1969 NSWRFL season
| 1969 New South Wales Rugby Football League | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 12 |
| Premiers |
 Balmain (11th title) |
| Minor premiers |
 South Sydney (15th title) |
| Matches played | 136 |
| Points scored | 4258 |
| Attendance | 1788112 |
| Top points scorer(s) |
Eric Simms (265) |
| Player of the year |
Denis Pittard (Rothmans Medal) |
| Top try-scorer(s) |
 Ken Irvine (17) |
The 1969 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 62nd season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six Sydney-based foundation teams and another six from the Sydney area competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between Balmain and South Sydney.
South Sydney fullback Eric Simms' tally of 265 points for the season from 112 goals, 19 field-goals and one try topped the season point scoring record that had been set in the 1935 season by Dave Brown.
The 1969 season's Rothmans Medallist was South Sydney's Denis Pittard.
The 1969 season also saw the retirement from the League of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, John Raper.
In the Preliminary Final, Balmain trailed 12-14 against Manly-Warringah until late in the match when winger George Ruebner charged for the corner post to snatch a win in dramatic fashion.
Balmain were not given a chance of winning the Premiership after the retirement of Keith Barnes. Souths had won the last two premierships, beaten the Tigers in the Major Semi-Final to advance to the Grand Final and boasted eleven internationals in their side.
However, as a result their favouritism Souths were overconfident and showed insufficient respect to the young Tigers, who had shown early-season form in beating them in round 1, and to their rookie coach Leo Nosworthy, who presented a well-prepared and determined Balmain team.
The Tigers led 6-0 at halftime after two penalty goals by Len Killeen and a Dave Bolton field-goal. Souths refusal to kick on the last tackle played into Balmain's hands as novice replacement hooker Peter Boulton managed to consistently regain possession from the scrums. Balmain backed up with a robust defensive line and kept South pinned in their own half.
...
Wikipedia