New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1970
Encyclopedia
The 1970 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership
was the sixty-third season of Sydney
's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six foundation clubs and another six admitted post 1908, competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season which culminated in a grand final
match for the WD & HO Wills Cup between the Manly-Warringah and South Sydney clubs.
The 1970 season's Rothmans Medal
list was Eastern Suburbs
' halfback Kevin Junee
. Rugby League Week
awarded their player of the year award to Cronulla-Sutherland's halfback Tommy Bishop
.
Having lost the previous Grand Final to the Balmain Tigers
, Souths were desperate to win this year. After four minutes the Rabbitohs had scored. Approximately five minutes later Souths captain John Sattler collapsed, having been punched in an off-the-ball incident by Manly forward John Bucknall. He suffered a double fracture to his jaw but pleaded to team mate Mike Cleary, "Hold me up so they don't know I'm hurt". He was helped up and continued to play in the game. At half-time Souths were leading 12-6 when his fellow team mates learnt about his injury.
During the interval Sattler refused treatment and insisted he continue playing. He also told the side, "the next bloke who tries to cut me out of the play is in trouble", to prevent his team mates trying to protect him from further injury. The Souths forward pack returned to the fray and completely dominated the play with their backline hardly called upon. Bucknall had been replaced by Alan Thompson in the 35th minute after sustained punitive attention from the Rabbitohs pack saw him suffer a shoulder injury in a heavy tackle.
Souths' halfback Bob Grant opened the scoring in the fourth minute crossing untouched while his opposite number Eddie Whiley was off the field having an injury treated. Rabbitohs winger Ray Branighan also crossed untouched six minutes from full-time. By game's end South Sydney had scored 3 tries to nil in a 23-12 victory. Sattler later went to hospital to receive treatment but only after receiving the J. J. Giltinan Shield and making an acceptance speech.
Eric Simms' record of four field-goals that day stands as the most ever kicked in a Grand Final.
South Sydney 23 (Tries: Grant 2, R Branighan. Goals: Simms 3. Fld Goals: Simms 4)
defeated
Manly-Warringah 12 (Goals: Batty 4. Fld Goals: Fulton 2)
New South Wales Rugby League premiership
The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League from 1908 until 1994, the premiership was the state's and later the country's elite rugby league competition...
was the sixty-third season of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six foundation clubs and another six admitted post 1908, competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season which culminated in a grand final
Grand Final
Grand Final is a predominantly Australian sport term used to describe a match that decides a league champion.It originated in Victoria and South Australia and has become specifically significant Australian culture...
match for the WD & HO Wills Cup between the Manly-Warringah and South Sydney clubs.
Season summary
Following the previous season's "lay-down" or "stop-start" grand final, rugby league's rules were changed for this season so that rather than stopping the game to call a doctor onto the field when a player goes down injured, the ball is given to a team-mate to play so that no advantage can be gained from feigning injury. Head-high tackles were also outlawed at the commencement of the 1970 season. Each side met all others twice in twenty-two regular season rounds before the top four finishers, Souths, Manly, St. George and Canterbury, fought out four finals for a place in the grand final.The 1970 season's Rothmans Medal
Rothmans Medal
The Rothmans Medal was the premier individual award in both the New South Wales Rugby League and Brisbane Rugby League competitions, and later in the Australian Rugby League, which was given to the player voted by referees as the best and fairest in those competitions for that year.The award was...
list was Eastern Suburbs
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...
' halfback Kevin Junee
Kevin Junee
Kevin Junee is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1960s and 70s. An Australian international and New South Wales interstate representative back, he played club football in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership for the Eastern Suburbs and Manly-Warringah clubs...
. Rugby League Week
Rugby League Week
Rugby League Week is the second highest selling Australian rugby league magazine, behind major competitor Big League...
awarded their player of the year award to Cronulla-Sutherland's halfback Tommy Bishop
Tommy Bishop
Tommy Bishop is an English former rugby league footballer and coach of the 1960s and 70s. He played for St. Helens in the English Rugby Football League Championship and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia...
.
Teams
 Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers are a rugby league football club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in the history of the premiership, with eleven titles... |
 |
 |
 Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League... |
 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia... |
 Newtown Jets The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSWRL Premier League competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season... |
 North Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. They currently compete in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 92 years of top-grade competition. The Bears are based on... |
 Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, with their First Grade side playing their first season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League... Captain-coach: Ron Lynch Ron Lynch (rugby league) Ron Lynch is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1960s and 70s. An Australian international and New South Wales interstate representative forward, he played club football in NSW for Forbes, Parramatta and Penrith.... |
 Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, the top rugby league football competition in Australasia. For the 2012 NRL season they will be coached by Ivan... |
 South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital... |
 St. George Dragons The St George Dragons was an Australian Rugby league football club in St George, Sydney, New South Wales that played in Australia's top-level Rugby league competition from New South Wales Rugby Football League in 1921 until 1998; in 1999 they formed a joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers,... |
 Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly referred to, were one of the nine foundation clubs of the first New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia... |
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  South SydneySouth Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital... |
22 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 479 | 273 | 35 |
| 2 | Manly-Warringah Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia... |
22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 422 | 285 | 33 |
| 3 |  St. GeorgeSt. George Dragons The St George Dragons was an Australian Rugby league football club in St George, Sydney, New South Wales that played in Australia's top-level Rugby league competition from New South Wales Rugby Football League in 1921 until 1998; in 1999 they formed a joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers,... |
22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 408 | 329 | 30 |
| 4 |  Canterbury-BankstownCanterbury Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, as well as New South Wales Rugby League junior competitions... |
22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 308 | 269 | 28 |
| 5 |  Eastern SuburbsSydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League... |
22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 386 | 320 | 26 |
| 6 |  BalmainBalmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers are a rugby league football club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in the history of the premiership, with eleven titles... |
22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 380 | 347 | 25 |
| 7 |  Cronulla-SutherlandCronulla Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are Australian professional Rugby league team based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales... |
22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 374 | 335 | 18 |
| 8 |  NewtownNewtown Jets The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSWRL Premier League competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season... |
22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 345 | 409 | |
| 18 | ||||||||
| 9 |  North SydneyNorth Sydney Bears The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. They currently compete in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 92 years of top-grade competition. The Bears are based on... |
22 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 332 | 435 | |
| 15 | ||||||||
| 10 | Penrith Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, the top rugby league football competition in Australasia. For the 2012 NRL season they will be coached by Ivan... |
22 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 292 | 406 | |
| 15 | ||||||||
| 11 |  Western SuburbsWestern Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly referred to, were one of the nine foundation clubs of the first New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia... |
22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 329 | 403 | |
| 13 | ||||||||
| 12 |  ParramattaParramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, with their First Grade side playing their first season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League... |
22 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 240 | 484 | |
| 8 | ||||||||
Finals
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Semi Finals | ||||||||
| St. George St. George Dragons The St George Dragons was an Australian Rugby league football club in St George, Sydney, New South Wales that played in Australia's top-level Rugby league competition from New South Wales Rugby Football League in 1921 until 1998; in 1999 they formed a joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers,... |
12 - 7 | Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, as well as New South Wales Rugby League junior competitions... |
29 August 1970 | Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian... |
Keith Page | 40,083 | ||
| South Sydney South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital... |
22 - 15 | Manly-Warringah Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia... |
5 September 1970 | Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian... |
Don Lancashire | 40,211 | ||
| Preliminary Final | ||||||||
| Manly-Warringah Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia... |
15 - 6 | St. George St. George Dragons The St George Dragons was an Australian Rugby league football club in St George, Sydney, New South Wales that played in Australia's top-level Rugby league competition from New South Wales Rugby Football League in 1921 until 1998; in 1999 they formed a joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers,... |
12 September 1970 | Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian... |
Don Lancashire | 43,147 | ||
| Grand Final | ||||||||
| South Sydney South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital... |
23 - 12 | Manly-Warringah Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia... |
19 September 1970 | Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian... |
Don Lancashire | 53,241 | ||
Grand Final
| Manly-Warringah | Position | South Sydney |
|---|---|---|
| Bob Batty | FB | Eric Simms |
| Dereck Moritz | WG | Michael Cleary |
| Bob Fulton Bob Fulton Robert "Bob" Fulton AM is an Australian rugby league football identity. Fulton played, coached, selected for and has commentated on the game with great success at the highest levels and has been named amongst Australia's greatest rugby league players of the 20th century.As a player Fulton won... |
CE | Paul Sait Paul Sait Paul Sait was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. A versatile Centre or running forward of the 1970s for the South Sydney Rabbitohs... |
| Alex Tennant | CE | Arthur Branighan |
| John McDonald John McDonald (rugby league) John McDonald is an Australian former rugby league footballer, coach and administrator. A tall three-quarter, he played club football in Queensland for Toowoomba, representing his home state 10 times and also gaining selection for the Australian test team. In 1969 McDonald moved south, playing in... (c) |
WG | Ray Branighan Ray Branighan Ray Branighan is an Australian former rugby league player, a star winger and Centre of the 1970s for the South Sydney Rabbitohs , the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and Australian national representative side.-Souths club career:... |
| Ian Martin | FE | Denis Pittard Denis Pittard Denis Pittard was an Australian rugby league player, a fine attacking five-eighth of the 1960s and 1970s for the Western Suburbs Magpies, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Parramatta Eels as well as the Australian national representative side.-Wests club career:... |
| Ed Whiley | HB | Bob Grant Bob Grant (rugby league) Bob Grant is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1960s and 70s. A New South Wales interstate and Australian international representative halfback, he played most of his club football for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, with whom he won three premierships.-Club career:He featured in the... |
| Bill Hamilton | PR | John Sattler John Sattler John William Sattler is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1960s and '70s. He was a rugged Prop forward who led his club, South Sydney to four premiership victories between 1967 and 1971 and who played four tests for Australia – three as the national captain... (c) |
| Fred Jones Fred Jones (rugby league) Fred Jones is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1960s and 70s. An Australian international and New South Wales interstate representative hooker, he played his club football for Manly-Warringah, with whom he won the 1972 and 1973 NSWRFL Premierships.A product of the South Coast,... |
HK | Elwyn Walters Elwyn Walters Elwyn Walters was an Australian rugby league player for the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Eastern Suburbs clubs and for the Australian national side.Walters came to South Sydney in the mid-1960s from the Brisbane Norths club... |
| John Bucknall | PR | John O'Neill |
| Lindsay Drake | SR | Bob McCarthy Bob McCarthy Bob McCarthy MBE is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, New South Wales and for the Australian national side... |
| John Morgan | SR | Gary Stevens Gary Stevens (rugby league) Gary Stevens is an Australian former rugby league player, a hard tackling second-row forward of the 1960s and 1970s for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs and Australian national representative side. He is the grandson of Souths club great Arthur Oxford.-Club... |
| Ron Cameron | LK | Ron Coote Ron Coote Ron Coote AM is an Australian former representative rugby league player whose club career was played with the South Sydney and Eastern Suburbs, both of whom he won premierships with. He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century... |
| Allan Thomson | Reserve | Bob Honan Bob Honan Robert Emmett Honan is an Australian former rugby league and rugby union player - a dual code rugby international.He represented the Wallabies in two Tests on the 1964 tour of New Zealand and played in the centres... |
| Ron Willey Ron Willey Ron Willey was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He was a representative for the Australian national side. Post-playing, Willey had a long and successful first grade and State representative coaching career.-Club career:... |
Coach | Clive Churchill Clive Churchill Clive Bernard Churchill AM was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach of the mid-20th century. An Australian international and New South Wales and Queensland interstate representative fullback, he played the majority of his club football with and later coached the South Sydney Rabbitohs... |
Having lost the previous Grand Final to the Balmain Tigers
Balmain Tigers
The Balmain Tigers are a rugby league football club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in the history of the premiership, with eleven titles...
, Souths were desperate to win this year. After four minutes the Rabbitohs had scored. Approximately five minutes later Souths captain John Sattler collapsed, having been punched in an off-the-ball incident by Manly forward John Bucknall. He suffered a double fracture to his jaw but pleaded to team mate Mike Cleary, "Hold me up so they don't know I'm hurt". He was helped up and continued to play in the game. At half-time Souths were leading 12-6 when his fellow team mates learnt about his injury.
During the interval Sattler refused treatment and insisted he continue playing. He also told the side, "the next bloke who tries to cut me out of the play is in trouble", to prevent his team mates trying to protect him from further injury. The Souths forward pack returned to the fray and completely dominated the play with their backline hardly called upon. Bucknall had been replaced by Alan Thompson in the 35th minute after sustained punitive attention from the Rabbitohs pack saw him suffer a shoulder injury in a heavy tackle.
Souths' halfback Bob Grant opened the scoring in the fourth minute crossing untouched while his opposite number Eddie Whiley was off the field having an injury treated. Rabbitohs winger Ray Branighan also crossed untouched six minutes from full-time. By game's end South Sydney had scored 3 tries to nil in a 23-12 victory. Sattler later went to hospital to receive treatment but only after receiving the J. J. Giltinan Shield and making an acceptance speech.
Eric Simms' record of four field-goals that day stands as the most ever kicked in a Grand Final.
South Sydney 23 (Tries: Grant 2, R Branighan. Goals: Simms 3. Fld Goals: Simms 4)
defeated
Manly-Warringah 12 (Goals: Batty 4. Fld Goals: Fulton 2)