1964 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams10
Premiers St. George (11th title)
Minor premiers St. George (10th title)
Matches played94
Points scored2736
Attendance1197569
Top points scorer(s) Fred Griffiths (160)
Top try-scorer(s) Reg Gasnier (18)

The 1964 NSWRFL season was the fifty-seventh season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, the New South Wales Rugby Football League Premiership, Australia's first. Ten clubs from across the city competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield and the WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between St. George and Balmain.

Teams

Balmain

57th season
Ground: Leichhardt Oval
Coach: Harry Bath
Captain: Keith Barnes

Canterbury-Bankstown

30th season
Ground: Belmore Oval
Coach: Clive Churchill
Captain: Les Johns

Eastern Suburbs

57th season
Ground: Sydney Sports Ground
Captain-Coach: Nat Silcock Jr.[1]

Manly-Warringah

18th season
Ground: Brookvale Oval
Coach: Tony Paskins
Captain: Barry O'Connell , Tony Paskins

Newtown

57th season
Ground: Henson Park
Coach: Allan Ellis
Captain: Tony Brown

North Sydney

57th season
Ground: North Sydney Oval
Captain-Coach: Fred Griffiths

Parramatta

18th season
Ground: Cumberland Oval
Coach: Ken Kearney
Captain: Ron Lynch

South Sydney

57th season
Ground: Redfern Oval
Coach: Bernie Purcell
Captains: Darrel Chapman , Jim Lisle

St. George

44th season
Ground: Kogarah Jubilee Oval
Captain-coach: Norm Provan

Western Suburbs

57th season
Ground: Pratten Park
Coach: Jack Fitzgerald
Captain: Noel Kelly

Ladder

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 St. George 181503393154+23930
2 Parramatta 181404274188+8628
3 Balmain 181206247192+5524
4 North Sydney 181116334257+7723
5 South Sydney 181107304250+5422
6 Newtown 18909236268-3218
7 Western Suburbs 18819259274-1517
8 Manly-Warringah 185112229331-10211
9 Eastern Suburbs 182016190351-1614
10 Canterbury-Bankstown 181116168369-2013

Finals

Home Score Away Match information
Date and time Venue Referee Crowd
Semi-finals
Balmain 11–9 North Sydney 29 August 1964 Sydney Cricket Ground Jack Bradley 35,082
St. George 42–0 Parramatta 5 September 1964 Sydney Cricket Ground Col Pearce 33,659
Preliminary Final
Parramatta 7–16 Balmain 12 September 1964 Sydney Cricket Ground Col Pearce 35,389
Grand Final
St. George 11–6 Balmain 19 September 1964 Sydney Cricket Ground Col Pearce 61,369

Grand Final

St. George Position Balmain
  1. Graeme Langlands
FB
  1. Keith Barnes (c)
2. Johnny KingWG2. Dick Quinn
3. Reg GasnierCE3. Brian Dunlop
4. Billy SmithCE4. Robert Ridley
5. Eddie LumsdenWG5. Bob Mara
6. Brian ClayFE6. Jack Danzey
7. George EvansHB7. Billy Bischoff Jr.
13. Monty PorterPR13. Bob Boland
12. Peter ArmstrongHK12. Dick Wilson
11. Kevin RyanPR11. George Piper
10. Elton RasmussenSR10. Ron Clothier
9. Norm Provan (Ca./Co.)SR9. Peter Provan
8. Johnny RaperLK8. Dennis Tutty
CoachHarry Bath

St. George captain-coach Norm Provan was matching up against his younger brother (and former Dragon) Peter, who had moved to the Tigers in 1961.

The Tigers’ defence was strong throughout a dour first half and for the first time in nine grand finals the Dragons trailed at half-time (4–2) with Balmain in the lead after penalty goals from Keith "Golden Boots" Barnes.

The turning point of the match came five minutes into the second half. The Tigers were defending their own line with some desperate tackling when they received a relieving penalty from referee Pearce. Balmain's Bob Boland put in a big punt which at first looked like a good touch finder. To Balmain's horror, Graeme Langlands stretched and then caught the ball with his boots only an inch or two from the touchline. The champion fullback then raced cross-field towards the Balmain line and sent a cut-out pass to Billy Smith 25 yards out from the tryline. The centre made further inroads before channeling a pass to Johnny King who sped down the left wing for 20 yards to score a diving try.

Test winger Johnny King thus kept intact his grand final record with this being his fifth successive try in a decider.

Eighteen-year-old Dennis Tutty stood out for the Tigers, providing reliable cover defence that stopped the Dragons on numerous occasions. For St. George, Smith and Langlands had strong games with Langlands tallying 72 points in his last four games of the season. Brian Clay had by now reclaimed his five-eighth position from Bruce Pollard and excelled just as he had in his five previous Grand Final appearances.

St. George 11 (Tries: King. Goals: Langlands 4.)

Balmain 6 (Goals: Barnes 3.)

Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 18.

Season notes

  • The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs' wooden spoon season was their last until 2002, when they were sentenced to finish last that season as punishment due to gross salary cap breaches uncovered by the NRL in August that year. It wouldn't be until 2008 that they would again finish last as a result of poor on-field performances during the season.[2][3]

References

  1. "Nat Silcock". yesterdayshero.com.au. SmartPack International. Archived from the original on 8 September 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  2. Walton, Darren (17 August 2020). "Bulldogs coach needs beer after NRL loss". Seven News. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  3. "Bulldogs v Roosters: SBW's return". National Rugby League. 18 June 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
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