1942 NSWRFL Grand Final
Saturday, 12 September 1942 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales
1942 NSWRFL Grand Final result: Canterbury-Bankstown def. St. George, 11-9, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales on Saturday, 12 September 1942.
Sourcing caveat: The 1942 premiership was decided under the right-of-challenge system: St. George won 'the Final' 18-5 over Eastern Suburbs on 5 September 1942, but beaten minor premiers Canterbury-Bankstown exercised their right of challenge, and the resulting challenge Grand Final on 12 September (recorded on this page) decided the premiership - meaning Canterbury won the title despite having lost their semi-final. In 1942 a try was worth 3 points and a goal 2 points; the scoring breakdown above reconciles exactly to 11-9 (Canterbury: Bob Jackson's try x 3 = 3, plus Lin Johnson 4 goals = 8, totalling 11; St George: Jack Lindwall's try x 3 = 3, plus Ray Lindwall 3 goals = 6, totalling 9). CORRECTION to this page's earlier prose: the goal counts were previously understated as 3 for Johnson and 1 for Ray Lindwall (the prose described only 'two more penalty goals' after Johnson's opener, and a single Lindwall penalty); rugbyleagueproject.org's structured scoring data instead gives Johnson 4 goals and Ray Lindwall 3 goals, which is required for the 11-9 scoreline to balance exactly. The exact type breakdown (conversions vs. penalties) for each kicker's goals could not be confirmed - Wikipedia's narrative suggests Ray Lindwall's tally was a mix including a conversion of Jack Lindwall's try, not all penalties as the previous prose implied. The official attendance of 26,171 undercounts the true crowd: an estimated 7,000 spectators jumped the fence during the reserve-grade curtain-raiser and some 5,000 more crowded the touchlines. Squad numbers follow standard era positional numbering and are retained.
Result
| Team | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | Canterbury-Bankstown | 11 |
| Runner-up | St. George | 9 |
Attendance: 26,171
NRL 1942 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 264 | 162 | +102 | 20 |
| 2 | Balmain | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 223 | 192 | +31 | 20 |
| 3 | St. George | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 271 | 205 | +66 | 18 |
| 4 | Eastern Suburbs | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 213 | 214 | -1 | 16 |
| 5 | South Sydney | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 209 | 191 | +18 | 15 |
| 6 | North Sydney | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 220 | 216 | +4 | 10 |
| 7 | Newtown | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 189 | 266 | -77 | 9 |
| 8 | Western Suburbs | 14 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 148 | 291 | -143 | 4 |
Qualified for the finals series — top 4 that season.
Finals series
Playoff
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Aug 1942 | Canterbury-Bankstown 26–20 Balmain Tigers | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 17,247 |
Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Aug 1942 | St. George 25–10 Canterbury-Bankstown | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 26,467 |
| 29 Aug 1942 | Eastern Suburbs Roosters 20–14 Balmain Tigers | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 19,782 |
Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Sep 1942 | St. George 18–5 Eastern Suburbs Roosters | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 30,858 |
Grand Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Sep 1942 | Canterbury-Bankstown 11–9 St. George | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW |
Match officials
| Referee | Jack O'Brien |
Scorers
| Canterbury-Bankstown | Tries: Bob Jackson — minute unconfirmed Goals: Lin Johnson (4/unconfirmed) |
| St. George | Tries: Jack Lindwall — minute unconfirmed Goals: Ray Lindwall (3/unconfirmed) |
Teams
| Canterbury-Bankstown | St. George | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lin Johnson | Fullback | Ray Lindwall | 1 |
| 2 | Edgar Newham | Wing | Doug McRitchie | 2 |
| 3 | Ron Bailey (c) | Centre | Eddie McHugh | 3 |
| 4 | Ron Knight | Centre | Noel Jones | 4 |
| 5 | Bob Jackson | Wing | Jack Lindwall | 5 |
| 6 | Tom Ezart | Five-eighth | Cedric Turvey | 6 |
| 7 | Jack Bonnyman | Halfback | Eddie Laurence | 7 |
| 8 | Frank Sponberg | Lock | Billy Collier | 8 |
| 9 | Bob Farrar | Second Row | Len Kelly (c) | 9 |
| 10 | George Elley | Second Row | Alastair Clarke | 10 |
| 11 | Eddie Burns | Prop | Bill McRitchie | 11 |
| 12 | Roy Kirkaldy | Hooker | Herb Gilbert | 12 |
| 13 | Henry Porter | Prop | Charlie Montgomery | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| — | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1942 | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1942 | — | |
| Jerry Brien | Coach | Len Kelly | ||
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 1942 premiership was decided in the darkest year of the Pacific war, only months after Japanese midget submarines had raided Sydney Harbour, yet the competition played on, and produced the strangest finish of the wartime seasons. Canterbury-Bankstown and Balmain finished level on 20 points, forcing a playoff that Canterbury won 26-20 to claim the minor premiership and, crucially, the right of challenge that came with it. That right proved decisive, because Canterbury were then beaten 25-10 by St. George in their semi-final. St. George marched on, defeating Eastern Suburbs 18-5 in the Final on 5 September, but under the era's rules that match could not end the season, for the beaten minor premiers were entitled to challenge. So on 12 September, Canterbury-Bankstown met St. George at the Sydney Cricket Ground in a challenge Grand Final. The official attendance was 26,171, though the true crowd was larger: an estimated 7,000 jumped the fence during the reserve-grade curtain-raiser and some 5,000 spectators crowded the touchlines. On a pitch reduced to a muddy quagmire with a treacherous patch in the centre, Canterbury played a shrewd, forward-oriented game, hooker Roy Kirkaldy winning the crucial scrums and Henry Porter handling and kicking superbly to starve St. George's dangerous backline. Lin Johnson opened with a penalty goal before winger Bob Jackson finished a 75-yard run to score, and St. George replied through a try to Jack Lindwall; at half-time it was locked at 7-7. Jack's brother Ray Lindwall, later one of cricket's greatest fast bowlers, kept the Saints in touch with further goals of his own, finishing with three for the match, but Johnson matched him shot for shot and finished with four goals in all, the match-winner scraping over the crossbar after he had been tackled illegally, and Canterbury held on 11-9. Captained by Ron Bailey, Canterbury-Bankstown thus won the premiership despite losing their semi-final; the right of challenge, so often a formality, had delivered a title. It was Canterbury-Bankstown's second premiership, adding to their breakthrough triumph of 1938, and it remains one of the great curiosities of the code's finals history.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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