1913 NSWRFL season


The 1913 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the sixth season of Sydney's top-level rugby league club competition, Australia's first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season.

Season summary

By the start of the 1913 season, the NSWRFL had secured the use of the Sydney Cricket Ground for its games.
As occurred in the 1912 season, the minor premiers were deemed the overall premiers. Eastern Suburbs, who finished top of the table for the second time in as many years, claimed their third straight premiership as a result. The team's success could be attributed to the talent in the team at the time, with ten players having played for Australia and another three for New South Wales. Of the team's two losses, one came at the hands of runners-up Newtown midway through the season and the other in the final round to Glebe after the title had already been won.
This Eastern Suburbs side is still considered to be one of the greatest club teams ever assembled, with players including Dally Messenger, Wally Messenger, Sandy Pearce, Larry O'Malley, Les Cubitt, Dan Frawley and Arthur "Pony" Halloway. This season also saw the retirement from the League of future Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Dally Messenger.

Teams

The teams remained unchanged from the previous season.
Annandale
4th season
Ground: Wentworth Park
Captain-Coach: Paddy McCue
Balmain
6th season
Ground: Birchgrove Oval
Coach: Robert Graves
Captain: Bill Noble
Eastern Suburbs
6th season
Ground: Sydney Sports Ground
Captain-Coach: Dally Messenger
Glebe
6th season
Ground: Wentworth Park
Captain-Coach: Chris McKivat
Newtown
6th season
Ground: Erskineville Oval
Captain-Coach: Charles "Boxer" Russell
North Sydney
6th season
Ground: North Sydney Oval
Coach:
Captain: Sid Deane & Jim Devereux
South Sydney
6th season
Ground: Sydney Sports Ground
Coach: John Rosewell
Captain: Arthur Butler
Western Suburbs
6th season
Ground: Pratten Park
Captain-Coach: Tedda Courtney, Jim Abercrombie

Ladder

TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts
1 Eastern Suburbs141202227118+10924
2 Newtown141013203135+6821
3 South Sydney14905200132+6818
4 Glebe14806198161+3716
5 North Sydney14527199193+612
6 Balmain1441983135-529
7 Annandale143011119219-1006
8 Western Suburbs143011115251-1366

Records set in 1913

On 19 July, South Sydney's reserve grade team scored 102 points against Mosman, which remains the greatest number of points scored in any grade of NSWRFL/NSWRL/ARL/NRL rugby league. The Rabbitohs scored 49 points in the first half and 59 in the second, conceding only a solitary penalty goal.