The 1934

New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

was the twenty-seventh season of Sydney’s top-grade

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

club competition, Australia’s first. Eight teams from across the city contested the premiership during the season which lasted from April until September and culminated in Western Suburbs’ victory over Eastern Suburbs in the premiership final.Premiership Roll of Honour
at ''rl1908.com''

Season summary

At the height of

The Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion ...

, the New South Wales Rugby Football League again banned

radio broadcasts Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio sta ...

of matches, blaming them for a severe drop in crowd numbers. In Round 2 the University club began a losing streak which would run until the fourteenth round of the 1936 season, marking the record for the most consecutive losses in premiership history at 42.

Teams

* Balmain, formed on January 23, 1908, at

Balmain Town Hall Balmain may refer to: Places * Balmain, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia * Electoral district of Balmain, an electoral division in New South Wales, Australia * Balmain East, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia * Balmain Hou ...

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

, formed on January 24, 1908, at

Paddington Town Hall The Paddington Town Hall is a heritage-listed former town hall building located at 249 Oxford Street in the inner eastern Sydney suburb of Paddington, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. Sir Henry Parkes la ...

* Newtown, formed on January 14, 1908 * North Sydney, formed on February 7, 1908 * South Sydney, formed on January 17, 1908, at

Redfern Town Hall The Redfern Town Hall is a landmark sandstone civic building located in the heart of , New South Wales, Australia. built in 1870 and designed in the Victorian Regency style by George Allen Mansfield. It was the seat of the Municipality of Redfer ...

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

, formed on November 8, 1920, at Kogarah School of Arts * Western Suburbs, formed on February 4, 1908 *

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, formed in 1919 at

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...

Ladder

Finals

In the two semi finals, the top two ranked teams Western Suburbs and

beat their lower-ranked opponents

and South Sydney. The two winners then played in a final in which Western beat Eastern Suburbs.

Premiership Final

After a hurried conference on Saturday, 1 September 1934, the league postponed the final for a week because of heavy rain and adverse ground conditions. It was the first postponement in the competition’s twenty-seven-year history. Eastern Suburbs players Viv Thicknesse and Stan Tancred made a return for the final which was refereed by J Murphy before a crowd of 25,174. Western Suburbs captain Frank McMillan won the toss and ran with the wind before Les Mead opened with a penalty goal. Regular stoppages for infringements ensued before Jack Beaton kicked accurately to level the match at 2–2. Western Suburbs Test winger Alan Ridley scored the first try of the match, crashing over on the right wing after powering through the defence. McMillan’s conversion made it 7–2, with the score remaining unchanged at halftime. After the break, Thicknesse hit back for Eastern Suburbs and crossed after excellent lead up work by Joe Pearce. Beaton missed the conversion but Dave Brown steered through a penalty from a scrum infringement shortly after and the scores were level at 7–7. Rain began to fall as Western Suburbs gathered momentum. The play shifted to Easts’ line and Vince Sheehan crossed for an unconverted try and Western Suburbs led 10–7. Eastern Suburbs continued to defend grimly before Western Suburbs surged to a comfortable 15–7 lead. Vic Hey received a lobbed pass and got the ball to Alan Ridley who scored under the upright for Mead to convert. The Roosters’ chances came in the final stages and Andy Norval crossed for his team’s second try, although the referee appeared to miss a blatant knock-on. Beaton converted but it was all too late, with Western Suburbs claiming their second premiership. A great victory by a great team who upset the star-studded Eastern Suburbs, who went on to win the next three titles. Alan Ridley played one of the best games for Western Suburbs along with team-mates Mead, Hey, Brady, Tancred. Current test skipper Frank McMillan (141 games) and hooker Bob Lindfield (138 matches) announced their retirement after the victory and were chaired from the field by team-mates. Western Suburbs 15 (Tries: Alan Ridley 2, Vince Sheehan. Goals: Les Mead 2,

Frank McMillan Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Cur ...

) Eastern Suburbs 12 (Tries: Andy Norval,

Viv Thicknesse Viv Thicknesse (1910–1986) was an Australian dual-code rugby half-back, a state representative in both rugby league and rugby union. His rugby league career was spent with the champion Eastern Suburbs sides of the 1930s and he represented ...

. Goals: Jack Beaton 2, Dave Brown)

References

External links

Rugby League Tables - Notes
''AFL Tables''

''AFL Tables''

''RL1908''

at ''rabbitohs.com.au'' {{National Rugby League seasons Nswrfl season New South Wales Rugby League premiership