| 1921 New South Wales Rugby Football League | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 9 |
| Premiers |  North Sydney (1st title) |
| Minor premiers | North Sydney (1st title) |
| Matches played | 36 |
| Points scored | 1086 |
| Top points scorer |  Rex Norman (75) |
| Wooden spoon | University (1st spoon) |
| Top try-scorer | Gordon Wright (11) |
The1921New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the fourteenth season of Australia’s firstrugby league football club competition which was based inSydney. Nine teams from across the city contested the season, with North Sydney being crowned premiers by virtue of finishing the season on top of the League.[1] The 1921 season also saw theSt George club enter the competition, replacing the Annandale club, who after eleven seasons, exited the League.
Because the1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain departed in mid-July only one series of nine rounds was played, with the second series being devoted to the City Cup. The premiership was decided with no finals on a first-past-the-post basis.
Premiers North Sydney became the second team to go through a season undefeated - seven wins and an 8-8 draw with Easts in round 5. Their brilliant performance earned them their maiden premiership.
University became the third team to havegone through a season winless, as Annandale had done the previous season and in 1918. University’s season yielded eight losses from eight starts, conceding 295 points at an average of 36.88 per match.
The season saw an experiment with referees instead of halfbacks feedingthe scrum. Although the experiment was very quickly viewed a dismal failure and abandoned, the amendment was sometimes advocated in later years after scrums became largely uncontested.[2]
With the addition of St George in place of the recently departed Annandale club, the number of teams in the League remained at nine.[3]
Balmain Ground:Birchgrove Oval Captain-Coach:Charles Fraser | Eastern Suburbs Ground:Sydney Cricket Ground Captain-Coach:Sandy Pearce Captain:Harry Caples | Glebe Ground:Wentworth Park Captain:Frank Burge |
Newtown Ground: Marrickville Oval Captain:Alex Bolewski | North Sydney Ground:North Sydney Oval Coach:Chris McKivat Captain:Harold Horder/Duncan Thompson | St. George Ground:Hurstville Oval Captain-CoachHerb Gilbert |
South Sydney Ground:Sydney Sports Ground Coach:Howard Hallett Captains:Arthur Oxford, Ted McGrath | University Coach:Bill Kelly Captain: Alan McLeod | Western Suburbs Ground:Pratten Park Captain-Coach:Viv Farnsworth |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Sydney | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 172 | 82 | +90 | 17 |
| 2 | Eastern Suburbs | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 187 | 67 | +120 | 15 |
| 3 |  Glebe | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 115 | 71 | +44 | 14 |
| 4 |  Balmain | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 135 | 71 | +64 | 12 |
| 5 |  South Sydney | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 141 | 104 | +37 | 10 |
| 6 |  Newtown | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 77 | 117 | -40 | 8 |
| 7 |  St George | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 87 | 124 | -37 | 6 |
| 8 |  Western Suburbs | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 90 | 155 | -65 | 6 |
| 9 |  Sydney University | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 82 | 295 | -213 | 2 |