1924 New South Wales Rugby Football League | |
---|---|
Teams | 9 |
Premiers | Balmain (6th title) |
Minor premiers | Balmain (6th title) |
Matches played | 37 |
Points scored | 917 |
Top points scorer(s) | Jack Courtney (42) |
Top try-scorer(s) | Tommy Kennedy (10) |
The 1924 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the seventeenth season of Sydney’s top-level rugby league club competition, Australia’s first. Nine teams from across the city contested during the season which culminated in Balmain’s victory over South Sydney in the premiership final. The 1924 season was the last in the NSWRFL for future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Harold Horder.
Because of the British Lions tour of Australia, and interstate matches, the 1924 season was shortened to a single round of eight matches. No club fixtures were played on the weekends of 31 May, 7 June, 21 June nor 28 June.
Balmain and South Sydney finished equal at the top of the ladder, having dropped just one game each. The teams had earlier met in Round 5, with a 10–10 draw being the result at the Sydney Cricket Ground in front of a crowd of around 16,000.
The Final was played before a crowd of around 15,000 at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 29 July 1924 and refereed by former Rabbitoh premiership winner Webby Neill. Balmain led 3–0 at half-time and both sides failed to score in the second half. The Tigers thus claimed their sixth premiership within ten years. At the time it was the lowest-scoring Final since the start of the NSWRFL premiership and the first time a team had been held scoreless in a Final.
The Final was also the first rugby league match broadcast on radio with commentary by Balmain secretary Bob Savage.
Balmain 3 (Try: Latta)
defeated
South Sydney 0