11	PAR +25	SOU −21	NOR +8	BAL −9	CRO +6	MAN −9
Western Suburbs	MAN −11	CBY +21	NEW +18	SOU −10	PAR −6	STG +2	NOR +3	BAL −9	CRO +1	EAS +11	PEN −6	MAN −1	CBY −5	NEW −6	SOU −7	PAR −6	STG −11	NOR +5	BAL +7	CRO +10	EAS +17	PEN +10
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	F1	F2	F3	GF

Bold – Home game
X – Bye
Opponent for round listed above margin

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	South Sydney	22	18	0	4	489	222	+267	36
2	Balmain	22	17	0	5	410	304	+106	34
3	St. George	22	14	0	8	411	323	+88	28
4	Manly-Warringah	22	14	0	8	355	298	+57	28
5	Western Suburbs	22	11	0	11	315	288	+27	22
6	Parramatta	22	11	0	11	323	338	-15	22
7	North Sydney	22	10	1	11	343	362	-19	21
8	Canterbury-Bankstown	22	10	0	12	316	349	-33	20
9	Eastern Suburbs	22	8	1	13	307	409	-102	17
10	Penrith	22	6	1	15	311	398	-87	13
11	Newtown	22	6	1	15	279	421	-142	13
12	Cronulla-Sutherland	22	5	0	17	301	448	-147	10

Ladder progression

• Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 4.
• Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
• Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.

	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
1	South Sydney	0	2	4	6	8	10	12	12	14	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	26	28	30	32	34	36
2	Balmain	2	4	6	8	10	10	12	14	16	18	20	20	22	24	24	24	26	28	28	30	32	34
3	St. George	0	2	4	4	6	6	6	8	10	10	12	14	16	18	18	20	22	24	24	26	26	28
4	Manly-Warringah	2	4	4	6	6	8	10	12	12	14	14	16	18	18	18	20	22	24	26	26	26	28
5	Western Suburbs	0	2	4	4	4	6	8	8	10	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	14	16	18	20	22
6	Parramatta	2	2	2	4	6	6	8	8	8	10	12	12	12	14	16	18	20	20	20	20	20	22
7	North Sydney	2	4	6	6	6	8	8	10	10	12	12	12	13	15	17	19	19	19	21	21	21	21
8	Canterbury-Bankstown	2	2	4	6	8	10	12	12	12	12	12	12	14	14	16	16	16	18	18	18	20	20
9	Eastern Suburbs	2	2	2	4	4	6	6	8	10	10	10	10	11	11	13	13	15	15	17	17	17	17
10	Penrith	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	2	4	5	7	9	9	9	11	11	11	11	11	13	13	13
11	Newtown	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	5	5	7	7	7	9	9	9	11	13	13
12	Cronulla-Sutherland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	8	8	10	10

Finals

In the preliminary final, Balmain trailed 12-14 against Manly-Warringah until late in the match when winger George Ruebner charged for the corner post to snatch a win in dramatic fashion.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semi-finals
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	19–10	St. George Dragons	30 August 1969	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	40,977
South Sydney Rabbitohs	14–13	Balmain Tigers	6 September 1969	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	44,159
Preliminary Final
Balmain Tigers	15–14	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	13 September 1969	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	41,410
Grand Final
South Sydney Rabbitohs	2–11	Balmain Tigers	20 September 1969	Sydney Cricket Ground	Keith Page	58,825

Grand Final

South Sydney	Position	Balmain
Eric Simms	FB	Robert Smithies
2. Michael Cleary	WG	2. George Ruebner
3. Bob Honan	CE	3. Allan Fitzgibbon
4. Kerry Burke	CE	4. Terry Parker
5. Brian James	WG	5. Len Killeen
6. Denis Pittard	FE	6. Keith Outten
7. Bob Grant	HB	7. Dave Bolton
13. John Sattler (c)	PR	13. Garry Leo
12. Elwyn Walters	HK	12. Peter Boulton
11. John O'Neill	PR	11. Barry McTaggart
10. Bob McCarthy	SR	10. John Spencer
9. Bob Moses	SR	9. Joe Walsh
8. Ron Coote	LK	8. Peter Provan (c)
17. Paul Sait	Reserve	14. Sid Williams
Clive Churchill	Coach	Leo Nosworthy

Balmain were not given a chance of winning the Premiership after the retirement of Keith Barnes. Souths had won the last two premierships, beaten the Tigers in the major semi-final to advance to the Grand Final and boasted eleven internationals in their side.

However, as a result their favouritism Souths were overconfident and showed insufficient respect to the young Tigers, who had shown early-season form in beating them in round 1, and to their rookie coach Leo Nosworthy, who presented a well-prepared and determined Balmain team.

The Tigers led 6–0 at halftime after two penalty goals by Len Killeen and a Dave Bolton field-goal. Souths refusal to kick on the last tackle played into Balmain's hands as novice replacement hooker Peter Boulton managed to consistently regain possession from the scrums. Balmain backed up with a robust defensive line and kept South pinned in their own half.

After the break a Bob McCarthy fumble after a mix up with Paul Sait saw Bolton swoop on the ball deep in Souths territory. From the ruck Terry Parker slipped a beautiful pass to replacement winger Sid Williams who juggled but held the ball to cross the line for the only try of the match. With a 9–0 lead early in the second half and a penalty count that continued to mount in their favour, Balmain took control of the game and appeared to begin a ploy of feigning injury whenever Souths looked to build rhythm, stopping the Rabbitohs' flow of play.^[1] Hence the match is still referred to today as "the lay-down grand final".^[2]

Souths' protests proved pointless as referee Keith Page (in his first Grand Final) was powerless to stop the Tigers tactics under the rules of the day, and Balmain secured and held an 11–2 lead to win their first premiership since 1947 and to give a fairy-tale career farewell for their captain and 159-game veteran Peter Provan.

With the merging of Balmain and Western Suburbs in 1999 to become the Wests Tigers, the 1969 premiership remains the eleventh and last for the Balmain Tigers.

Balmain 11 (Tries: Williams. Goals: Killeen 2. Field Goal: D Bolton 2)

South Sydney 2 (Goals: Simms 1.)

Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22.

Top 5 point scorers Points Player Tries Goals Field Goals 255   Eric Simms 1 108 18 185   Len Killeen 9 73 6 166   Bob Batty 2 77 3 158   Bob Landers 6 70 0 156   Graeme Langlands 4 72 0 Top 5 try scorers Tries Player 17   Ken Irvine 16   Johnny King 12   Denis Pittard 10   Bob McCarthy 10   John McDonald 10   Barry Beath 10   George Ambrum

Top 5 goal scorers Goals Player 108   Eric Simms 77   Bob Batty 73   Len Killeen 72   Graeme Langlands 70   Bob Landers

References

1. Sean Fagan (3 October 2010). "In league, we leave the dead where they fall". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia: Fairfax Media. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
2. Coady, Ben (2009-09-28). . WA Today. Australia: Fairfax Digital. Archived from the original on 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2010-01-15.

External links

• The World of Rugby League
• 1969 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup at rleague.com^{[dead link]}