The 1955 NSWRFL season was the 48th season of the

New South Wales Rugby Football League The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

. Ten teams from across Sydney competed for the

NSWRFL 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 Sou ...

J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a replay of the previous year's

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. S ...

between the South Sydney and Newtown clubs.

Season summary

Halfway through the 1955 season Souths were in equal last place having won just three of nine matches. From that point they didn't lose another game, winning nine season encounters in a row before the finals. Eventually they finished fourth. Had they lost a single one of these games they would have missed the finals. In the second last match of the regular season Souths met Manly-Warringah and were behind 4–7 with moments to go.

Clive Churchill Clive Bernard Churchill AM (21 January 1927 – 9 August 1985) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach in the mid-20th century. An Australian international and New South Wales and Queensland interstate representative ...

had broken his arm early in the game tackling Manly winger George Hugo but refused to leave the field. Souths

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

Les Cowie managed to score a try in the corner and Churchill with a broken arm took a sideline conversion attempt that wobbled over the posts and won Souths the game. Churchill would take no part in Souths' 1955 finals campaign.

Teams

Ladder

Finals

Grand Final

After their incredible nine game end-of-season run and having come from behind in both their semi-finals it looked unlikely that Souths’ fairytale would end happily on

day. They were without stars

and

Greg Hawick Greg Hawick (3 May 1932 – 6 February 2020) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. A fine utility back for the champion South Sydney Rabbitohs teams in the 1950s and a representative player in the Australian national side, he wa ...

. Newtown were the minor premiers and had eleven of their 1954 Grand Final side back for the 1955 decider, all fit, experienced and keen to avenge their 1954 loss. The 1955 Grand Final was very closely fought out. Souths trailed 4–8 at half-time and the Bluebags looked home with an 11–7 lead with ten minutes remaining. In the final moments captain-coach Jack Rayner managed to win a strike in the play-the-ball and toed it through. Newtown lock Peter Ryan fumbled and again Rayner got the boot to it. Souths halfback Col Donohoe won the race and grounded the ball next to the posts, enabling an easy conversion by Bernie Purcell for the Rabbitohs to take a one-point lead. A last gasp long-range penalty goal attempt from Bluebags Gordon Clifford was unsuccessful (it passed between the posts but fractionally under the crossbar) and Souths won by a single point. Despite being the best performed side for two successive seasons Newtown had nothing in the trophy cabinet to show for it. Souths had timed an extraordinary premiership run to absolute perfection. Jack Rayner's fifth grand final win that day stands along with Ken Kearney's five wins by 1960 as the most number of grand final successes by an individual as captain. As captain-coach for all of those wins Rayner was thus also the first man to coach a side to five grand final victories, a record subsequently matched by Jack Gibson and beaten in 2006 by Wayne Bennett. South Sydney 12 Tries: Moir, Donohoe. Goals: Purcell 3. Newtown 11 Try: Considine. Goals: Clifford 3. Field Goal: Clifford

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

Rugby League Tables – Season 1955
''The World of Rugby League''
1955 J J Giltinan Shield at rleague.com
{{National Rugby League seasons New South Wales Rugby League premiership Nswrfl Season