# 1959 NSWRFL season

1959's New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 52nd season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Ten teams from across the city competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a grand final between St. George and Manly-Warringah.

## Season summary

The St. George team went through the 1959 season undefeated – a feat achieved by five teams prior to 1959 but by none since. The club won nineteen of their twenty matches and played a draw against Balmain. They were able to score more than forty points on six occasions. After eighteen premiership rounds St. George had scored an average of over thirty points per match and conceded an average of ten points.
Future Immortals Reg Gasnier and Johnny Raper both debuted for St. George in first grade in 1959 and both made the Australian side, aged just 19. Seven St. George players made that year's Kangaroo Tour.
The 1959 season also saw the retirement from the League of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Harry Bath.

### Teams
## Regular season

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | F1 | F2 | F3 | GF |
| Balmain | MAN −3 | STG −14 | CBY −4 | EAS +12 | NOR −8 | WES −19 | PAR +8 | NEW −15 | SOU +9 | MAN −2 | STG 0 | CBY +12 | EAS −4 | NOR +6 | WES −9 | PAR +16 | NEW −5 | SOU −8 | | | | |
| Canterbury-Bankstown | SOU −10 | MAN −6 | BAL +4 | STG −12 | EAS −9 | NOR −33 | WES −38 | PAR +7 | NEW −12 | SOU −1 | MAN +5 | BAL −12 | STG −51 | EAS +6 | NOR −22 | WES 0 | PAR +1 | NEW −1 | | | | |
| Eastern Suburbs | NEW −3 | SOU −20 | MAN −11 | BAL −12 | CBY +9 | STG −9 | NOR −20 | WES −3 | PAR −4 | NEW +7 | SOU +9 | MAN −12 | BAL +4 | CBY −6 | STG −16 | NOR +6 | WES −28 | PAR +6 | | | | |
| Manly-Warringah | BAL +3 | CBY +6 | EAS +11 | NOR −7 | WES −11 | PAR +5 | NEW −4 | SOU +8 | STG −10 | BAL +2 | CBY −5 | EAS +12 | NOR +1 | WES −3 | PAR +21 | NEW +17 | SOU +3 | STG −5 | NEW +17 | X | WES +1 | STG −20 |
| Newtown | EAS +3 | NOR −6 | WES −7 | PAR +9 | STG −17 | SOU +2 | MAN +4 | BAL +15 | CBY +12 | EAS −7 | NOR +2 | WES −2 | PAR +8 | STG −35 | SOU −12 | MAN −17 | BAL +5 | CBY +1 | MAN −17 | | | |
| North Sydney | PAR +23 | NEW +6 | SOU +20 | MAN +7 | BAL +8 | CBY +33 | EAS +20 | STG −21 | WES −5 | PAR +20 | NEW −2 | SOU −10 | MAN −1 | BAL −6 | CBY +22 | EAS −6 | STG −7 | WES −12 | | | | |
| Parramatta | NOR −23 | WES −10 | STG −39 | NEW −9 | SOU +5 | MAN −5 | BAL −8 | CBY −7 | EAS +4 | NOR −20 | WES −22 | STG −57 | NEW −8 | SOU −6 | MAN −21 | BAL −16 | CBY −1 | EAS −6 | | | | |
| South Sydney | CBY +10 | EAS +20 | NOR −20 | WES +1 | PAR −5 | NEW −2 | STG −33 | MAN −8 | BAL −9 | CBY +1 | EAS −9 | NOR +10 | WES +5 | PAR +6 | NEW +12 | STG −3 | MAN −3 | BAL +8 | | | | |
| St. George | WES +1 | BAL +14 | PAR +39 | CBY +12 | NEW +17 | EAS +9 | SOU +33 | NOR +21 | MAN +10 | WES +30 | BAL 0 | PAR +57 | CBY +51 | NEW +35 | EAS +16 | SOU +3 | NOR +7 | MAN +5 | X | WES +10 | X | MAN +20 |
| Western Suburbs | STG −1 | PAR +10 | NEW +7 | SOU −1 | MAN +11 | BAL +19 | CBY +38 | EAS +3 | NOR +5 | STG −30 | PAR +22 | NEW +2 | SOU −5 | MAN +3 | BAL +9 | CBY 0 | EAS +28 | NOR +12 | X | STG −10 | MAN −1 | |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | F1 | F2 | F3 | GF |
Bold – Home game X – Bye Opponent for round listed above margin

### Ladder

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | St. George | 18 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 550 | 190 | +360 | 35 |
| 2 | Western Suburbs | 18 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 405 | 273 | +132 | 27 |
| 3 | Manly | 18 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 283 | 239 | +44 | 22 |
| 4 | Newtown | 18 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 254 | 296 | -42 | 20 |
| 5 | North Sydney | 18 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 371 | 282 | +89 | 18 |
| 6 | South Sydney | 18 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 257 | 276 | -19 | 18 |
| 7 | Balmain | 18 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 308 | 336 | -28 | 13 |
| 8 | Eastern Suburbs | 18 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 211 | 314 | -103 | 12 |
| 9 | Canterbury | 18 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 194 | 378 | -184 | 11 |
| 10 | Parramatta | 18 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 150 | 399 | -249 | 4 |

### Ladder progression

* Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top 4.
* Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
* Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.
| | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 1 | St. George | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 21 | 23 | 25 | 27 | 29 | 31 | 33 | 35 |
| 2 | Western Suburbs | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 25 | 27 |
| 3 | Manly-Warringah | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 22 |
| 4 | Newtown | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 20 |
| 5 | North Sydney | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 6 | South Sydney | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18 |
| 7 | Balmain | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| 8 | Eastern Suburbs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 |
| 9 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 11 |
| 10 | Parramatta | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |

## Finals

| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date and Time | Venue | Referee | Crowd |
| Semifinals |||||||
| Manly-Warringah | 17–0 | Newtown | 25 July 1959 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Darcy Lawler | 8,967 |
| St. George | 35–25 | Western Suburbs | 1 August 1959 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Darcy Lawler | 42,347 |
| Preliminary Final |||||||
| Western Suburbs | 13–14 | Manly-Warringah | 8 August 1959 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Darcy Lawler | 28,385 |
| Grand Final |||||||
| St. George | 20–0 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 15 August 1959 | Sydney Cricket Ground | Darcy Lawler | 49,457 |

### Grand Final

| St. George | Position | Manly-Warringah |
| Brian Graham | FB | Ron Willey (c) |
| 2. Eddie Lumsden | WG | 15. Len Wadling |
| 15. Johnny Raper | CE | 3. Kevin Mosman |
| 16. Geoff Weekes | CE | 4. Bill Lloyd |
| 5. Brian Messiter | WG | 5. George Hugo |
| 6. Brian Clay | FE | 14. Alf Madden |
| 7. Bob Bugden | HB | 19. Peter Burke |
| 13. Harry Bath | PR | 13. Bill Delamere |
| 12. Ken Kearney (Ca./Co.) | HK | 12. George Lenon |
| 11. Billy Wilson | PR | 22. Roy Bull |
| 10. Monty Porter | SR | 11. Rex Mossop |
| 9. Norm Provan | SR | 9. Peter Diversi |
| 8. Peter Provan | LK | 8. Jim Peebles |
| | Coach | Ken Arthurson |
In the lead up to the Grand Final, rumours were circulating that Manly-Warringah's Rex Mossop was carrying a broken cheekbone. From the kick off, Saints' forwards took turns at testing Mossop's injury with Harry Bath giving him particular attention. For most of the match the Manly forward copped a hammering until in frustration, Mossop retaliated by standing on Bath's head. A brawl broke out between the two and the referee Lawler sent both off.
In the meantime, St. George's forwards were steamrolling Manly-Warringah and the red and white backs were cutting loose. Winger Eddie Lumsden had a magnificent match, scoring a hat trick of tries. Lumsden beat Ron Willey cold for his first try and then was on the end of later backline passing bursts for two more.
As the Manly-Warringah pack tired in the second half, experienced St. George second rower Norm Provan began to easily break their defence out wide, linking with his backs and being rewarded himself with a try. Reserve grade centre Geoff Weekes had been promoted when Gasnier and Johnny Riley were both injured in the major semi final. He scored a try as did St. George's steady and safe custodian Brian Graham.
St. George outclassed Manly-Warringah 20–0 in a ruthless display of speed and strength. The match was future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee Harry Bath's last game.
St. George 20 (Tries: Lumsden 3, Graham, Weekes, N Provan. Goals: Bath 1.)
Manly-Warringah 0

## Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 18.
| Points | Player | Tries | Goals | Field Goals |
| 189 | Harry Bath | 5 | 87 | 0 |
| 189 | Darcy Russell | 5 | 87 | 0 |
| 142 | Ron Willey | 2 | 68 | 0 |
| 121 | Johnny Jones | 1 | 59 | 0 |
| 110 | Kevin Considine | 10 | 40 | 0 |
| Tries | Player |
| 19 | Ken Irvine |
| 18 | Brian Messiter |
| 15 | Bob Bugden |
| 15 | Ron Mack |
| 14 | Darcy Henry |
| Goals | Player |
| 87 | Harry Bath |
| 87 | Darcy Russell |
| 68 | Ron Willey |
| 59 | Johnny Jones |
| 48 | Keith Barnes |