# 1922 NSWRFL season

The 1922 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the fifteenth season of Sydney’s top-grade rugby league club competition, Australia’s first. Nine teams from across the city contested the season which culminated in North Sydney’s victory over Glebe in the premiership final.

## Season summary

After the clubs had played each other twice, Norths and Glebe were tied atop the points table. Instead of the points differential rule being implemented a Grand Final was held to determine the premier.
St George had another disappointing season, winning only two games against University and conceding 316 points averaging 19.75 per game.

### Teams

* Balmain, formed on January 23, 1908, at Balmain Town Hall
* Eastern Suburbs, formed on January 24, 1908, at Paddington Town Hall
* Glebe, formed on January 9, 1908
* Newtown, formed on January 14, 1908
* North Sydney, formed on February 7, 1908
* South Sydney, formed on January 17, 1908, at Redfern Town Hall
* St George, formed on November 8, 1920, at Kogarah School of Arts
* Western Suburbs, formed on February 4, 1908
* University, formed in 1919 at Sydney University

### Ladder

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | North Sydney | 16 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 306 | 136 | +170 | 28 |
| 2 | Glebe | 16 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 284 | 154 | +130 | 28 |
| 3 | Eastern Suburbs | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 217 | 177 | +40 | 24 |
| 4 | South Sydney | 15 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 207 | 187 | +20 | 23 |
| 5 | Balmain | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 168 | 145 | +23 | 22 |
| 6 | Western Suburbs | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 164 | 201 | -37 | 16 |
| 7 | Newtown | 16 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 169 | 200 | -31 | 15 |
| 8 | Sydney University | 15 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 148 | 287 | -139 | 14 |
| 9 | St George | 16 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 140 | 316 | -176 | 8 |

## Final

| Glebe | Position | North Sydney |
| Ron Stapleton | FB | Norm Proctor |
| Charlie Ogle | WG | Harold Horder |
| Ed Summers | CE | Frank Rule |
| Tommy James | CE | Herman Peters |
| Jack Toohey | WG | Cec Blinkhorn |
| William Stirton | FE | Dallas Hodgins |
| Bill Benson | HB | Duncan Thompson (c) |
| Frank Burge (c) | PR | Reg Farnell |
| Bert Gray | HK | Clarrie Ives |
| Laidley Burge | PR | Jim Pye |
| Tony Redmond | SR | Jack Baker |
| Walter Haddock | SR | George Green |
| Tom McGrath | LK | Wally Hancock |
| | Coach | Chris McKivat |
As North Sydney and Glebe were tied on competition points a final was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 6 September, before a crowd of around 15,000. The match was officiated by Tom McMahon, the elder of the two pre-war referees of that name.
The game was not as even as the ladder at the end of regular season would have suggested. Norths completely got away to a 10-0 lead at half-time and went on to demolish Glebe 35-3, taking their second consecutive premiership crown. The legendary Harold Horder scored twenty individual points in the match.
This was North Sydney’s second premiership, their last before becoming the Bears in 1959, and last before being excluded from the competition after the 1999 NRL season. There have been ongoing efforts to resurrect the Bears
North Sydney 35 (Tries: Rule 2, Blinkhorn 2, Horder 2, Peters. Goals: Horder 7 )
defeated
Glebe 3 (Try: E Summers)
* Duncan Thompson
* Harold Horder
* Cec Blinkhorn
* Frank Burge