New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1960
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| New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1960 | |
 |
|
| Teams | 10 |
| Premiers |  St. George (7th title) |
| Minor premiers | St. George (7th title) |
| Matches played | 98 |
| Points scored | 3084 (average 31.469 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,032,655 (average 10,537 per match) |
| Top points scorer(s) | Brian Graham (193 points) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Reg Gasnier (25 tries) |
The 1960 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the fifty-third season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Ten teams from across Sydney contested during the season.
Contents |
[edit] Teams
 Balmain |
 Canterbury |
 Eastern Suburbs |
 Manly |
 Newtown |
 North Sydney |
 Parramatta |
 South Sydney |
 St. George |
 Western Suburbs |
[edit] Season summary
With four teams finishing on equal second place at the end of the regular season, and no weight given to the "for" and "against" points differential, minor premiers St. George watched Western Suburbs, Eastern Suburbs, Balmain and Canterbury-Bankstown go through a four-match series of play offs before the real finals commenced.
[edit] Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. George |
18 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 456 | 176 | +280 | 28 |
| 2 |  Western Suburbs |
18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 350 | 298 | +52 | 22 |
| 3 |  Eastern Suburbs |
18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 264 | 221 | +43 | 22 |
| 4 |  Balmain |
18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 286 | 254 | +32 | 22 |
| 5 |  Canterbury-Bankstown |
18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 249 | 285 | -36 | 22 |
| 6 |  Manly-Warringah |
18 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 231 | 217 | +14 | 20 |
| 7 |  North Sydney |
18 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 317 | 357 | -40 | 16 |
| 8 |  South Sydney |
18 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 211 | 256 | -45 | 12 |
| 9 |  Newtown |
18 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 251 | 313 | -62 | 12 |
| 10 |  Parramatta |
18 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 215 | 453 | -238 | 4 |
[edit] Records set in 1960
- Ken Kearney as the oldest player to appear in a grand final (36 years 123 days).
- Ken Kearney equalled Jack Rayner's record of five grand finals won as captain.
[edit] Finals
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Playoffs | ||||||||
 Western Suburbs |
28-10 |  Balmain |
9 August 1960 | Sydney Sports Ground | 21,308 | |||
 Eastern Suburbs |
20-11 |  Canterbury-Bankstown |
9 August 1960 | Sydney Sports Ground | 21,308 | |||
| Western Suburbs |
18-7 | Eastern Suburbs |
13 August 1960 | Sydney Cricket Ground | 21,855 | |||
| Balmain |
7-18 | Canterbury-Bankstown |
14 August 1960 | Sydney Sports Ground | 16,507 | |||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
 St. George |
31-7 | Western Suburbs |
20 August 1960 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Col Pearce | 38,407 | ||
| Eastern Suburbs |
16-9 | Canterbury-Bankstown |
21 August 1960 | Sydney Sports Ground | Darcy Lawler | 18,455 | ||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Western Suburbs |
15-20 | Eastern Suburbs |
27 August 1960 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Darcy Lawler | 29,393 | ||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| St. George |
31-6 | Eastern Suburbs |
3 September 1960 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Darcy Lawler | 53,156 | ||
[edit] Grand Final
| St. George | Position | Eastern Suburbs |
|---|---|---|
| Brian Graham | FB | John Andrew |
| Johnny King | WG | Boyce Beeton |
| John Stathers | CE | Bill Roney |
| Reg Gasnier | CE | Doug Ricketson |
| Dave Brown | WG | Bob Landers |
| Brian Clay | FE | Billy McNamara |
| Bob Bugden | HB | Bruce Rainier |
| Kevin Ryan | PR | Bob McDonagh |
| Ken Kearney (c) | HK | Ken Ashcroft |
| Billy Wilson | PR | Jack Gibson (c) |
| Monty Porter | SR | Brian Wright |
| Norm Provan | SR | Bob Heffernan |
| Johnny Raper | LK | Dick See |
| Ken Kearney | Coach | Dick Dunn |
St. George had lost to Eastern Suburbs late in the regular season and expected them to be a finals force. But due to the playoffs for the minor premiership placements the Roosters were playing their sixth match in four weeks, including an extra-time tussle in the minor semi against Canterbury.
For the first grand final in four the defending premiers left their strongarm tactics in the locker room and let their skilled backline excel. Five minutes into the game Bob Bugden toed a loose ball through and fell on it to open the scoring. At 23 minutes the second try was set up by Brian Clay who beat his opposite Billy McNamara and passed to Reg Gasnier who dazzled the opposition with a change of pace that left them flatfooted.
Prop Kevin Ryan may have been in his rookie St. George season but he had already represented for Australia at rugby union and for Queensland in boxing. He had fitted into the tough St. George pack with ease and featured on Grand Final day in setting up firstly fellow newcomer Johnny King for a first half try, then Gasnier after the break for his second before being sent off at the 60 minute mark, along with Easts forward Brian Wright, for fighting.
Norm Provan and Dave Brown also scored in the second half and two minutes before the bell an interplay between Provan and Brian Graham resulted in King getting his second try. Only a few weeks earlier Johnny King had been the third grade fullback, having been declined a contract offer early in the season from South Sydney.
Although they were on the wrong side of a 17-6 penalty caning, St. George scored seven tries to nil, walloping Eastern Suburbs 31-6.
Ken Kearney's fifth grand final win that day stands alongside Jack Rayner's five 1950s wins as the South Sydney Rabbitohs' captain-coach as the most number of grand final successes as captain.
St. George 31 (Tries: Gasnier 2, King 2, Bugden, Brown, Provan. Goals: Graham 5.)
Eastern Suburbs 6 (Goals: Landers 3.)
[edit] References
- Rugby League Tables - Season 1960 The World of Rugby League
- Writer, Larry (1995) Never Before, Never Again, Pan MacMillan, Sydney
