The 1964 NSWRFL season was the fifty-seventh season of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

's professional

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 ...

football competition, the

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 ...

, Australia's first. Ten clubs from across the city competed for the

J. J. Giltinan Shield The J.J. Giltinan Shield is an Australian rugby league trophy, awarded annually to the National Rugby League minor premiers. It was named after James J. Giltinan who was central to the founding of rugby league in Australia. Giltinan died in 195 ...

and the

WD & HO Wills W.D. & H.O. Wills was a British tobacco manufacturing company formed in Bristol, England. It was the first British company to mass-produce cigarettes, and one of the founding companies of Imperial Tobacco along with John Player & Sons. The com ...

Cup during the season, which culminated in a

grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

between St. George and Balmain.

Teams

Ladder

Finals

Grand Final

St. George captain-coach

Norm Provan Norman Douglas Somerville Provan (18 December 1932 – 13 October 2021) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach. Also nicknamed "Sticks", he was a second-row forward with the St George Dragons during the first ten of t ...

was matching up against his younger brother (and former Dragon) Peter, who had moved to the Tigers in 1961. The Tigers’ defence was strong throughout a dour first half and for the first time in nine grand finals the Dragons trailed at half-time (4–2) with Balmain in the lead after penalty goals from Keith "Golden Boots" Barnes. The turning point of the match came five minutes into the second half. The Tigers were defending their own line with some desperate tackling when they received a relieving penalty from referee Pearce. Balmain's Bob Boland put in a big punt which at first looked like a good touch finder. To Balmain's horror, Graeme Langlands stretched and then caught the ball with his boots only an inch or two from the touchline. The champion fullback then raced cross-field towards the Balmain line and sent a cut-out pass to Billy Smith 25 yards out from the tryline. The centre made further inroads before channeling a pass to Johnny King who sped down the left wing for 20 yards to score a diving try. Test winger

Johnny King Johnny Cecil King (born 2 July 1942) is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He was a winger with the St. George Dragons for the last seven years of their eleven consecutive premiership-winning run from 1956 to 1966. He was ...

thus kept intact his grand final record with this being his fifth successive try in a decider. Eighteen-year-old

Dennis Tutty Dennis Tutty is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition who also represented for Australia. He was also a champion rower for New South Wales and won a national ti ...

stood out for the Tigers, providing reliable cover defence that stopped the Dragons on numerous occasions. For St. George, Smith and Langlands had strong games with Langlands tallying 72 points in his last four games of the season.

Brian Clay Brian Joseph 'Poppa' Clay (1935 – 1987) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a with the St. George Dragons during their 11-year consecutive premiership winning run from 1956 to 1966. He was ...

had by now reclaimed his five-eighth position from Bruce Pollard and excelled just as he had in his five previous Grand Final appearances. St. George 11 (Tries: King. Goals: Langlands 4.) Balmain 6 (Goals: Barnes 3.)

Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 18. Top 5 point scorers Top 5 try scorers Top 5 goal scorers

References

External links

Season 1964
''Rugby League Tables'' * Writer, Larry (1995) ''Never Before, Never Again'', Pan MacMillan, Sydney
1964 J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup at rleague.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nswrfl season

NSW ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

New South Wales Rugby League premiership