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The 1962 NSWRFL season was the 55th New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership, Australia's first rugby league competition. Ten teams from across Sydney competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a replay of the previous year's
grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...
between St. George and Western Suburbs.


Season summary

The league approved the use of substitutions to replace injured players, on the condition that the replacement player had already appeared in a lower grade match on the same day. The 1962 season was also the last in the playing career of future
Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame The National Rugby League Hall of Fame was first established as the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2002, before being reestablished in 2018 in its current form. The hall of fame honours the contributions made to the National Rugby League ...
inductee,
Brian Carlson Brian Patrick Carlson (12 February 1933 – 14 April 1987) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a & utility back for the Australia national team. He played in 17 Tests and 6 World C ...
.


Teams


Regular season

Bold – Home game
X – Bye
Opponent for round listed above margin


Ladder


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.


Finals


Grand Final

Wests had finished third on the ladder but won two semi-finals for another crack at their nemesis in a rain-soaked and muddy Grand Final. St George were favoured by a strong breeze in the first half which dropped off in the second half, giving Wests no reciprocal advantage. The only try of the match was scored in the 17th minute after Norm Provan burst through and found Kevin Ryan in support who in turn found Johnny King on the fly. The winger raced 30 yards over sodden ground to score, notching up another Grand Final try in his unblemished consistent record. The score was 7–2 at half time, with the Dragons playing almost all the second half with twelve men after Billy “Bluey” Wilson was sent off. The match was a tight forward struggle with misdemeanors from both sides. Provan and Rasmussen finished the game needing stitches and Jim Cody and Garry Russell suffered broken noses. Wests did all they could to contain Reg Gasnier with Gill McDougall enjoying some success in hammering Gasnier and keeping him bottled up. Saints' best were Ryan, Ian Walsh and Johnny Raper playing at five-eighth in place of Brian Clay whose injury prone season had ended early with a broken arm. The game is remembered for a couple of off-the-ball incidents which began with Provan being knocked out by Jim Cody five minutes before half time. “Sticks” Provan was carried from the field and didn't return again until well into the second half. Cody escaped any official punishment. Wilson came out as captain in the second half and apparently squared things up in the first seconds after kick-off before the first tackle took place. Accounts differ as to whether “Bluey” Wilson was provoked by Cody before Wilson hit him, but hit him he did and referee Jack Bradley sent Wilson off. With no replacements allowed in those days, St George were reduced to 11 men until Provan returned to the field 15 minutes later. In what can only be described as a heroic defensive effort, St George held out Wests and won the match. The match was Billy Wilson's final game for St George; he had appeared in six of the Grand Final victories. The Larry Writer reference suggests that the send-off may have soured Wilson's relationship with club officials in spite of the victory. Whether true or not, at 35 years of age, the end of Wilson's playing career was looming from the club's perspective and his contract was not renewed. As of the 2015 NRL season, no forward since Wilson has been sent off in a
Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...
. In this game Wilson also became the only man to have been sent off in two grand finals following on from his dismissal by Darcy Lawler in
1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...
for fighting with South Sydney's Martin Gallagher. St. George 9 (Tries: King. Goals: McDonald 3.) Western Suburbs 6 ( Goals: Bray 3.)


Player statistics

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 18. Top 5 point scorers Top 5 try scorers Top 5 goal scorers


References


External links


Rugby League Tables - Season 1962
''The World of Rugby League'' * Writer, Larry (1995) ''Never Before, Never Again'', Pan MacMillan, Sydney
1962 J J Giltinan Shield and WD HO Wills Cup at rleague.com
{{National Rugby League seasons New South Wales Rugby League premiership NSWRFL season