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1910 NSWRFL season

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1910 NSWRFL season
LeagueNew South Wales Rugby Football League
DurationApril 30 to September 17
Teams8
Matches played57
Points scored1576
Premiers Newtown[1] (1st title)
Minor Premiers Newtown
Top point-scorer(s) Dally Messenger (71)
Top try-scorer(s) Arthur McCabe (18)
Second Grade
Number of teams12
Premiers Eastern Suburbs
Runners-up Newtown
Third Grade
Number of teams16
PremiersSydney
Runners-upRozelle

The 1910 NSWRFL season was the third season of the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership, Sydney’s top-level rugby league club competition, Australia’s first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season for the premiership and the Royal Agricultural Society Challenge Shield. During the season, many of the league’s top players took part in matches of the 1910 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia.

Season summary

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On 23 July 1910 at the Sydney Showground the South Sydney club defeated Western Suburbs 67–0. This still stands as Souths’ highest ever score and biggest winning margin in a premiership game.[2] It was not beaten in the NSWRFL until 11 May 1935 when St. George defeated Canterbury-Bankstown 91–6, which remains the record score and margin as of 2022.[3]

During the season Annandale’s Ray, Roy, Rex and Bernard Norman became the first set of four brothers to play in the same NSWRFL side.[4]

The League's takings for all matches this year amounted to £13,512, an increase of over £6,000 on the previous season.[5] 1910 was the first season where the NSFWRFL had more people in attendance than Rugby Union.[6]

Teams

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With the loss of Cumberland at the end of the 1908 season, the league remained with eight teams; a preferable outcome since no byes would be needed. However by the end of the 1909 season, interest for a local Newcastle competition as well as the difficulties of longer travel for the Newcastle side saw it pull out of the premiership. As a result, a team from Annandale joined the premiership to leave the competition with eight teams.[7] Also this season St. Luke's Park became the Western Suburbs club's home ground.

Annandale
1st season
Ground: Wentworth Park
Coach:
Captain: George Wilcox
Balmain
3rd season
Ground: Birchgrove Park
Coach: Robert Graves
Captain: Arthur Halloway
Eastern Suburbs
3rd season
Ground: RAS Showground
Captain- Coach: Dally Messenger
Glebe
3rd season
Ground: Wentworth Park
Coach:Chris McKivat
Captain: Alex Burdon
Newtown
3rd season
Ground: Erskineville Metters Park
Captain-Coach: Charles 'Boxer' Russell
North Sydney
3rd season
Ground: North Sydney Oval
Coach:
Captain: Tedda Courtney
South Sydney
3rd season
Ground: RAS Showground
Captain-Coach: Arthur Hennessy
Western Suburbs
3rd season
Ground: St. Luke's Park
Coach:
Captain: Percy Bolt

Ladder

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Newtown finished on top of the League's ladder at the end of the regular season.

The geographical locations of the teams that contested the 1910 premiership across Sydney.
Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Newtown 14 11 1 2 260 92 +168 23
2 South Sydney 14 11 0 3 326 109 +217 22
3 Eastern Suburbs 14 9 2 3 248 116 +132 20
4 Balmain 14 8 0 6 153 190 -37 16
5 Glebe 14 6 0 8 175 194 -19 12
6 Annandale 14 5 1 8 145 200 -55 11
7 North Sydney 14 3 0 11 146 281 -135 6
8 Western Suburbs 14 1 0 13 115 386 -271 2

Ladder progression

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  • Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 2.
  • Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
  • Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
1 Newtown 2 4 6 8 8 10 12 14 15 15 17 19 21 23
2 South Sydney 2 4 6 6 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 18 20 22
3 Eastern Suburbs 2 4 4 6 8 8 8 10 11 12 14 16 18 20
4 Balmain 0 2 4 6 6 8 8 10 12 14 14 16 16 16
5 Glebe 0 0 2 4 6 6 8 8 8 10 12 12 12 12
6 Annandale 0 0 0 0 2 4 4 4 6 7 7 9 11 11
7 North Sydney 2 2 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 6
8 Western Suburbs 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2


Final

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Newtown Position South Sydney
William "Webby" Neill FB Frank Twiss
Charles Russell (Ca./Co.) WG Tommy Anderson
Viv Farnsworth CE Howard Hallett
Albert Hawkes CE Jack Leveson
Fred Munnery WG Arthur Conlin
Bill Farnsworth FE Arthur McCabe
William Hayes HB Arthur Butler
James Mogan PR Bill Spence
John Chevall HK Jim "Barra" Davis
David Grundie PR Ernie Hucker
Jack Barnett SR Harry Butler
Patrick McCue SR Johnny Rosewell
Joe Murray LK Arthur Hennessy (Ca./Co.)

Unlike the previous two seasons where a play-off system was used to decide the premier, there was only one game played in 1910. The top two teams, Newtown and South Sydney, played off in a memorable match in front of fifteen or sixteen thousand[8] people at the Sydney Showground on 17 September 1910. Leading 4-2 with reportedly only seconds to go, South Sydney seemed set to take out their third straight premiership. However, after Souths player Howard Hallett was forced to kick the ball clear from his own line, Newtown centre Albert Hawkes caught the ball on the full just metres away from halfway and the touch line. The rules at the time allowed Hawkes to claim a "fair mark" and Newtown to have a shot at goal. Newtown captain Charles "Boxer" Russell was successful in kicking the goal from a difficult position, allowing Newtown to tie the game and win the competition as they had been minor premiers.[9]

Newtown 4 (Goals: Charles Russell 2)

drew with

South Sydney Rabbitohs 4 (Goals: Jim Davis 2)

References

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  1. ^ "Premiership Roll of Honour". rl1908.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011.
  2. ^ "Club Records". rabbitohs.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012.
  3. ^ Rugby League Tables – Game Records; AFL Tables
  4. ^ "Rugby league history as FOUR English brothers star for Russell Crowe's side". Mirror. 30 August 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  5. ^ "A Flourishing League". Grey River Argus. New Zealand. 1911-03-21. p. 5. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
  6. ^ Titus O'Reily (20 August 2018). A Thoroughly Unhelpful History of Australian Sport. Penguin Books. p. 210. ISBN 9780143793519.
  7. ^ "History of the Premiership". centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au. Australian Rugby League. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  8. ^ "Football". The Sydney Mail. 1910-09-21. p. 54. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  9. ^ "League football". Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 69. New Zealand. 1910-09-19. p. 4. Retrieved 2009-12-03.

Collis, Ian; Whiticker, Alan (2007). 100 Years of Rugby League. Vol. 1. Chatswood, NSW: New Holland. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-1-74110-463-9.

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