1909 NSWRFL season
| 1909 New South Wales Rugby Football League | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 8 |
| Premiers |  South Sydney (2nd title) |
| Minor premiers | South Sydney (2nd title) |
| Matches played | 42 |
| Points scored | 975 (total) 23.214 (per match) |
| Top point scorer(s) | Arthur Conlin (43) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Tommy Anderson (11) |
The 1909 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the second season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Eight teams contested during the season for the premiership and the Royal Agricultural Society Challenge Shield; seven teams from Sydney and one team from Newcastle, New South Wales.
At the begninning of the season, the nearly broke NSWRFL had met and kicked out its founders Henry Hoyle, Victor Trumper and J J Giltinan.[1] Part-way through the season, Edward Larkin was appointed full-time secretary of the NSWRFL.[2]
Also in 1909 north of the border, the Queensland Rugby Football League got its club competition started for the rebel football code of rugby league.
Teams
The teams that made up the 1909 premiership season were the same as the 1908 season with the exception of Cumberland who were dissolved, being unable to field a competitive team. Their last premiership match turned out to be a 45-0 loss at the hands of North Sydney on 25 July 1908, a game where the team had to "borrow" two of North Sydney's officials in order to make up a 13-man side. Seven of Cumberland's players ended up going to Western Suburbs the following year, but only three of these players were able to play another premiership match.
- Balmain, formed on 23 January 1908 at Balmain Town Hall
- Eastern Suburbs, formed on 24 January 1908 at Paddington Town Hall
- Glebe, formed on 9 January 1908
- Newcastle, formed on 10 February 1908 at Pike's Rooms, Bolton Street, Newcastle
- Newtown, formed on 8 January 1908
- North Sydney, formed on 7 February 1908
- South Sydney, formed on 17 January 1908 at Redfern Town Hall
- Western Suburbs formed on 4 February 1908
Souths lost only one game in the regular season, to Newcastle in Newcastle, 3 days after the Novocastrians had beaten the New Zealand Māori team.
Glebe included Peter Moko, the first player of Polynesian background to play in the premiership.[3]
Newcastle exited the League at the end of the season.[4]
 2nd season Ground: Birchgrove Oval Coach: Robert Graves Captain: Joe Regent |
Eastern Suburbs 2nd season Ground: RAS Showground Coach: Captain: Albert Rosenfeld |
Glebe 2nd season Ground: Wentworth Park Coach: Captain: Alex Burdon |
 2nd season Ground: Newcastle Showground Coach: Captain: Stan Carpenter |
 2nd season Ground: Wentworth Park Coach: Captain: Bill Noble |
 2nd season Ground: Coach: Captain: Albert Broomham |
South Sydney 2nd season Ground: RAS Showground Coach: Arthur Hennessy Captain: Arthur Conlin |
Western Suburbs 2nd season Ground: RAS Showground Coach: Captain: Tom Phelan |
Touring sides
During the season the New Zealand national side toured in June-July, followed by the second New Zealand Māori rugby league tour of Australia.
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Sydney |
10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 210 | 41 | +169 | 18 |
| 2 |  Balmain |
10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 130 | 62 | +68 | 16 |
| 3 |  Newcastle |
10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 144 | 93 | +51 | 10 |
| 4 |  Eastern Suburbs |
10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 167 | 141 | +26 | 10 |
| 5 |  Glebe |
10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 62 | 159 | -97 | 8 |
| 6 |  Newtown |
10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 73 | 107 | -34 | 7 |
| 7 |  North Sydney |
10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 104 | 157 | -53 | 6 |
| 8 |  Western Suburbs |
10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 42 | 172 | -130 | 5 |
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 in last place on the ladder in that round
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Sydney |
2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 18 |
| 2 | Balmain |
0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 |
| 3 | Newcastle |
2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| 4 | Eastern Suburbs |
2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 5 | Glebe |
0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| 6 | Newtown |
0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| 7 | North Sydney |
0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| 8 | Western Suburbs |
2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Finals
In 1909 semi-finals were played amongst the four highest placed teams. Top two finishers South Sydney and Balmain were able to win their respective semi-finals. However, after the New South Wales Rugby League had planned a match between the Australian rugby union and rugby league teams that would upstage the premiership final, both South Sydney and Balmain unofficially agreed to not play out a final. But unknown to Balmain, South Sydney turned up ready to play. [5] The final was deemed to be a forfeit as a result, with South Sydney claiming their second premiership in as many years.[6] Requests from Balmain for the match to be played at a later date were refused by the League.[7] Conflict over whether there was an agreement between the two clubs not to play a final[8] caused a deep seated resentment towards Souths by Balmain which lasted many years.
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||
| 14 August 1909 - Wentworth | |||||||
| Balmain |
15 | ||||||
| Eastern Suburbs |
8 | ||||||
| 14 September 1909 - Showground | |||||||
| South Sydney |
|||||||
| Balmain |
(forfeit) | ||||||
| 14 August 1909 - Agricultural | |||||||
| South Sydney |
20 | ||||||
| Newcastle |
0 | ||||||
Members of the South Sydney side who showed up on Grand Final day and won by forfeit were:
Arthur Butler • Arthur Conlin (c) • Harry Butler • Howard Hallett • T.Anderson • J.Davis • Frank Storie • Ed Fry • Dick Green • Jack Coxon • Billy Cann • P.Carroll • Arthur Hennessy (coach)
-
Son Fry 07.jpg
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The pick of the Pacific theage.com.au, 5 March 2009
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Premiership Roll of Honour at rl1908.com
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Rugby League Tables - Notes The World of Rugby League
- Rugby League Tables - Season 1909 The World of Rugby League
- Premiership History and Statistics RL1908 (archived)
- 1909 - Souths Win After Balmain Forfeits! RL1908 (archived)
- Cumberland RLFC RL1908 (archived)
- Results: 1908-1910 at rabbitohs.com.au
