1941 NSWRFL Grand Final
Saturday, 30 August 1941 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales
1941 NSWRFL Grand Final result: St. George def. Eastern Suburbs, 31-14, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales on Saturday, 30 August 1941.
Sourcing caveat: 1941 was a unique wartime season: Eastern Suburbs, Balmain and Canterbury-Bankstown all finished level on competition points, so no outright minor premier existed and no club held the era's customary right of challenge - the decider was winner-take-all between the two semi-final winners. In 1941 a try was worth 3 points and a goal 2 points; the scoring breakdown above reconciles exactly to 31-14 (St George: Gordon Hart, Roy Hasson x2, Owen Campbell x2, Len Kelly and Neville Smith tries x 3 = 21, plus Smith 5 goals = 10, totalling 31; Eastern Suburbs: Percy Dermond x2, Wal Bamford and Dave Brown tries x 3 = 12, plus Brown 1 goal = 2, totalling 14). CORRECTION to this page's earlier prose: the St George double try-scorer was previously spelled 'Hanson'; every source checked (Wikipedia's season article, Roy Hasson's own biography page, and St George's own club retrospective) spells it Hasson, and the prose has been corrected accordingly. Eastern Suburbs' captain-coach for this match was Ray Stehr, not Dave Brown as might otherwise be assumed - Brown played centre. Two send-offs for fighting are confirmed (Bill Tyquin for St George, Jack Arnold for Eastern Suburbs) but no in-game sin bin, since send-offs simply ended each player's involvement rather than a timed bin. Squad numbers reflect standard positional numbering; no printed program numbers were found. Exact try minutes and goal-attempt counts could not be confirmed.
Result
| Team | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | St. George | 31 |
| Runner-up | Eastern Suburbs | 14 |
Attendance: 39,957
NRL 1941 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eastern Suburbs | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 217 | 160 | +57 | 18 |
| 2 | Balmain | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 243 | 205 | +38 | 18 |
| 3 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 205 | 182 | +23 | 18 |
| 4 | St. George | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 307 | 248 | +59 | 17 |
| 5 | Newtown | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 219 | 242 | -23 | 14 |
| 6 | Western Suburbs | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 247 | 226 | +21 | 12 |
| 7 | South Sydney | 14 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 193 | 277 | -84 | 8 |
| 8 | North Sydney | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 171 | 262 | -91 | 7 |
Qualified for the finals series — top 4 that season.
Finals series
Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 Aug 1941 | Eastern Suburbs Roosters 24–22 Canterbury-Bankstown | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 21,000 |
| 23 Aug 1941 | St. George 32–8 Balmain Tigers | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 26,790 |
Grand Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Aug 1941 | St. George 31–14 Eastern Suburbs Roosters | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW |
Match officials
| Referee | Tom McMahon |
Scorers
| St. George | Tries: Gordon Hart — minute unconfirmed; Roy Hasson — minute unconfirmed; Roy Hasson — minute unconfirmed; Owen Campbell — minute unconfirmed; Owen Campbell — minute unconfirmed; Len Kelly — minute unconfirmed; Neville Smith — minute unconfirmed Goals: Neville Smith (5/unconfirmed) Sin bin: Bill Tyquin |
| Eastern Suburbs | Tries: Percy Dermond — minute unconfirmed; Percy Dermond — minute unconfirmed; Wal Bamford — minute unconfirmed; Dave Brown — minute unconfirmed Goals: Dave Brown (1/unconfirmed) Sin bin: Jack Arnold |
Teams
| St. George | Eastern Suburbs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack Wedgwood | Fullback | Doug Bartlett | 1 |
| 2 | Owen Campbell | Wing | Percy Dermond | 2 |
| 3 | Gordon Hart | Centre | Dick Dunn | 3 |
| 4 | Jack Gilbert | Centre | Dave Brown | 4 |
| 5 | Noel Jones | Wing | Brian Walsh | 5 |
| 6 | Roy Hasson | Five-eighth | Fred May | 6 |
| 7 | Alby McAndrew | Halfback | Sel Lisle | 7 |
| 8 | Charlie Montgomery | Prop | Jack Arnold | 8 |
| 9 | Herb Gilbert (Jr) | Hooker | Noel Hollingdale | 9 |
| 10 | Lindsay Spencer | Prop | Ray Stehr (c) | 10 |
| 11 | Neville Smith (c) | Second Row | Don Gulliver | 11 |
| 12 | Len Kelly | Second Row | Sid Pearce | 12 |
| 13 | Bill Tyquin | Lock | Wal Bamford | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| — | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1941 | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1941 | — | |
| Neville Smith | Coach | Ray Stehr | ||
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
By 1941 the war was reshaping Sydney football in visible ways: St. George centre Gordon Hart had enlisted in the AIF and was given permission to leave barracks to play in the finals, while Queensland representative lock Bill Tyquin turned out for the Saints only because he was stationed in Sydney on AIF duty. The season produced a statistical oddity that shaped the finals: Eastern Suburbs, Balmain and Canterbury-Bankstown all finished level on 18 competition points at the top of the ladder, and because no outright minor premier existed, no club held the era's customary right of challenge, meaning the decider would be winner-take-all. Fourth-placed St. George seized their chance. Eastern Suburbs edged Canterbury 24-22 in a thrilling first semi-final, then St. George crushed Balmain 32-8 a week later, and the two winners met at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 30 August with 39,957 in attendance. What followed was one of the most emphatic finals performances of the era. St. George's captain-coach Neville Smith was knocked out early in the match, but he recovered to produce a masterful display, finishing with 13 points from a try and five goals. Around him the Saints ran in seven tries, Campbell and Hasson crossing twice each, with Smith, Kelly and the soldier Hart, who gave a sparkling display in the centres, completing the rout. Tempers frayed as the margin grew, and Eastern Suburbs prop Jack Arnold and St. George lock Tyquin were both sent off for fighting. Easts managed tries to Dermond (two), Bamford and the great Dave Brown, who also landed a goal, but they were comprehensively beaten 31-14. The result delivered St. George the first premiership in the club's history, twenty years after their 1921 admission to the competition, and it was achieved from fourth place on the ladder, a feat made possible only by the season's unique no-challenge circumstances. The match also marked the end of an era: Brown, Eastern Suburbs' incomparable point-scoring machine of the 1930s, retired after the game at just 29 years of age, closing one of the greatest careers the code had seen just as the Saints, a club that would come to define post-war dominance, celebrated their maiden title.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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