# 1974 NSWRFL season

The 1974 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 67th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from across Sydney, competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a grand final match for the WD & HO Wills Cup between the Eastern Suburbs and Canterbury-Bankstown clubs. This season NSWRFL teams also competed for the inaugural Amco Cup.

## Season summary

The preseason saw Eastern Suburbs defeat South Sydney 43–0 in the final of the preseason competition at the Sydney Sports Ground, while Parramatta beat Cronulla 20–8 in the playoff for third at Belmore Oval.
This season the NSWRFL made the financial commitment to bring suburban football grounds up to a higher standard in order to take more games to the fans on a home-and-away basis.
Twenty-two regular season rounds were played from March until August, resulting in a top five of Eastern Suburbs, Manly-Warringah, Canterbury-Bankstown, Western Suburbs and Souths who battled it out in the finals. This season would mark the first time since 1950 where St. George failed to make the finals and the first time since 1911 that Balmain would finish last and take out the wooden spoon.
The 1974 Rothmans Medal was awarded to Manly-Warringah's fullback Graham Eadie. Rugby League Week awarded their player of the year award to Eastern Suburbs' forward Arthur Beetson.

### Ladder

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Eastern Suburbs | 22 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 513 | 198 | +315 | 38 |
| 2 | Manly-Warringah | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 526 | 316 | +210 | 30 |
| 3 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 364 | 308 | +56 | 26 |
| 4 | Western Suburbs | 22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 402 | 305 | +97 | 25 |
| 5 | South Sydney | 22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 317 | 327 | -10 | 25 |
| 6 | North Sydney | 22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 297 | 272 | +25 | 24 |
| 7 | Newtown | 22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 278 | 261 | +17 | 20 |
| 8 | St. George | 22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 331 | 363 | -32 | 20 |
| 9 | Penrith | 22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 353 | 465 | -112 | 18 |
| 10 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 314 | 437 | -123 | 18 |
| 11 | Parramatta | 22 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 237 | 454 | -217 | 10 |
| 12 | Balmain | 22 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 255 | 481 | -226 | 10 |

## Finals

| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd |
| Qualifying Finals |||||||
| Manly-Warringah | 14–20 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 31 August 1974 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Keith Page | 23,600 |
| Western Suburbs | 24–8 | South Sydney | 1 September 1974 | Sydney Sports Ground | Laurie Bruyeres | 26,276 |
| Semi-finals |||||||
| Eastern Suburbs | 17–19 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 7 September 1974 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Keith Page | 31,432 |
| Manly-Warringah | 20–23 | Western Suburbs | 8 September 1974 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Laurie Bruyeres | 40,050 |
| Preliminary final |||||||
| Eastern Suburbs | 25–2 | Western Suburbs | 14 September 1974 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Laurie Bruyeres | 43,072 |
| Grand final |||||||
| Canterbury-Bankstown | 4–19 | Eastern Suburbs | 21 September 1974 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Laurie Bruyeres | 57,214 |

### Chart

| Qualifying final | Qualifying final | Qualifying final | Major semi-final | Major semi-final | Major semi-final | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Grand final | Grand final | Grand final |
| | | | 1 | Eastern Suburbs | 17 | | | | Canterbury | 4 |
| | | | | Canterbury | 19 | | | | Eastern Suburbs | Eastern Suburbs | 19 |
| 2 | Manly | 14 | | | | Eastern Suburbs | Eastern Suburbs | 25 | | | |
| 3 | Canterbury | 20 | Minor semi-final | Minor semi-final | Minor semi-final | Western Suburbs | Western Suburbs | 2 | | | |
| | | | Manly | Manly | 20 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Western Suburbs | 24 | Western Suburbs | Western Suburbs | 23 | | | | | | |
| 5 | South Sydney | 8 | | | | | | | | | |

### Grand final

| Canterbury-Bankstown | Position | Eastern Suburbs |
| Garry Dowling | FB | Russell Fairfax |
| 2. Chris Anderson | WG | 2. Jim Porter |
| 3. Stan Cutler | CE | 3. John Brass |
| 4. Peter Winchester | CE | 4. Mark Harris |
| 5. Terry Murphy | WG | 5. Bill Mullins |
| 6. Mark Hughes | FE | 6. John Peard |
| 7. Don Moseley | HB | 7. Johnny Mayes |
| 13. Brian Lockwood | PR | 13. Ken Jones |
| 12. George Peponis | HK | 12. Elwyn Walters |
| 11. Bill Noonan | PR | 10. Ian Mackay |
| 10. Geoff Connell | SR | 11. Arthur Beetson (c) |
| 9. John McDonell (c) | SR | 9. Barry "Bunny" Reilly |
| 8. John Peek | LK | 8. Ron Coote |
| 18. Henry Tatana | Reserve | 16. Harry Cameron |
| | Reserve | 24. Greg Bandiera |
| Malcolm Clift | Coach | Jack Gibson |
“Master coach” Jack Gibson's first title – and the Roosters’ first for twenty-nine years – was won by one of the most talented club teams in the Australian game's history. In rugby union convert Russell Fairfax and giant threequarters Mark Harris and Bill Mullins, Easts had three attacking players who dominated Canterbury with their brilliance.
Eastern Suburbs 19 (Tries: Beetson, Harris, Mullins. Goals: Peard 3, Brass 2.)
defeated
Canterbury-Bankstown 4 (Goals: Cutler 2.)

## Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 22.
| Points | Player | Tries | Goals | Field Goals |
| 200 | Graham Eadie | 10 | 85 | 0 |
| 188 | John Brass | 7 | 83 | 1 |
| 136 | Eric Simms | 2 | 65 | 0 |
| 136 | Reg Walton | 4 | 62 | 0 |
| 135 | John Dorahy | 6 | 58 | 1 |
| Tries | Player |
| 21 | Kevin Junee |
| 19 | Bill Mullins |
| 14 | Bob Fulton |
| 14 | Chris Anderson |
| 14 | Glenn West |
| Goals | Player |
| 85 | Graham Eadie |
| 83 | John Brass |
| 65 | Eric Simms |
| 62 | Reg Walton |
| 60 | Henry Tatana |