1934 NSWRFL Grand Final
Saturday, 8 September 1934 · Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, New South Wales
1934 NSWRFL Grand Final result: Western Suburbs def. Eastern Suburbs, 15-12, at Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, New South Wales on Saturday, 8 September 1934.
Sourcing caveat: The decider was formally the challenge-era 'Final'; as minor premiers Western Suburbs won it, no right-of-challenge match followed. Wests' minor premiership itself came via the 11 August playoff (7-2 over Eastern Suburbs, att. 20,098) after the clubs tied on competition points, despite Easts' better points differential. Originally scheduled 1 September; postponed one week for rain, the first postponement in NSWRFL history. In 1934 a try was worth 3 points and a goal 2 points; the scoring breakdown above reconciles exactly to 15-12 (Western Suburbs: Alan Ridley x2 and Vince Sheehan tries x 3 = 9, plus Les Mead 2 goals and Frank McMillan 1 goal = 6, totalling 15; Eastern Suburbs: Andy Norval and Viv Thicknesse tries x 3 = 6, plus Jack Beaton 2 goals and Dave Brown 1 goal = 6, totalling 12). Full lineups and the try/goal splits were sourced primarily from a scanned original 1934 match program (westsarchives.com.au), a stronger-than-usual primary source for this era. Squad numbers could not be confirmed as genuine on-field jersey numbers and have been omitted. Exact try minutes and goal-attempt counts could not be confirmed.
Result
| Team | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | Western Suburbs | 15 |
| Runner-up | Eastern Suburbs | 12 |
Attendance: 25,174
NRL 1934 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Western Suburbs | 14 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 263 | 158 | +105 | 24 |
| 2 | Eastern Suburbs | 14 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 308 | 165 | +143 | 24 |
| 3 | St. George | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 251 | 166 | +85 | 18 |
| 4 | South Sydney | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 213 | 149 | +64 | 16 |
| 5 | Newtown | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 192 | 229 | -37 | 10 |
| 6 | North Sydney | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 194 | 234 | -40 | 10 |
| 7 | Balmain | 14 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 206 | 275 | -69 | 8 |
| 8 | University | 14 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 113 | 364 | -251 | 2 |
Qualified for the finals series — top 4 that season.
Finals series
Playoff
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Aug 1934 | Western Suburbs Magpies 7–2 Eastern Suburbs Roosters | Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, NSW | 20,098 |
Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 Aug 1934 | Western Suburbs Magpies 16–6 St. George | Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, NSW | 16,154 |
| 25 Aug 1934 | Eastern Suburbs Roosters 19–6 South Sydney Rabbitohs | Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, NSW | 17,775 |
Grand Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Sep 1934 | Western Suburbs Magpies 15–12 Eastern Suburbs Roosters | Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, NSW |
Match officials
| Referee | J. Murphy |
Scorers
| Western Suburbs | Tries: Alan Ridley — minute unconfirmed; Alan Ridley — minute unconfirmed; Vince Sheehan — minute unconfirmed Goals: Les Mead (2/unconfirmed); Frank McMillan (1/unconfirmed) |
| Eastern Suburbs | Tries: Andy Norval — minute unconfirmed; Viv Thicknesse — minute unconfirmed Goals: Jack Beaton (2/unconfirmed); Dave Brown (1/unconfirmed) |
Teams
| Western Suburbs | Eastern Suburbs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank McMillan (c) | Fullback | Tom Dowling | 1 |
| 2 | Vince Sheehan | Wing | John Lane | 2 |
| 3 | Alan Ridley | Wing | Harold Thompson | 3 |
| 4 | Stan Tancred | Centre | Dave Brown (c) | 4 |
| 5 | Alan Brady | Centre | Jack Beaton | 5 |
| 6 | Vic Hey | Five-eighth | Ernie Norman | 6 |
| 7 | Les Mead | Halfback | Viv Thicknesse | 7 |
| 8 | Charlie Cornwell | Prop | Max Nixon | 8 |
| 9 | Bob Lindfield | Hooker | Tom McLachlan | 9 |
| 10 | Alan Blake | Prop | Ray Stehr | 10 |
| 11 | Max Gray | Second Row | Harry Pierce | 11 |
| 12 | Jack McConnell | Second Row | Joe Pearce | 12 |
| 13 | Frank Sponberg | Lock | Andy Norval | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| — | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1934 | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1934 | — | |
| Frank McMillan | 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
The 1934 season produced the most convoluted road to a premiership in the competition's first three decades, and a decider worthy of it. Western Suburbs and Eastern Suburbs finished the home-and-away rounds locked together with twelve wins apiece, and rather than split them on points difference the league ordered a playoff for the minor premiership. On 11 August, before 20,098 at the Sports Ground, Wests ground out a 7-2 win to be declared minor premiers, despite Easts holding the superior points differential, a decision that mattered enormously under the challenge system, since the minor premiers alone carried the right to a second chance in the finals. Both heavyweights then won their semi-finals, Western Suburbs beating St. George 16-6 and Eastern Suburbs dismissing South Sydney 19-6, to set up a rematch in the Final. Scheduled for 1 September, the decider was postponed for a week because of heavy rain and adverse ground conditions, the first postponement in the competition's twenty-seven-year history. When the teams finally met on 8 September at the Sydney Sports Ground, a crowd of 25,174, the largest for any premiership decider to that point in the 1930s, watched a tense, high-quality struggle. Brilliant winger Alan Ridley scored two tries and Vince Sheehan another for Western Suburbs, with Les Mead and veteran captain and fullback Frank McMillan landing the goals; Eastern Suburbs answered through tries to Andy Norval and Viv Thicknesse, with Jack Beaton and the great Dave Brown converting, but fell three points short at 15-12. Because minor premiers Wests had won the Final outright, no challenge match was possible and the premiership was theirs, the club's second title, adding to the 1930 crown and completing a fitting reward for McMillan, the last survivor of that first triumph, in the twilight of his storied career. It was a genuine changing of the guard: the beaten Tricolours, built around Brown's incomparable point-scoring, would sweep the next three premierships from 1935 to 1937, making Wests' 1934 victory the last time anyone lowered Easts' colours on the big day for years, and the Magpies' own last premiership until 1948.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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