1932 NSWRFL Grand Final

Saturday, 24 September 1932 · Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, New South Wales

1932 Grand Final ▾

1932 NSWRFL Grand Final result: South Sydney def. Western Suburbs, 19-12, at Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, New South Wales on Saturday, 24 September 1932.

Sourcing caveat: Two-match decider structure: Western Suburbs won the Final 23-8 on 17 September 1932, but minor premiers South Sydney exercised the right of challenge and won the 24 September Grand Final, which decided the premiership. In 1932 a try was worth 3 points and a goal 2 points; the scoring breakdown above reconciles exactly to 19-12 (South Sydney: Jack Why, Alby Black and Eric Lewis tries x 3 = 9, plus Benny Wearing 4 goals and Percy Williams 1 goal = 10, totalling 19; Western Suburbs: Alan Ridley and Mick Rankine tries x 3 = 6, plus Les Mead 3 goals = 6, totalling 12). CORRECTION to this page's earlier prose: the Western Suburbs second try-scorer was previously named 'Harry Rankine' - rugbyleagueproject.org consistently gives Mick Rankine both in the match lineup and the try-scorer list, and no source corroborates 'Harry.' Percy Williams' goal count (1) is arithmetically derived to reconcile the final score rather than directly read off a source table. Western Suburbs' coach, Jim Craig, is single-source (rugbyleagueproject.org only, not independently cross-verified). Squad numbers reflect standard positional numbering. Exact try minutes and goal-attempt counts could not be confirmed.

Result

	Team	Score
Winner	South Sydney	19
Runner-up	Western Suburbs	12

Attendance: 16,925

NRL 1932 — full season ladder & finals series

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	Pts
1	South Sydney	14	13	0	1	292	130	+162	26
2	Western Suburbs	14	11	0	3	321	156	+165	22
3	Eastern Suburbs	14	9	0	5	253	133	+120	18
4	Balmain	14	7	1	6	204	227	-23	15
5	Newtown	14	7	0	7	201	251	-50	14
6	St. George	14	4	1	9	140	203	-63	9
7	North Sydney	14	2	0	12	147	317	-170	4
8	University	14	2	0	12	134	275	-141	4

Qualified for the finals series — top 4 that season.

Finals series

Semi-Final

Date	Result	Venue	Attendance
3 Sep 1932	South Sydney Rabbitohs 26–8 Eastern Suburbs Roosters	Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, NSW	14,353
10 Sep 1932	Western Suburbs Magpies 15–7 Balmain Tigers	Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, NSW	5,715

Final

Date	Result	Venue	Attendance
17 Sep 1932	Western Suburbs Magpies 23–8 South Sydney Rabbitohs	Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, NSW	18,724

Grand Final

Date	Result	Venue	Attendance
24 Sep 1932	South Sydney Rabbitohs 19–12 Western Suburbs Magpies	Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, NSW

Permalink to this season's ladder page →

Match officials

Referee	Lal Deane

Scorers

South Sydney	Tries: Jack Why — minute unconfirmed; Alby Black — minute unconfirmed; Eric Lewis — minute unconfirmed Goals: Benny Wearing (4/unconfirmed); Percy Williams (1/unconfirmed)
Western Suburbs	Tries: Alan Ridley — minute unconfirmed; Mick Rankine — minute unconfirmed Goals: Les Mead (3/unconfirmed)

Teams

South Sydney			Western Suburbs
1	Arthur Spillane	Fullback	Frank McMillan	1
2	Benny Wearing	Wing	Alan Ridley	2
3	Pat Maher	Centre	Cliff Pearce	3
4	Alby Black	Centre	Ray Morris	4
5	Jack Why	Wing	Mick Rankine	5
6	Jim Deely	Five-eighth	Jack McGlinn	6
7	Percy Williams	Halfback	Les Mead	7
8	Eric Lewis	Lock	Frank Sponberg	8
9	George Treweek (c)	Second Row	Charlie Cornwell	9
10	Frank O'Connor	Second Row	Bill Ryan	10
11	Eddie Root	Prop	Cecil Rhodes	11
12	Jack Peterson	Hooker	Bob Lindfield	12
13	Frank Curran	Prop	Bill Brogan (c)	13
Substitutes
—	no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1932		no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1932	—

Charlie Lynch		Coach	Jim Craig

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

With unemployment near its Depression-era peak and Sydney still buzzing from the opening of the Harbour Bridge months earlier, the 1932 season closed with the challenge system once again rescuing the minor premiers. South Sydney topped the ladder and opened the finals impressively, crushing Eastern Suburbs 26-8 at the Sports Ground, while Western Suburbs accounted for Balmain 15-7. But in the Final on 17 September, Wests produced a stunning upset, hammering the minor premiers 23-8 in front of 18,724, a result that would have delivered the premiership under a first-past-the-post finals format. As minor premiers, however, South Sydney held the right of challenge, and the Grand Final rematch was set for 24 September at the Sydney Sports Ground, before a crowd of 16,925. This time Souths were ready for Wests' forwards, and the decider swung back and forth through the afternoon. Tries to Jack Why, Alby Black and Eric Lewis anchored the South Sydney attack, while Western Suburbs answered through wingers Alan Ridley and Mick Rankine, with Les Mead landing three goals to keep the challengers within reach at 14-12. The pivotal moment came when a towering penalty goal from champion winger Benny Wearing, who finished with four goals, Percy Williams adding another, edged Souths ahead, before Lewis's converted try sealed the 19-12 victory. The premiership was South Sydney's seventh in eight seasons, a run of sustained dominance unmatched in the competition's first twenty-five years. It also proved a watershed: the 1932 triumph closed the great pre-war Rabbitohs era, and the club would not lift another first-grade premiership until 1950. For Western Suburbs the defeat stung doubly: they had beaten the premiers comprehensively just a week earlier only to see the title slip away under the challenge rule, an experience mirroring their own 1930 escape, when Wests had themselves used the right of challenge to overturn a Final defeat. Vindication for the men from the west would come two years later; for now, the Sydney Sports Ground belonged once more to the cardinal and myrtle.

Sources

Data last verified: 11 August 2026.

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