1938 NSWRFL Grand Final
Saturday, 3 September 1938 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales
1938 NSWRFL Grand Final result: Canterbury-Bankstown def. Eastern Suburbs, 19-6, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales on Saturday, 3 September 1938.
Sourcing caveat: This match was officially the 'Final' under the right-of-challenge system; because minor premiers Canterbury-Bankstown won it, no challenge Grand Final was required and it stands as the season's premiership decider. In 1938 a try was worth 3 points and a goal 2 points; the scoring breakdown above reconciles exactly to 19-6 (Canterbury: Joe Gartner x2 and Jim Duncombe tries x 3 = 9, plus Tommy Kirk 4 goals and Roy McCarter 1 goal = 10, totalling 19; Eastern Suburbs: Aiden Cairns and Dick Dunn tries x 3 = 6, no goals). Duncombe's try was his only one for the club. Referee and Eastern Suburbs coach (Arthur Halloway) are corroborated across multiple source passes but with slightly lower confidence than other fields, since rugbyleagueproject.org was only reachable via a summarizing fetch tool rather than raw HTML in this session. 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 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 19 |
| Runner-up | Eastern Suburbs | 6 |
Attendance: 20,287
NRL 1938 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 276 | 135 | +141 | 24 |
| 2 | South Sydney | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 254 | 145 | +109 | 19 |
| 3 | Balmain | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 238 | 176 | +62 | 15 |
| 3 | Eastern Suburbs | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 228 | 203 | +25 | 15 |
| 5 | North Sydney | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 163 | 220 | -57 | 12 |
| 6 | Newtown | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 174 | 228 | -54 | 11 |
| 7 | Western Suburbs | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 155 | 265 | -110 | 9 |
| 8 | St. George | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 159 | 275 | -116 | 7 |
Qualified for the finals series — top 4 that season.
Finals series
Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Aug 1938 | Canterbury-Bankstown 31–24 Balmain Tigers | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 10,751 |
| 27 Aug 1938 | Eastern Suburbs Roosters 19–10 South Sydney Rabbitohs | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 14,161 |
Grand Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Sep 1938 | Canterbury-Bankstown 19–6 Eastern Suburbs Roosters | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW |
Match officials
| Referee | Tom McMahon |
Scorers
| Canterbury-Bankstown | Tries: Joe Gartner — minute unconfirmed; Joe Gartner — minute unconfirmed; Jim Duncombe — minute unconfirmed, his only try for the club Goals: Tommy Kirk (4/unconfirmed); Roy McCarter (1/unconfirmed) |
| Eastern Suburbs | Tries: Aiden Cairns — minute unconfirmed; Dick Dunn — minute unconfirmed |
Teams
| Canterbury-Bankstown | Eastern Suburbs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tommy Kirk | Fullback | Jim Norton | 1 |
| 2 | Edgar Newham | Wing | Aiden Cairns | 2 |
| 3 | Alan Brady (c) | Centre | Dick Dunn | 3 |
| 4 | Jim Champion | Centre | Rod O'Loan | 4 |
| 5 | Joe Gartner | Wing | Percy Dermond | 5 |
| 6 | Jim Duncombe | Five-eighth | Stan Callaghan | 6 |
| 7 | Roy McCarter | Halfback | Fred Robinson | 7 |
| 8 | Frank Sponberg | Lock | Andy Norval | 8 |
| 9 | Jim McCormack | Second Row | Joe Pearce | 9 |
| 10 | Roy McCallum | Second Row | Harry Pierce | 10 |
| 11 | Eddie Burns | Prop | Ray Stehr (c) | 11 |
| 12 | Roy Kirkaldy | Hooker | Noel Hollingdale | 12 |
| 13 | Harry Porter | Prop | Jack Arnold | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| — | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1938 | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1938 | — | |
| Jimmy Craig | 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 1938 decider produced one of the great early fairytales of the Sydney premiership: Canterbury-Bankstown, admitted to the competition only in 1935 and wooden-spooners in their infancy, lifted the trophy in just their fourth season, in the year the NSWRFL celebrated its thirtieth anniversary. Coached by former Test centre Jimmy Craig, Canterbury were no bolters by September: they had swept to the minor premiership with eleven wins, two draws and a single loss, well clear of second-placed South Sydney. In the semi-finals they outlasted Balmain 31-24 in a high-scoring affair at the Sydney Cricket Ground, while Eastern Suburbs, the fading three-time champions of 1935-37 who had scraped into the four with a modest six wins, beat Souths 19-10 a week later to earn a shot at the newcomers. In the Final on 3 September, before 20,287 at the SCG, Easts scored first and briefly threatened to summon their old authority. But Canterbury's superior teamwork and relentless forward play, marshalled by captain Alan Brady and built around experienced hooker Roy Kirkaldy, 'The Prince of Hookers', wore the Tricolours down. Winger Joe Gartner crossed twice and Jim Duncombe added a third try, while Tommy Kirk landed four goals and Roy McCarter one; Cairns and Dick Dunn managed a try apiece in reply as Canterbury ran out 19-6 winners. Brady was chaired from the field by jubilant teammates, the first man to hold aloft a premiership for the club that would become the Bulldogs. Front-rower Eddie Burns later recalled what the win meant in Depression-era Sydney, when player payments hinged on gate receipts: 'You got paid depending on the gate takings, and making a final meant good money to us.' As minor premiers, Canterbury held the right of challenge had they lost, but their victory in the Final settled the premiership outright on the day. The triumph remains a foundation stone of the club's identity, the breakthrough that turned a battling expansion side from Sydney's south-west into premiers inside four years, a rise scarcely matched since.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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