| 1929 New South Wales Rugby Football League | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 9 |
| Premiers |  South Sydney (9th title) |
| Minor premiers | South Sydney (8th title) |
| Matches played | 75 |
| Points scored | 1942 |
| Top points scorer(s) |  Jim Craig (86) |
| Wooden spoon | University (4th spoon) |
| Top try-scorer(s) | Alan Brady (11) |
The1929New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 22nd season ofSydney's top-levelrugby league football competition, Australia's first. During the season, which lasted from April until September, nine teams from across Sydney contested the premiership, culminating in aSouth Sydney's win overNewtown in the final.[1]
Half of the 1929 season was played without several of the League's top players who were selected to embark on the1929–30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain.South Sydney won their ninth premiership and fifth in succession, defeatingNewtown in the Final.
At the end of 1929Glebe exited the League[2] because of a lack of a home ground, poor results and primarily because the area they represented was no longer big enough to support a club.
Balmain Ground:Birchgrove Oval Captain-Coach:Reg Latta | Eastern Suburbs Ground:RAS Showground Coach: George Boddington Captain:Arthur Oxford | Glebe Ground:Wentworth Park Coach:Chris McKivat Captain: Jack McMahon |
Newtown Ground: Marrickville Oval Coach:Jack Chaseling[3] Captain(s):Tom Ellis,Fred Lind | North Sydney Ground:North Sydney Oval Coach: Leo O'Connor Captain: Les Carroll | St. George Ground:Earl Park Coach:Frank Burge Captain:Arthur Justice |
South Sydney Ground:Sydney Sports Ground Coach:Charlie Lynch Captain:Alf Blair | University Coach:Billy Kelly Captain:Sammy Ogg | Western Suburbs Ground:Pratten Park Captain-Coach:Jim Craig |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Sydney | 16 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 296 | 104 | +192 | 31 |
| 2 |  St. George | 16 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 180 | 147 | +33 | 27 |
| 3 | Western Suburbs | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 258 | 153 | +105 | 26 |
| 4 |  Newtown | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 188 | 169 | +19 | 24 |
| 5 |  North Sydney | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 194 | 211 | -17 | 19 |
| 6 |  Balmain | 16 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 213 | 259 | -46 | 17 |
| 7 |  Eastern Suburbs | 16 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 203 | 269 | -66 | 14 |
| 8 |  Glebe | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 166 | 261 | -95 | 13 |
| 9 |  Sydney University | 16 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 157 | 282 | -125 | 9 |
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd | |||||
| Minor Semi-Final | ||||||||
| Newtown | 8–7 | St. George | 7 September 1929 | Earl Park | 7,000 | |||
| Major Semi-Final | ||||||||
| South Sydney | 22–10 | Western Suburbs | 7 September 1929 | Sydney Sports Ground | Lal Deane | 14,774 | ||
| Final | ||||||||
| South Sydney | 30–10 | Newtown | 14 September 1929 | Sydney Sports Ground | Lal Deane | 16,360 | ||
| South Sydney | Position | Newtown |
|---|---|---|
| 47.Albert Spillane | FB | 20.Jim Gilmour |
| 9.Benny Wearing | WG | 25.George Casey |
| 15.Oscar Quinlivan | CE | 10.Carl Mork |
| 34.Harry Eyres | CE | 18.Charlie Hill |
| 35.Reg Williams | WG | 9.Jack Kessey (c) |
| 28.Jack Jones | FE | 23.Vince Hughes |
| 11.Alf Blair (c) | HB | 7.Hans Mork |
| PR | 16.Charlie Pendergast | |
| 5.Alf O'Connor | HK | 8.Tom Leamy |
| 24.Carl Eggen | PR | 32.Ben Edwards |
| 2.Alf Binder | SR | 3.Dave Waters |
| 7.David Watson | SR | 51.Jack Davies |
| 8.Jack Why | LK | 5. T Walsh |
| Charlie Lynch | Coach |
South Sydney took their fifth successive title outgunning Newtown 30–10 after leading 18–2 at half-time.
The Whiticker/Collis reference quotes Sydney'sLabor Daily[4] in praise of Souths' win:"Newtown faced inevitable defeat, and while the margin was large, it hardly demonstrated South Sydney's superiority. They were on top from the start and gave a scintillating display both in combination and individual effort. Alf Blair played probably the greatest game in his long career".
Brothers Alf and Frank O'Connor both scored tries for the winning Rabbitohs. The next time two brothers would each score a try in a premiership decider was whenBrett andGlenn Stewart scored forManly-Warringah in their2011 NRL Grand Final win overNew Zealand.
South Sydney 30 (Tries: Alf Blair 3, Reg Williams 3, Frank O'Connor, Alf O'Connor. Goals: Alf Blair 2, Reg Williams)
defeated
Newtown 10 (Tries: Ben Edwards 2. Goals: George Casey 2)
