1919 NSWRFL season
The 1919 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the twelfth season of Sydney’s professional rugby league club competition, Australia’s first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season, with Balmain finishing on top of the ladder to claim the premiership.
Season summary
and Eastern Suburbs dominated the 14-round season, dropping just two and three games respectively. Balmain were undefeated after eight rounds but a mid-year Australian tour to New Zealand saw the black and golds lose their representative stars and their lead was lost to Eastern Suburbs for one week late in the season.With eleven rounds played, Balmain led Eastern Suburbs by one point on the ladder but relinquished this lead by losing their round 12 match against Glebe as Eastern Suburbs beat winless Annandale 28-0. This meant Eastern Suburbs now led by one point with two rounds to play. However, they lost the very next round 15-12 to South Sydney, who had won just four of their twelve previous matches. Meanwhile, Balmain managed to beat Newtown 18-5, giving them the one point advantage heading into the final round.
The final match of the season turned out to be the decider for the premiership, with the top two teams playing one another at the Royal Agricultural Society Ground. The winner of the match would take out the premiership, whilst a draw would give Balmain the title. At the end of the day, it was the goal kicking of Balmain's Les Wall that secured the premiership, with a 13-4 win over Eastern Suburbs. Five of Wall’s attempts hit the post that day, but four crossed the bar and won Balmain the title. Members of the Balmain premiership winning side included Bob Craig and Bill Kelly.
The City Cup was won by Wests for the second consecutive season.
Teams
The teams remained unchanged from the 1918 season- Annandale
- 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
- Western Suburbs, formed on February 4, 1908
| Annandale 10th season Ground: Wentworth Park Coach: Captain: Walter Haddock | Balmain 12th season Ground: Birchgrove Oval Coach: Captain: Bob Craig | Eastern Suburbs 12th season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Captain: Ray Norman | Glebe 12th season Ground: Wentworth Park Coach: Alex Burdon Captain: Tom Leggo, Albert Burge |
| Newtown 12th season Ground: Wentworth Park Coach: Charles "Boxer" Russell Captain: Albert "Ricketty" Johnston | North Sydney 12th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Captain-Coach: George Green | South Sydney 12th season Ground: RAS Showground Coach: Captain: Howard Hallett | Western Suburbs 12th season Ground: St. Luke's Oval Coach: Captain: Tedda Courtney |
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
| 1 | Balmain | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 277 | 109 | +168 | 23 |
| 2 | Eastern Suburbs | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 229 | 108 | +121 | 20 |
| 3 | Western Suburbs | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 239 | 130 | +109 | 18 |
| 4 | Glebe | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 209 | 134 | +75 | 18 |
| 5 | Newtown | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 123 | 186 | -63 | 14 |
| 6 | South Sydney | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 208 | 223 | -15 | 13 |
| 7 | Annandale | 14 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 86 | 270 | -184 | 3 |
| 8 | North Sydney | 14 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 103 | 314 | -211 | 3 |