The 1914

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 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 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 ...

football club competition, Australia's first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season. The 1914 season's gate receipts totalled £24,072, which was £7,038 more than the previous season's.

Season summary

Following the retirement of

Dally Messenger Herbert Henry Messenger, nicknamed "Dally" and sometimes "The Master" (12 April 1883 – 24 November 1959) was one of Australasia's first professional rugby footballers, recognised as one of the greatest-ever players in either code. He played f ...

at the end of the 1913 season,

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 ...

’ stranglehold on the premiership came to an end. In their place, previous premiers South Sydney and Newtown took control of the competition. Newtown were in a good position to take out their second premiership midway through the season but a loss to middle-placed Balmain hurt their cause, although Newtown defeated South Sydney the following week. It turned out that the Balmain loss would make the difference, with South Sydney finishing just one point ahead of Newtown at the end of the season to claim their third premiership. No Finals were contested. Members of the South Sydney premiership winning side included Howard Hallett (''Player of the Season''), Roy Almond, O. Brown, Arthur Butler,

Harry Butler William Henry "Harry" Butler (25 March 1930 – 11 December 2015) was an Australian naturalist and environmental consultant, best known as the presenter of the popular ABC television series ''In the Wild'' from 1976 to 1981. He was a househo ...

, William Cann, Jim Davis, Wally Dymant, E. Hilliard,

Owen McCarthy Eugene Sylvester 'Owen' McCarthy (1882-1940) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1910s. He played for South Sydney and Balmain in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition. He later became the c ...

Arthur McCabe Arthur John Michael "Mackker" McCabe (23 June 1887 – 30 July 1924) was an Australian rugby union and pioneer professional rugby league footballer. He represented for Australian in rugby union at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Rugby union career ...

and

Harold Horder Harold Norman Horder (23 February 1894 – 21 August 1978) was an Australian rugby league player. He was a national and state representative player whose club career was with South Sydney and North Sydney between 1912 and 1924. Regarded as on ...

. The season was punctuated by matches against the

1914 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand The 1914 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand was the second ever British national rugby league team or 'Lions' tour of Australasia, where it was winter and matches were played against the Australian and New Zealand national sides, ...

, and was the last for future

Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame The Australian Rugby LeaguHall of Fame'' honours players who have shown exceptional skill at rugby league, all-time great coaches and referees, and other major contributors to the game who are Australian. It was officially established in 2002, ...

inductee

Chris McKivat Christopher Hobart McKivat (alternatively spelled McKivatt, pronounced ; 27 November 1880 − 4 May 1941) was an Australian rugby union and rugby league player – a dual-code rugby international. He represented the Wallabies in over 20 Tests ...

who went on to have a prominent coaching career.

Teams

The teams remained unchanged from the previous season. * Annandale * Balmain, formed on 23 January 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 ...

, formed on 24 January 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 ...

Glebe Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...

, formed on 9 January 1908 * Newtown, formed on 14 January 1908 * North Sydney, formed on February 7, 1908, at the North Sydney School of Arts in Mount Street * South Sydney, formed on 17 January 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 ...

* Western Suburbs, formed on 4 February 1908

Ladder

References

Sources

Rugby League Tables - Notes
''AFL Tables''

''AFL Tables''

''RL1908''

''RL1908''

{{National Rugby League seasons New South Wales Rugby League premiership NSWRFL season