1910 NSWRFL Grand Final
Saturday, 17 September 1910 · Royal Agricultural Society Showground, Sydney, New South Wales
1910 NSWRFL Grand Final result: Newtown drew 4-4 with South Sydney and were declared premiers on ladder position, at Royal Agricultural Society Showground, Sydney, New South Wales on Saturday, 17 September 1910.
Sourcing caveat: The decider ended in a 4-4 DRAW - there was no replay, and Newtown were declared premiers because the draw left them one competition point ahead of South Sydney (23-22) on the ladder (finals matches carried premiership points in this era). Some secondary listings give the score as Newtown 6-4, but both Wikipedia's match account and the Rugby League Project's results table record a 4-4 draw with no tries scored. Attendance is given as 14,000 by the Rugby League Project and approximately 15,000 by Wikipedia. In 1910 all goal types were worth 2 points and no tries were scored by either side; the scoring breakdown above reconciles exactly to 4-4 (Newtown: Charlie 'Boxer' Russell 2 goals = 4, the second being the famous fair-mark equalizer following Albert Hawkes' catch; South Sydney: Jim Davis 2 goals = 4, both kicked in the first half to give Souths a 4-0 halftime lead). Rugby League Project does not classify Russell's fair-mark kick as a separate scoring category from his other goal - both are recorded simply as goals. A single-source, unconfirmed notation suggests Jim Davis may have been sent off at some point, which is hard to square with him being credited for both of South Sydney's goals - flagged as unverified rather than asserted. Squad numbers reflect standard positional numbering. Exact goal-attempt counts could not be confirmed.
Result
| Team | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Premiers | Newtown | 4 |
| Runner-up | South Sydney | 4 |
Attendance: 14,000
NRL 1910 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newtown | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 260 | 92 | +168 | 23 |
| 2 | South Sydney | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 326 | 109 | +217 | 22 |
| 3 | Eastern Suburbs | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 248 | 116 | +132 | 20 |
| 4 | Balmain | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 153 | 190 | -37 | 16 |
| 5 | Glebe | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 175 | 194 | -19 | 12 |
| 6 | Annandale | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 145 | 200 | -55 | 11 |
| 7 | North Sydney | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 146 | 281 | -135 | 6 |
| 8 | Western Suburbs | 14 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 115 | 386 | -271 | 2 |
Finals qualification not shown for this season: an irregular early-era challenge/playoff format, not a fixed top-N.
Finals series
Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Sep 1910 | Newtown 4–4 South Sydney Rabbitohs | Royal Agricultural Society Showground, Sydney, NSW | 14,000 |
Match officials
| Referee | Bill Finegan |
Scorers
| Newtown | Goals: Charlie Russell (2/unconfirmed) |
| South Sydney | Goals: Jim Davis (2/unconfirmed) Sin bin: Jim Davis — reported send-off notation, single-source and unconfirmed against a second source |
Teams
| Newtown | South Sydney | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Neill | Fullback | Frank Twiss | 1 |
| 2 | Charlie Russell (c) | Wing | Tommy Anderson | 2 |
| 3 | Viv Farnsworth | Centre | Arthur Conlin | 3 |
| 4 | Albert Hawkes | Centre | Howard Hallett | 4 |
| 5 | Fred Munnery | Wing | Jack Leveson | 5 |
| 6 | Bill Farnsworth | Five-eighth | Arthur McCabe | 6 |
| 7 | William Hayes | Halfback | Arthur Butler | 7 |
| 8 | John Chevall | Lock | Arthur Hennessy (c) | 8 |
| 9 | Jack Barnett | Second Row | Harry Butler | 9 |
| 10 | James Mogan | Second Row | Johnny Rosewell | 10 |
| 11 | Joe Murray | Prop | Bill Spence | 11 |
| 12 | David Grundie | Hooker | Jim Davis | 12 |
| 13 | Paddy McCue | Prop | Ernie Hucker | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| — | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1910 | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1910 | — | |
| Charlie Russell | Coach | Arthur Hennessy | ||
Clive Churchill Medal
The Clive Churchill Medal was first awarded in 1986; no official best-on-ground medal existed for this Grand Final.
Match context
After two seasons settled by knockout play-offs, the League overhauled its premiership rules for 1910: the competition table would now carry decisive weight, though the two leading clubs still met in a season-ending Final with premiership points attached. That subtle change produced the strangest finish of the founding era. Newtown entered the decider a single point clear of South Sydney at the head of the ladder, meaning Souths, chasing a third consecutive premiership, needed to win outright, while a draw would suffice for the minor premiers. On Saturday 17 September 1910 at the Royal Agricultural Society Showground, a crowd reported at between 14,000 and 15,000, comfortably the largest yet drawn to a premiership decider in the young code, watched a ferocious defensive struggle. Neither side crossed for a try all afternoon, although both created chances and had movements called back, and the scoring was left entirely to the boot. South Sydney nosed ahead 4-2 and clung to that lead deep into the dying moments, seemingly set to complete a hat-trick of premierships. Then came one of early rugby league's most storied finishes. Souths' Howard Hallett, forced to relieve pressure from near his own line, kicked the ball clear downfield; Newtown centre Albert Hawkes caught it on the full only metres from halfway and hard against the touchline, and claimed a fair mark, a feature of the game's laws at the time that entitled his side to a kick at goal. Captain Charles 'Boxer' Russell took on the long, awkward shot from the difficult position and sent it through, levelling the scores at 4-4 as time expired. The draw left the ladder unchanged, Newtown 23 points, South Sydney 22, and under the rules no replay was required: the final whistle itself delivered Newtown their first premiership, secured without a winning score on the day. It was a triumph by equalisation that remains unique among Australian premiership deciders, and it denied South Sydney, the dominant club of the competition's first three seasons, a third straight title by the width of Russell's kick. Newtown, one of the nine foundation clubs of 1908, would wait until 1933 for their next premiership; for South Sydney, redemption was deferred, though the Rabbitohs would return to the top of the competition within the decade.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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