1935 NSWRFL Grand Final
Saturday, 14 September 1935 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales
1935 NSWRFL Grand Final result: Eastern Suburbs def. South Sydney, 19-3, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales on Saturday, 14 September 1935.
Sourcing caveat: This match was officially the 'Final' under the right-of-challenge system; because minor premiers Eastern Suburbs won it, no challenge Grand Final was required and it stands as the season's premiership decider. In 1935 a try was worth 3 points and a goal 2 points; the scoring breakdown above reconciles exactly to 19-3 (Eastern Suburbs: Rod O'Loan x2, Jack Beaton, Harry Pierce and Fred Tottey tries x 3 = 15, plus Ross McKinnon 2 goals = 4, totalling 19; South Sydney: George Shankland's try x 3 = 3, no goals). RESOLVED: the previously-flagged discrepancy over Eastern Suburbs' fifth try-scorer (Wikipedia's Harry Pierce vs. other accounts' Joe Pearce) is settled in favour of Harry Pierce - rugbyleagueproject.org's structured scoresheet lists Pierce as the scorer, distinct from teammate Joe Pearce (also on the field, uncredited with a try), and the similarity of their surnames is the likely source of the earlier confusion. South Sydney centre Harry Eyers was sent off during the match per rugbyleagueproject.org, a fact not previously on this page; this is single-source (not corroborated by Wikipedia) and the minute and exact nature (dismissal vs. sin bin) could not be independently confirmed. Fred Tottey and Jack Beaton were drafted into the backline before kickoff to cover for the injured/rested Dave Brown - a pre-match team change, not an in-game interchange (none existed in this era). Squad numbers reflect standard positional numbering. Exact try minutes and goal-attempt counts could not be confirmed.
Result
| Team | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | Eastern Suburbs | 19 |
| Runner-up | South Sydney | 3 |
Attendance: 22,106
NRL 1935 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eastern Suburbs | 16 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 599 | 157 | +442 | 34 |
| 2 | South Sydney | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 314 | 222 | +92 | 26 |
| 3 | Western Suburbs | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 345 | 243 | +102 | 24 |
| 4 | North Sydney | 16 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 248 | 253 | -5 | 23 |
| 5 | Balmain | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 320 | 225 | +95 | 21 |
| 6 | Newtown | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 280 | 248 | +32 | 20 |
| 7 | St. George | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 334 | 162 | +172 | 20 |
| 8 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 16 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 150 | 660 | -510 | 8 |
| 9 | University | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 109 | 529 | -420 | 4 |
Qualified for the finals series — top 4 that season.
Finals series
Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Sep 1935 | South Sydney Rabbitohs 14–10 North Sydney Bears | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | |
| 7 Sep 1935 | Eastern Suburbs Roosters 15–10 Western Suburbs Magpies | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW |
Grand Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Sep 1935 | Eastern Suburbs Roosters 19–3 South Sydney Rabbitohs | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW |
Match officials
| Referee | Tom McMahon |
Scorers
| Eastern Suburbs | Tries: Rod O'Loan — minute unconfirmed; Rod O'Loan — minute unconfirmed; Jack Beaton — minute unconfirmed; Harry Pierce — minute unconfirmed; Fred Tottey — minute unconfirmed Goals: Ross McKinnon (2/unconfirmed) |
| South Sydney | Tries: George Shankland — minute unconfirmed Sin bin: Harry Eyers — sent off, minute unconfirmed, single-source (rugbyleagueproject.org) |
Teams
| Eastern Suburbs | South Sydney | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Dowling | Fullback | Les McDonald | 1 |
| 2 | Rod O'Loan | Wing | Harry Thompson | 2 |
| 3 | Ross McKinnon | Centre | Harry Eyers | 3 |
| 4 | Jack Beaton | Centre | Eddie Finucane | 4 |
| 5 | Fred Tottey | Wing | George Shankland | 5 |
| 6 | Ernie Norman | Five-eighth | Jack Stewart | 6 |
| 7 | Viv Thicknesse (c) | Halfback | Percy Williams (c) | 7 |
| 8 | Andy Norval | Lock | Eddie Hinson | 8 |
| 9 | Joe Pearce | Second Row | Michael Williams | 9 |
| 10 | Harry Pierce | Second Row | Frank Curran | 10 |
| 11 | Max Nixon | Prop | Eric Lewis | 11 |
| 12 | Tom McLachlan | Hooker | George Kilham | 12 |
| 13 | Ray Stehr | Prop | Jim McCormack | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| — | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1935; Fred Tottey and Jack Beaton were drafted into the backline pre-match to cover Dave Brown's absence | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1935 | — | |
| Arthur Halloway | Coach | Dave Watson | ||
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 1935 decider crowned one of the most devastating club sides Australian rugby league has ever produced. Eastern Suburbs stormed through the home-and-away rounds with fifteen wins from sixteen matches, piling up 599 points and handing Canterbury an 87-7 thrashing that still stands as the biggest score in premiership history. At the heart of it all was centre and captain Dave Brown, whose 244 points and 38 tries for the season remain all-time NSWRFL/NRL records nearly a century later. In the semi-final double-header at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 7 September, minor premiers Easts accounted for Western Suburbs 15-10 while second-placed South Sydney, the dominant club of the early 1930s chasing another title, beat North Sydney 14-10. The Final a week later was expected to be a genuine contest, all the more so because Easts had to take the field without Brown, sidelined and unable to add to his record haul. Instead, the Tricolours barely missed him. Eastern Suburbs led 9-0 at half-time and, in the words of contemporary accounts, were never headed. Winger Rod O'Loan crossed for two tries, Fred Tottey and Jack Beaton, drafted into the backline in Brown's absence, also scored, and second-rower Harry Pierce added a fifth try, with Ross McKinnon kicking two goals in the 19-3 victory. George Shankland's try was South Sydney's only reply. The 22,106-strong crowd watched Easts complete a premiership won with a points differential and attacking swagger unmatched in the competition's first three decades. It was the club's fifth premiership and first since 1923, and the opening leg of what would become a hat-trick of titles across 1935, 1936 and 1937, the golden era of the pre-war Tricolours. Under the finals rules of the day the match was officially the Final rather than a grand final: as minor premiers, Eastern Suburbs would have retained a right of challenge had they lost, but their comprehensive win rendered the question academic and the premiership was settled on the day. No official best-on-ground award existed, though O'Loan's double made him the match's standout scorer in press reports of the era.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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