Roar contributor Tony has written – any may still be writing – an excellent series about grand finals and outstanding grand finalists.
The grand final was not something that was born with rugby league in 1908, and the early years of premiership deciders were a fascinating mess.
The first official grand final didn’t happen until 1930 and a grand final was not mandatory until 1954.
Did you know that, despite winning two premierships in the 1920s, the North Sydney Bears have never won a grand final. They only ever played in one and it’s a truly tragic tale. Sorry, Bears fans.
Rugby league’s early years were understandably tumultuous. It was a fledgling code in a fledgling federation. There was the Great War and its aftermath, the Spanish flu and a looming depression.
Life was hard and rugby league was complicated.
(Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)
Between 1908 and 1930, there were five different methods of determining the premiers, and the minor premier was usually rewarded significantly for their achievement.
On ten occasions there wasn’t, strictly speaking, a minor premier because the team that finished top of the league were automatically awarded the premiership. The other 13 seasons during this period saw multiple experiments.
In 1908 and 1909, semi-finals were played between the top four teams for a place in the final. But it’s possible a final would have been unnecessary in this system. Teams carried points accrued during the regular season into the playoffs and further points were earned by winning the semi-final and the final.
It’s not clear what would have happened in 1908 if, for example, Norths had beaten Easts in their playoff and qualified for the final against the eventual premiers, Souths. A final would have been pointless because even if Norths had won, Souths would have been premiers.
The 1909 season was set to end in a final between the two top teams, Souths and Balmain, but ended in acrimony and farce when Balmain refused to play.
The Tigers withdrew in a fit of pique due to the final being scheduled as a curtain raiser to a game between the Kangaroos and Wallabies. Souths won their second premiership through Balmain’s forfeit.
The flawed rationale underpinning rugby league’s early finals system did lead to an interesting outcome two years later.
There were no playoffs in 1911. The great Glebe team of Frank Burge and Chris McKivat won the minor premiership and automatically qualified for the final alongside second-placed Easts.
Easts upset Glebe 22-9 in the final but were deemed to have only drawn level on points with the Dirty Reds. A second final – the first grand final in all but name – was played a week later and won 11-8 by Dally Messenger’s Tricolours.
Dally Messenger. (Image: Public domain)
This system was ditched after 1911 but wasn’t lost entirely. Ten of the next 14 premierships were automatically awarded to the first-placed team.
Balmain’s five-premiership dynasty of 1915-20 involved only one final victory, in 1916. Three further finals between the top two teams were played from 1922 to ‘24.
By 1926, the league had grown weary of premierships determined through league position alone, as the outcome was often a foregone conclusion well before season’s end.
A four-team playoff system was re-introduced. There would be two semi-finals – usually first against third and second against fourth – to determine the finalists.
However, if the minor premier was beaten in either the semi-final or final, they retained the right to challenge the winner of the final in a grand final.
Wests were the first to take advantage of the challenger rule. The 1930 final was played between Wests and St George – two teams seeking their first premiership – and won 14-6 by the Dragons.
A week later, having invoked their right to challenge, Wests convincingly won the first grand final 27-2.
This system remained largely in place until 1954, when the challenger rule was replaced by the second chance for the team that lost the major semi-final. This principle remains in place today.
If the same system applied in 2021, Melbourne could have challenged Penrith for the premiership in a super grand final.
(Photo by Handout/NRL Photos via Getty Images )
I promise I’ll stop torturing Norths supporters shortly, but the finals of 1943 deserve a mention.
Frank Hyde’s Norths finished third overall and were drawn to play minor premiers Newtown in a semi-final at the SCG.
Norths beat Newtown 21-16 to qualify for the final, which they won 25-19 over St George.
Newtown retained their challenge and a fresh Bluebags outfit trounced Norths 34-7 to take the grand final and premiership. Poor Norths.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
And l was arrested in Victoria for crimes committed in South Australia because NSW said to Victoria that l had committed them in Victoria. 3 years before before l had ever been to NSW. --------- I told the Victorian Cops if l had been able to do that I'd be a Trillionaire for the ability to commit a crime NSW and whilst never having been there in the years l was accused of. Yet l told them that I'd done them in SA. They even had the dates and charges right. Inexplicably the accusation of having had it done in another state. ---------- So sitting there on the side of the road near Ouyen at 11pm l remembered that car parts were done by microfiche and l sussed that they might not of had computer records back in the 1970s. So l said to cops it maybe on microfiche and that maybe NSW was the repository for every other states crimes. ------- After nearly 2 hours they came back to me and agreed that l was right. My fault had been driving a Kombi on the less taken route of leaving Adelaide going via Pinaroo and Ouyen and joining the Sturt east of Balranald.
Redcap
Roar Guru
Thanks Tim - I see it's still in print. Larry Writer - that's an interesting case of nominative determinism there.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
I have a book about the miracle of 1956-66, "Never Before Never Again" by Larry Writer.
Redcap
Roar Guru
Ian Collis and Alan Whiticker did a book on the great 11-year stretch.
matth
Roar Guru
And there is a recent book on the St George history as well, not sure of the author. You could do something similar to what i did for QLD's Origin streak and countdown say the top 30 most important contributors to the streak? Otherwise you could just do a report on each finals series?
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
The first chapter of "The History of the North Sydney Bears" by Alan Whiticker and Greg Anderson is titled "The Bears are born". There are many Rugby clubs on the North Shore. Eastwood, Northern Suburbs, Gordon, West Harbour, Manly and Warringah.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
In the early days of the NSWRL, when Australia couldn't beat England, a player had to play for the club of the area in which he lived. Souths got a large area with many junior clubs while Easts and Norths got a much smaller area. Suburban teams like Glebe, Balmain and Newtown got smaller junior competitions. Wests always got the growing areas and would lose out to new clubs like St.George and Canterbury who entered in 1921 and 1935 forcing Wests further West.
Nico
Roar Rookie
There's a fair argument to be made for giving the City Cup a bit more weight for some years than it currently gets. The '21 and '37 editions, won by Souths and Newtown, both involved more matches than the season proper
Redcap
Roar Guru
Ian Heads has already done that. It weights half a tonne and has to lie horizontally on my bookshelf. I've been trying to think of a creative way of doing the St George dynasty of 1956-66. Yet to come up with anything. Your rugby league library article prompted some thoughts, but a lot of my favourite sports books are about cricket and football (Gideon Haigh, Phil Ball, Andrew Jennings).
matth
Roar Guru
And my Alphabet teams series was ripped off from a series in the cricket section
matth
Roar Guru
Feel free. A 10 part history of the NSWRL will take you a while :stoked:
Redcap
Roar Guru
Yeah, that's true mate. But the Shoremen became the Bears - same club, different name.
Thom Roker
Roar Guru
I had my figurative tongue planted firmly in my figurative cheek. Souths were dealt a great injustice by being thrown out of the comp.
Thom Roker
Roar Guru
I’m a Tigers fan from the 80s and my biases are clear cut. Terry Lamb should have been sent off for his dog hit on Ellery Hanley. Bill Harrigan’s cheating cost Balmain the 89 Grand Final. Wally Lewis was the greatest player of all time. Alan Jones was the worst Rugby League coach in the history of the game.
Redcap
Roar Guru
I might have to shamelessly rip off a few of your article concepts at some point. :happy:
matth
Roar Guru
Look up my profile. I did a 10 part series on the history of the BRL. Maybe your uncle got a mention
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Thanks matth. My knowledge of Rugby League history has a blue bias. I am an ignorant cockroach. I should read up on the BRL, my uncle played for Brothers after the war.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
No doubt having Ben Hunt tying up $1 mill a season on the Dragons' salary cap was an important contributing factor. But throw in Corey "MIA" Norman as a halves partner and you a Chernobyl combination as a halves pairing. Nothing will thrive in that environment for years to come. I have said it repeatedly, the Broncos lost the 2015 premiership when Ben Hunt and Anthony Milford tried to run the ball and play heads up expansive footy with only 1 and a half mins left on the clock. That double play that Kyle Feldt did on Hunt and Milford stealing the ball turned the game. All the Broncos halves had to do was to run down the clock and kick for field position and the premiership was theirs. All Cody Walker needed to do was throw a short pass to Dane Gagai who was running into a yawning gap with AJ in support and Souths 22nd premiership was in the bag. That and Reynolds' dodgy groin that had him miss a late sideline conversion from his favourite side of the field. The Bunnies and the Broncos can file those games under the "If Only" column.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
The split relevant to this group was in 1895 in England. The splitters figured that if they were going to charge spectators to watch they should make the game better to watch. They reduced the number of players in the scrum and did away with rucks and mauls. Running rugby rather than rucking rugby.
matth
Roar Guru
All true. We were a Ben Hunt dropped ball away from the 2015 premiership, which might explain the Dragons current slump :stoked: