1931 NSWRFL Grand Final
Saturday, 12 September 1931 · Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, New South Wales
1931 NSWRFL Grand Final result: South Sydney def. Eastern Suburbs, 12-7, at Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, New South Wales on Saturday, 12 September 1931.
Sourcing caveat: Right-of-challenge structure: South Sydney won the Final (17-3 over Western Suburbs, 5 September), then minor premiers Eastern Suburbs exercised their challenge, making the 12 September match the premiership decider. Venue and attendance (Sydney Sports Ground, 27,104) are per rugbyleagueproject.org; the Wikipedia season article does not state them. In 1931 a try was worth 3 points, a goal 2 points, and a field goal (the era's term for what is now called a drop goal) also 2 points. The scoring breakdown above reconciles exactly to 12-7 (South Sydney: Benny Wearing and Harry Eyers tries x 3 = 6, plus Wearing 1 goal and Percy Williams 1 goal = 4, plus Arthur Spillane's field goal = 2, totalling 12; Eastern Suburbs: Fred Tottey's try x 3 = 3, plus Jack Lynch 1 goal = 2, plus Lynch's field goal = 2, totalling 7). CORRECTIONS to this page's earlier prose: the site previously stated Eastern Suburbs scored no try, but primary sources consistently confirm a Fred Tottey try - this has been corrected. The South Sydney forward's surname was previously spelled 'Eyres'; rugbyleagueproject.org and his own biography page spell it Eyers (full name Henry Thomas 'Harry' Eyers), and the prose has been corrected. Squad numbers reflect standard positional numbering; genuine printed jersey numbers were not independently confirmed. Exact try minutes and goal-attempt counts could not be confirmed.
Result
| Team | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | South Sydney | 12 |
| Runner-up | Eastern Suburbs | 7 |
Attendance: 27,104
NRL 1931 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eastern Suburbs | 14 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 339 | 121 | +218 | 24 |
| 2 | South Sydney | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 250 | 176 | +74 | 18 |
| 3 | Western Suburbs | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 220 | 227 | -7 | 18 |
| 4 | St. George | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 178 | 183 | -5 | 16 |
| 5 | North Sydney | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 143 | 198 | -55 | 12 |
| 6 | Balmain | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 133 | 205 | -72 | 10 |
| 7 | Newtown | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 205 | 194 | +11 | 10 |
| 8 | University | 14 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 135 | 299 | -164 | 4 |
Qualified for the finals series — top 4 that season.
Finals series
Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Aug 1931 | South Sydney Rabbitohs 16–5 St. George | Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, NSW | 17,561 |
| 29 Aug 1931 | Western Suburbs Magpies 10–8 Eastern Suburbs Roosters | Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, NSW | 20,387 |
Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Sep 1931 | South Sydney Rabbitohs 17–3 Western Suburbs Magpies | Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, NSW | 23,767 |
Grand Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Sep 1931 | South Sydney Rabbitohs 12–7 Eastern Suburbs Roosters | Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, NSW |
Match officials
| Referee | Lal Deane |
Scorers
| South Sydney | Tries: Benny Wearing — minute unconfirmed, 2nd half; Harry Eyers — final minutes, match-winning try Goals: Benny Wearing (1/unconfirmed); Percy Williams (1/unconfirmed) Sin bin: Arthur Spillane — minute unconfirmed |
| Eastern Suburbs | Tries: Fred Tottey — minute unconfirmed Goals: Jack Lynch (1/unconfirmed) Sin bin: Jack Lynch — minute unconfirmed |
Teams
| South Sydney | Eastern Suburbs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arthur Spillane | Fullback | Billy Hong | 1 |
| 2 | Benny Wearing | Wing | Morrie Boyle | 2 |
| 3 | Jack Morrison | Centre | Dave Brown | 3 |
| 4 | Pat Maher (c) | Centre | Jack Lynch | 4 |
| 5 | Jack Why | Wing | Fred Tottey | 5 |
| 6 | Percy Williams | Five-eighth | Ernie Norman | 6 |
| 7 | Jim Deely | Halfback | Norm Pope (c) | 7 |
| 8 | Harry Eyers | Lock | Les Rogers | 8 |
| 9 | George Treweek | Second Row | Joe Pearce | 9 |
| 10 | Frank O'Connor | Second Row | Max Nixon | 10 |
| 11 | Frank Curran | Prop | Perc Atkinson | 11 |
| 12 | Eddie Root | Hooker | Dick Brown | 12 |
| 13 | Carl Eggen | Prop | Ray Stehr | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| — | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1931 | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1931 | — | |
| Charlie Lynch | Coach | Arthur Halloway | ||
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
Played in the depths of the Great Depression, a season in which the NSWRFL even banned radio broadcasts of matches on the grounds that wireless descriptions were hurting the gates, only to relent a year later after commentators took to rooftops and ladders outside the grounds, the 1931 grand final produced one of the most thrilling finishes of the era. Eastern Suburbs had claimed the minor premiership, but their finals campaign faltered immediately with a 10-8 semi-final loss to Western Suburbs at the Sports Ground. South Sydney, meanwhile, powered through the other side of the draw, beating St. George 16-5 and then overwhelming Western Suburbs 17-3 in the Final on 5 September. Under the challenge system, minor premiers Eastern Suburbs retained the right to meet the Final winners for the premiership, and the resulting Grand Final challenge on 12 September drew 27,104 to the Sydney Sports Ground. Easts controlled the early exchanges, hooker Dick Brown dominating the scrums, and a Lynch goal and field goal gave the minor premiers a 4-0 halftime lead. After the break Souths seized the initiative when champion winger Benny Wearing crossed for a try, before winger Fred Tottey replied for Easts. Then came the moment contemporaries hailed among the finest in the young history of Sydney grand finals: in the dying stages Harry Eyers seized possession inside the Eastern Suburbs quarter, paused for a split second, and with an electrifying burst of speed exploded through the converging defence to score the match-winning try, the referee inadvertently impeding the covering defenders as Eyers ran. Wearing and Percy Williams each landed a goal, and Arthur Spillane a field goal, to complete South Sydney's scoring in the 12-7 triumph. The victory delivered South Sydney another premiership, extending the pre-war dynasty of the famous cardinal and myrtle that had already yielded five consecutive titles from 1925 to 1929, and confirmed the Rabbitohs as the dominant club of rugby league's first quarter-century. For minor premiers Eastern Suburbs, defeat in the challenge match was bitter, though with young talent emerging the Tricolours' own golden age lay only a few seasons away.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
← Rugby League · Champions list · All-time records · World Cup · All competitions · Venues · Teams · Players