1966 NSWRFL season

The 1966 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 59th season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. 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 replay of the 1964 grand final between St. George and Balmain.

1966 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams10
Premiers St. George (13th title)
Minor premiers St. George (12th title)
Matches played95
Points scored2715
Attendance1293261
Top points scorer(s) Bob Lanigan (185)
Top try-scorer(s) Ken Irvine (13)

Season summary

1966 was the last season played under the unlimited tackle rule. Balmain, with their talented raw rookie recruit Arthur Beetson, appeared to be about to topple the Dragons from their long-held perch when the Tigers won eleven consecutive regular season games. However a late season slump saw them pegged back to the rest of the field and an eventual second place on the minor-premiership ladder behind the Dragons, who were being led by new captain-coach Ian Walsh.

Eastern Suburbs did not win a single match in 1966, continuing a losing streak that started in round 14, 1965 and which would run till round 2, 1967. This marked the second-most consecutive losses in NSWRFL premiership history at 25 behind University’s 42 in the middle 1930s. Their winless streak ran a total of 29 games between their 11–9 win over Canterbury in Round 12, 1965 and beating North Sydney 17–11 in Round 6 of 1967.

No team would finish a season on zero points again until the Melbourne Storm finished last in the 2010 season as punishment for gross salary cap breaches uncovered by the NRL in April that year.[1]

Teams

Balmain
59th season
Ground: Leichhardt Oval
Coach: Harry Bath
Captain: Keith Barnes
Canterbury-Bankstown
32nd season
Ground: Belmore Sports Ground
Captain-coach: Roger PearmanGeorge Taylforth
Eastern Suburbs
59th season
Ground: Sydney Sports Ground
Coach: Bert Holcroft
Captains: Ron Saddler / Ken Ashcroft
Manly-Warringah
20th season
Ground: Brookvale Oval
Coach: Wally O'Connell
Captains: Frank Stanton / Ken Day
Newtown
59th season
Ground: Henson Park
Coach: Dick Poole
Captain: Paul Quinn
North Sydney
59th season
Ground: North Sydney Oval
Coach: Fred Griffiths
Captain: Billy Wilson
Parramatta
20th season
Ground: Cumberland Oval
Captain-coach: Ken Thornett
South Sydney
59th season
Ground: Redfern Oval
Coach: Bernie Purcell
Captain(s): Jim Lisle / Bob Moses
St. George
46th season
Ground: Jubilee Oval
Captain-coach: Ian Walsh
Western Suburbs
59th season
Ground: Pratten Park
Captain-Coach: Noel Kelly

Ladder

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 St. George 181314331156+17527
2 Balmain 181206279203+7624
3 Manly-Warringah 181107348256+9222
4 Newtown 181008261249+1220
5 Western Suburbs 181008228241-1320
6 South Sydney 18909263228+3518
7 Parramatta 18828236232+418
8 Canterbury-Bankstown 188010244295-5116
9 North Sydney 187110282313-3115
10 Eastern Suburbs 180018147446-2990

Finals

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Crowd
Playoff
Newtown 20–5 Western Suburbs 23 August 1966 Sydney Sports Ground W.Kelly 10,724
Semi Finals
Manly-Warringah 10–9 Newtown 27 August 1966 Sydney Cricket Ground Col Pearce 31,803
St. George 10–2 Balmain 3 September 1966 Sydney Cricket Ground Col Pearce 46,531
Preliminary Final
Balmain 8–5 Manly-Warringah 10 September 1966 Sydney Cricket Ground Col Pearce 39,461
Grand Final
St. George 23–4 Balmain 18 September 1966 Sydney Cricket Ground Col Pearce 61,129

Grand Final

St. George Dragons Position Balmain Tigers
Graeme LanglandsFBKeith Barnes (c)
Johnny KingWGPaul Cross
Bruce PollardCEKevin Yow Yeh
Ken MaddisonCELaurie Moraschi
Eddie LumsdenWGBob Mara
Brian ClayFEPeter Jones
Billy SmithHBDave Bolton
Robin GourleyPRBrian Sullivan
Ian Walsh (Ca./Co.)HKBob Boland
Kevin RyanPRGary Leo
Elton RasmussenSRDennis Tutty
Dick HuddartSRArthur Beetson
Johnny RaperLKPeter Provan
Trevor LevinReserveSid Williams
ReserveDavid Cooper
CoachHarry Bath

Balmain had beaten St. George twice in the regular season and in their coach Harry Bath, who had helped design the Dragons premiership winning formula, had a tactician well placed to counter it. They had a number of young players in Beetson, Kevin Yow Yeh and Denis Tutty who could trouble the Dragons, plus the experience of Dave Bolton, Peter Provan and the unrivalled goal-kicking brilliance of Keith Barnes.

The opening skirmishes on the day of the decider were balanced. Balmain took an early lead when Barnes kicked a penalty goal. St. George's Billy Smith struck back when he set up a run around movement with Brian Clay, which led to a try to Bruce Pollard.

The turning point of the match came soon after when the Dragons' English import Dick Huddart and Ian Walsh put on a set move as the Tigers' defence rushed up too early. Walsh bust through the line and with only the fullback to beat and passed the ball to Huddart who raced 30 yards to score.

On the other side of half-time Billy Smith sliced through and found Johnny Raper who got to the Balmain 25-yard line before finding prop Kevin Ryan in support. It was a spectacular run from the evergreen forward who out-raced his pursuers and dived through the air to score and put the match beyond doubt.

Balmain had tried to slow down the Dragons with stifling tactics but this backfired and resulted in an unfavourable penalty count. Classy Dragons fullback Graeme Langlands capitalised on this, kicking seven goals.

Huddart was dominant for the clinical Saints who did not concede a try for a staggering seventh time in eight grand final victories. He had been niggled early in the game by the Balmain forwards and responded by running freely all match and crashing the Tigers with fiery tackles.

With the full-time siren St George had won their 11th successive Grand Final, setting a record[2] that is unlikely to be ever broken in first grade rugby league or perhaps in any top-grade world team sport.

It was the last game played for the club by Dragons enforcer Kevin Ryan after seven Grand Final wins and also the farewell match for winger Eddie Lumsden who had appeared in nine of the victories.

St. George 23 (Tries: Pollard, Huddart, Ryan. Goals: Langlands 7.)

Balmain 4 (Goals: Barnes 2.)

References

  1. Stuart Honeysett and Brent Read (23 April 2010) Shocking end to the Melbourne Storm era The Australian
  2. "Sydney Cricket Ground Magic Moments". sydneycricketground.com.au. Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust. Archived from the original on 2007-08-16. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
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