1975 NSWRFL season

The 1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 68th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from across Sydney competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a grand final match for the WD & HO Wills Cup between the Eastern Suburbs and St. George clubs.^[1] NSWRFL teams also competed for the 1975 Amco Cup.

1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams	12
Premiers	Eastern Suburbs (11th title)
Minor premiers	Eastern Suburbs (13th title)
Matches played	140
Points scored	4444
Attendance	1528180
Top points scorer(s)	Graham Eadie (242)
Player of the year	Steve Rogers (Rothmans Medal)
Top try-scorer(s)	Johnny Mayes (16)
← 1974 1976 →

Season summary

The season saw the introduction of differential penalties for scrum offences. Each side faced each other twice in twenty-two regular season rounds from March to August,^[2] resulting in a top five of Eastern Suburbs, Manly-Warringah, St. George, Canterbury-Bankstown and Parramatta who battled it out for the premiership over six finals matches. With three sides finishing in equal fifth place, two elimination finals playoffs also had to be played.^[3]

Western Suburbs had 1 point deducted for fielding an ineligible player in round 8. After losing two consecutive matches in rounds 2 and 3, defending premiers Eastern Suburbs posted nineteen consecutive wins to close out the regular season; a streak than ran from round 4 to round 22 and remained the record for the most consecutive wins in premiership history until Melbourne Storm equalled the record in 2021; Round 3 to Round 23, although they were later eliminated by eventual Premiers Penrith Panthers in the preliminary final.

The 1975 season's Rothmans Medallist was Cronulla-Sutherland centre Steve Rogers. Rugby League Week gave their player of the year award to Manly-Warringah back Bob Fulton.

Teams

Balmain Tigers   68th season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Paul Broughton Captain: Brian Lockwood, Keith Outten	Canterbury-Bankstown   45th season Ground: Belmore Sports Ground Coach: Malcolm Clift Captain(s): John Peek, Barry Phillis	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks   9th season Ground: Endeavour Field Coach: Johnny Raper Captain: Greg Pierce	Eastern Suburbs Roosters   68th season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Jack Gibson Captain: Arthur Beetson
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles   29th season Ground: Brookvale Oval Coach: Frank Stanton Captain(s): Bob Fulton / Mal Reilly	Newtown Jets   68th season Ground: Henson Park Coach: Clarrie Jeffries Captain: Barry Cox	North Sydney Bears   68th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Noel Kelly Captain: Bruce Walker	Parramatta Eels   29th season Ground: Cumberland Oval Coach: Norm Provan Captain(s): John Baker,→ Denis Fitzgerald
Penrith Panthers   9th season Ground: Penrith Football Stadium Coach: Barry Harris & Mike Stephenson Captain: Zac Olejarnik	South Sydney Rabbitohs   68th season Ground: Redfern Oval Coach(s): Clive Churchill / Bob McCarthy Captain: Bob McCarthy	St. George Dragons   55th season Ground: Kogarah Oval Captain-coach: Graeme Langlands	Western Suburbs Magpies   68th season Ground: Lidcombe Oval Coach: Don Parish Captain: Tom Raudonikis

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	F4	F5	GF
Balmain Tigers	EAS −3	PAR +3	NOR −7	NEW −10	SOU −37	STG −26	CRO +2	MAN −13	WES −16	PEN +15	CBY +5	STG +3	EAS −2	NOR +13	NEW +2	SOU +15	PAR −21	CRO −1	MAN +3	WES 0	PEN +7	CBY −1	X	PAR −11
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	STG +4	CRO −11	MAN −12	WES +1	PEN +22	SOU +13	EAS −19	PAR +5	NOR +44	NEW 0	BAL −5	SOU +3	STG +1	MAN +18	WES 0	PEN −15	CRO −8	EAS −22	PAR −1	NOR −1	NEW +25	BAL +1	X	X	PAR −1
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	PEN −2	CBY +11	EAS +4	PAR −7	NOR +4	NEW +2	BAL −2	STG 0	SOU +30	MAN −6	WES −6	NEW −9	PEN −25	EAS −2	PAR +14	NOR +13	CBY +8	BAL +1	STG −3	SOU −6	MAN −10	WES −14
Eastern Suburbs Roosters	BAL +3	STG −8	CRO −4	MAN +6	WES +6	PEN +13	CBY +19	SOU +3	PAR +5	NOR +14	NEW +9	PEN +17	BAL +2	CRO +2	MAN +1	WES +1	STG +34	CBY +22	SOU +19	PAR +19	NOR +23	NEW +27	X	X	X	STG −3	MAN +15	STG +38
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	WES +2	PEN +19	CBY +12	EAS −6	PAR −15	NOR +8	NEW +13	BAL +13	STG +1	CRO +6	SOU +4	NOR +6	WES −18	CBY −18	EAS −1	PAR +19	PEN +17	NEW +5	BAL −3	STG −3	CRO +10	SOU +54	X	X	STG −7	PAR +10	EAS −15
Newtown Jets	PAR −9	NOR −8	SOU −7	BAL +10	STG −17	CRO −2	MAN −13	WES +11	PEN +14	CBY 0	EAS −9	CRO +9	PAR +11	SOU +6	BAL −2	STG −6	NOR −7	MAN −5	WES +3	PEN 0	CBY −25	EAS −27
North Sydney Bears	SOU −4	NEW +8	BAL +7	STG −3	CRO −4	MAN −8	WES −13	PEN +25	CBY −44	EAS −14	PAR −12	MAN −6	SOU +2	BAL −13	STG +6	CRO −13	NEW +7	WES +3	PEN +21	CBY +1	EAS −23	PAR −15
Parramatta Eels	NEW +9	BAL −3	STG −10	CRO +7	MAN +15	WES −17	PEN +5	CBY −5	EAS −5	SOU −7	NOR +12	WES −4	NEW −11	STG 0	CRO −14	MAN −19	BAL +21	PEN +15	CBY +1	EAS −19	SOU +32	NOR +15	WES +5	BAL +11	CBY +1	MAN −10
Penrith Panthers	CRO +2	MAN −19	WES +9	SOU −5	CBY −22	EAS −13	PAR −5	NOR −25	NEW −14	BAL −15	STG −9	EAS −17	CRO +25	WES +5	SOU +2	CBY +15	MAN −17	PAR −15	NOR −21	NEW 0	BAL −7	STG +6
South Sydney Rabbitohs	NOR +4	WES −11	NEW +7	PEN +5	BAL +37	CBY −13	STG −7	EAS −3	CRO −30	PAR +7	MAN −4	CBY −3	NOR −2	NEW −6	PEN −2	BAL −15	WES −11	STG −17	EAS −19	CRO +6	PAR −32	MAN −54
St. George Dragons	CBY −4	EAS +8	PAR +10	NOR +3	NEW +17	BAL +26	SOU +7	CRO 0	MAN −1	WES +7	PEN +9	BAL −3	CBY −1	PAR 0	NOR −6	NEW +6	EAS −34	SOU +17	CRO +3	MAN +3	WES −14	PEN −6	X	X	MAN +7	EAS +3	X	EAS −38
Western Suburbs Magpies	MAN −2	SOU +11	PEN −9	CBY −1	EAS −6	PAR +17	NOR +13	NEW −11	BAL +16	STG −7	CRO +6	PAR +4	MAN +18	PEN −5	CBY 0	EAS −1	SOU +11	NOR −3	NEW −3	BAL 0	STG +14	CRO +14	PAR −5
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	F4	F5	GF

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

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Eastern Suburbs	22	20	0	2	431	198	+233	40
2	Manly-Warringah	22	15	0	7	439	314	+125	30
3	St. George	22	12	2	8	341	294	+47	26
4	Canterbury-Bankstown	22	11	2	9	330	287	+43	24
5	Western Suburbs	22	10	2	10	365	289	+76	21
6	Parramatta	22	10	1	11	391	373	+18	21
7	Balmain	22	10	1	11	288	357	-69	21
8	Cronulla-Sutherland	22	9	1	12	370	375	-5	19
9	North Sydney	22	9	0	13	322	414	-92	18
10	Newtown	22	7	2	13	349	422	-73	16
11	Penrith	22	7	1	14	312	452	-140	15
12	South Sydney	22	6	0	16	298	461	-163	12

• Western Suburbs were stripped of 1 competition point due to an illegal replacement in one game.

Ladder progression

• Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 5.
• 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	Eastern Suburbs Roosters	2	2	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	28	30	32	34	36	38	40
2	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	2	4	6	6	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	20	20	20	22	24	26	26	26	28	30
3	St. George Dragons	0	2	4	6	8	10	12	13	13	15	17	17	17	18	18	20	20	22	24	26	26	26
4	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	2	2	2	4	6	8	8	10	12	13	13	15	17	19	20	20	20	20	20	20	22	24
5	Western Suburbs Magpies	0	2	2	2	2	4	6	6	8	8	10	12	14	14	15	14	16	16	16	17	19	21
6	Parramatta Eels	2	2	2	4	6	6	8	8	8	8	10	10	10	11	11	11	13	15	17	17	19	21
7	Balmain Tigers	0	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	6	8	10	10	12	14	16	16	16	18	19	21	21
8	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	0	2	4	4	6	8	8	9	11	11	11	11	11	11	13	15	17	19	19	19	19	19
9	North Sydney Bears	0	2	4	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	6	6	8	8	10	10	12	14	16	18	18	18
10	Newtown Jets	0	0	0	2	2	2	2	4	6	7	7	9	11	13	13	13	13	13	15	16	16	16
11	Penrith Panthers	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	8	10	12	12	12	12	13	13	15
12	South Sydney Rabbitohs	2	2	4	6	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	12	12	12

Finals

Balmain, Parramatta and Western Suburbs tied for fifth place, necessitating a play-off drawn from a hat.^[4]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Playoffs
Western Suburbs	13–18	Parramatta	26 August 1975	Sydney Cricket Ground	Greg Hartley	9,920
Parramatta	19–8	Balmain	28 August 1975	Sydney Cricket Ground	Gary Cook	19,914
Qualifying Finals
Manly-Warringah	3–10	St. George	30 August 1975	Sydney Cricket Ground	Laurie Bruyeres	23,492
Canterbury-Bankstown	5–6	Parramatta	31 August 1975	Sydney Cricket Ground	Gary Cook	19,312
Semi-finals
Eastern Suburbs	5–8	St. George	6 September 1975	Sydney Cricket Ground	Laurie Bruyeres	28,851
Manly-Warringah	22–12	Parramatta	7 September 1975	Sydney Cricket Ground	Gary Cook	26,109
Preliminary final
Eastern Suburbs	28–13	Manly-Warringah	13 September 1975	Sydney Cricket Ground	Laurie Bruyeres	31,645
Grand final
St. George	0–38	Eastern Suburbs	20 September 1975	Sydney Cricket Ground	Laurie Bruyeres	63,047^[5]

Chart

	Qualifying final					Major semi-final					Preliminary final					Grand final
						1	Eastern Suburbs	5								St. George		0
							St. George	8								Eastern Suburbs		38
	2	Manly	3								Eastern Suburbs		28
	3	St. George	10			Minor semi-final					Manly		13
						Manly		22
	4	Canterbury	5			Parramatta		12
	5	Parramatta	6

Grand final

St. George	Position	Eastern Suburbs
Graeme Langlands (c)	FB	Ian Schubert
Paul Mills	WG	Bruce Pickett
Roy Ferguson	CE	John Brass
Ted Goodwin	CE	John Rheinberger
John Chapman	WG	Bill Mullins
John Bailey	FE	John Peard
Billy Smith	HB	Johnny Mayes
Henry Tatana	PR	Ian Mackay
Steve Edge	HK	Elwyn Walters
Barry Beath	PR	Grant Hedger
Peter Fitzgerald	SR	Arthur Beetson (c)
Robert Stone	SR	Ron Coote
Lindsay Drake	LK	Kevin Stevens
Bruce Starkey	Reserve	Bunny Reilly
Robert Finch	Reserve	Des O'Reilly
Graeme Langlands	Coach	Jack Gibson

This was the first grand final to be telecast in colour.^[6] The star-studded Eastern Suburbs line up had lost only 2 matches in the 22-game regular season and were clear starting favourites. However, St. George looked a chance early on when utility back "Lord Ted" Goodwin put on a chip and chase. Goodwin collided with Eastern Suburbs' fullback Ian Schubert, came off second best and was out of touch for the remainder of the match. Things were also wrong with captain-coach Graeme Langlands who was struggling with his coordination following an ill-directed pain killing injection that numbed his right leg and severely affected his form.^[7]

At half-time, Eastern Suburbs were up 5–0. Just after the break the Roosters' prop Ian McKay crashed over from close range and the floodgates opened. Eastern Suburbs unleashed a torrent of tries with Johnny Mayes, Arthur Beetson, John Brass, Bruce Pickett and boom recruit Schubert all scoring.

Despite his numbed leg, Langlands returned in the second half hoping it would come good. It didn't and he was replaced.^[8] By the end of the game, St. George had been completely demoralised by Easts in a 38–0 record Grand final defeat. Fellow Immortal and peer Australian Captain Arthur Beetson attempted in vain to console the forlorn Langlands at match end.

Easts' eight tries in the grand final matched South Sydney's record achievement in the 1951 final (subsequently equalled again by Manly in 2008).

Eastern Suburbs 38
Tries: Brass (2), Mayes (2), McKay, Beetson, Pickett, Schubert
Goals: Peard (7)

St George 0

Player statistics

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

Top 5 point scorers Points Player Tries Goals Field Goals 223   Graham Eadie 13 92 0 183   John Brass 4 85 1 183   John Dorahy 11 75 0 156   Steve Rogers 8 66 0 153   Eric Simms 5 68 2 Top 5 try scorers Tries Player 14   Johnny Mayes 14   Mark Harris 13   Bob Fulton 13   Graham Eadie 12   Jim Porter

Top 5 goal scorers Goals Player 92   Graham Eadie 85   John Brass 75   John Dorahy 68   Eric Simms 66   Steve Rogers

References

1. 1975 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup May 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine at rleague.com
2. Results: 1971-1980 August 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine at rabbitohs.com.au
3. NSWRFL 1975^{[permanent dead link]} at rugbyleagueproject.org
4. "Form over five years". The Sun-Herald. 19 March 1978. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
5. Rugby League Tables – Season 1975 2007-03-23 at the Wayback Machine at stats.rleague.com
6. . The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia: Fairfax Digital. 2009-10-02. Archived from the original on 2009-10-29. Retrieved 2010-04-11.
7. Coady, Ben (2009-09-28). . WA Today. Australia: Fairfax Digital. Archived from the original on 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2010-01-15.
8. Clarkson, Alan (1986-09-26). . The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. p. 77. Archived from the original on 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2010-09-14.