1921 NSWRFL season

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The 1921 New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the fourteenth season of Australia’s first rugby league football club competition which was based in Sydney. Nine teams from across the city contested the season, with North Sydney being crowned premiers by virtue of finishing the season on top of the League.[1] The 1921 season also saw the St George club enter the competition, replacing the Annandale club, who after thirteen seasons, exited the League.

1921 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams9
Premiers North Sydney (1st title)
Minor premiers North Sydney (1st title)
Matches played36
Points scored1086
Top points scorer(s) Rex Norman (75)
Top try-scorer(s) Gordon Wright (11)

Season summary

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Because the 1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain departed in mid-July only one series of nine rounds was played, with the second series being devoted to the City Cup. The premiership was decided with no finals on a first-past-the-post basis.

Premiers North Sydney became the second team to go through a season undefeated - seven wins and an 8-8 draw with Easts in round 5. Their brilliant performance earned them their maiden premiership.

University became the third team to have gone through a season winless, as Annandale had done the previous season and in 1918. University’s season yielded eight losses from eight starts, conceding 295 points at an average of 36.88 per match.

The season saw an experiment with referees instead of halfbacks feeding the scrum. Although the experiment was very quickly viewed a dismal failure and abandoned, the amendment was sometimes advocated in later years after scrums became largely uncontested.[2]

Teams

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With the addition of St George in place of the recently departed Annandale club, the number of teams in the League remained at nine.[3]

Balmain
 
14th season
Ground: Birchgrove Oval
Captain-Coach: Charles Fraser
Eastern Suburbs
 
14th season
Ground: Sydney Cricket Ground
Captain-Coach: Sandy Pearce
Captain: Harry Caples
Glebe
 
14th season
Ground: Wentworth Park
Captain: Frank Burge
Newtown
 
14th season
Ground: Marrickville Oval
Captain: Alex Bolewski
North Sydney
 
14th season
Ground: North Sydney Oval
Coach: Chris McKivat
Captain: Harold Horder/ Duncan Thompson
St. George
 
1st season
Ground: Hurstville Oval
Captain-Coach Herb Gilbert
South Sydney
 
14th season
Ground: Sydney Sports Ground
Coach: Howard Hallett
Captains:Arthur Oxford, Ted McGrath
University
 
2nd Season
Coach: Bill Kelly
Captain: Alan McLeod
Western Suburbs
 
14th season
Ground: Pratten Park
Captain-Coach: Viv Farnsworth

Ladder

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The geographical locations of the teams that contested the 1921 premiership across Sydney.
Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1   North Sydney 8 7 1 0 1 172 82 +90 17
2   Eastern Suburbs 8 6 1 1 1 187 67 +120 15
3   Glebe 8 6 0 2 1 115 71 +44 14
4   Balmain 8 5 0 3 1 135 71 +64 12
5   South Sydney 8 4 0 4 1 141 104 +37 10
6   Newtown 8 3 0 5 1 77 117 -40 8
7   St George 8 2 0 6 1 87 124 -37 6
8   Western Suburbs 8 2 0 6 1 90 155 -65 6
9   Sydney University 8 0 0 8 1 82 295 -213 2

References

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  1. ^ Premiership Roll of Honour Archived 2011-05-14 at the Wayback Machine at rl1908.com
  2. ^ Lester, Gary; Clouds of Dust, Buckets of Blood: the Story of the Western Suburbs Rugby League Magpies; p. 56. ISBN 0949853526
  3. ^ "History of the Premiership". centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au. Australian Rugby League. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
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