The 1917

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 tenth 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 club competition, Australia's first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season and Balmain finished on top of the ladder to claim the premiership.

Season summary

After nine seasons with only nineteen wins and two draws from 115 matches, Western Suburbs finally made a significant impact on the league, finishing a respectable third behind the traditionally strong sides of Balmain and South Sydney. Their advance was almost entirely due to centre

Herb Gilbert Herbert R. Gilbert (18 September 1888 – 5 January 1972) was an Australian rugby league and rugby union player – a dual-code international. He represented the Wallabies in three Tests in 1910 and the Kangaroos in seven Tests from 1911 to 19 ...

, who moved from Easts,

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

and South Sydney to add skill and knowledge to team crying out for guidance, besides scoring nine of the team's thirty-four tries. Balmain ultimately won their third consecutive premiership finishing eight points ahead of second placed South Sydney. The Balmain side only failed to win one of their games during the season against Newtown in round 8. In fourteen games Balmain’s secure defence allowed a mere 61 points and just nine tries to be scored against them, a statistic indicating their dominance and rivalled since only by

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 ...

in 1963.http://afltables.com/rl/teams/all/overall_sr.htm
AFL Tables – Rugby League Season Records
/ref> Annandale managed to avoid bottom spot thanks to

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 ...

surrendering their two points to them following a 31–5 win for Glebe in round 8. The points were moved over to Annandale due to Glebe fielding Dan “Laddo” Davies – an ineligible player under the residential criteria of the time. As well as losing Davies, fourteen of Glebe’s first grade players were suspended for a year after the players boycotted a match against Balmain. The NSWRFL changed the venue of the game from the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...

Birchgrove Oval Birchgrove Park is an urban park and sports ground located in Birchgrove, Inner West Council, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on the waterfront of Sydney Harbour. It is also the location of Birchgrove Oval, the headquarters of the Sydney ...

in Balmain, drastically reducing spectator numbers and, in doing so, cutting Glebe's share of the big gate takings expected at the SCG. A team consisting of lower grade players was fielded and Glebe lost heavily, 40–9. The NSWRFL suspended all the footballers who refused to play, including Frank, Laidley and Albert Burge. Balmain also won the three round

City Cup The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912–1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959. The inaugural city cup was contested ...

played in the late season. Members of the Balmain premiership winning side included Bob Craig, Bill Schultz and E. Burnicle.

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 ...

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 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 ...

, formed on 9 January 1908 * Newtown, formed on 14 January 1908 * North Sydney, formed on 7 February 1908 * 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

*Glebe were stripped of two competition points due to fielding an ineligible player in one game.

References

External links

Rugby League Tables - Notes
''AFL Tables'

''AFL Tables''

''RL1908''

''RL1908'' *

{{National Rugby League seasons New South Wales Rugby League premiership Nswrfl Season