1943 NSWRFL Grand Final
Saturday, 4 September 1943 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales
1943 NSWRFL Grand Final result: Newtown def. North Sydney, 34-7, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales on Saturday, 4 September 1943.
Sourcing caveat: The 1943 premiership was decided under the right-of-challenge system: North Sydney won 'the Final' 25-19 over St. George on 28 August 1943, but beaten minor premiers Newtown exercised their right of challenge, and the resulting challenge Grand Final on 4 September (recorded on this page) decided the premiership. In 1943 a try was worth 3 points and a goal 2 points; the scoring breakdown above reconciles exactly to 34-7 (Newtown: Sid Goodwin x2, Bruce Ryan, Jim Brailey, Keith Phillips, Herb Narvo, Len Smith and Frank Farrell tries x 3 = 24, plus Tom Kirk 5 goals = 10, totalling 34; North Sydney: Johnny McLachlan's try x 3 = 3, plus Ted Rudd 2 goals = 4, totalling 7). The 60,922 attendance was a wartime-record crowd for rugby league in Australia, with thousands more locked out or watching from vantage points outside the ground; North Sydney was without fullback Neville Butler, killed in an RAAF action shortly before the match. Frank Hyde was North Sydney's captain-coach. Exact try minutes and goal-attempt counts could not be confirmed.
Result
| Team | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | Newtown | 34 |
| Runner-up | North Sydney | 7 |
Attendance: 60,922
NRL 1943 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newtown | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 272 | 143 | +129 | 21 |
| 2 | Balmain | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 178 | 131 | +47 | 21 |
| 3 | North Sydney | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 193 | 124 | +69 | 17 |
| 4 | St. George | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 185 | 188 | -3 | 17 |
| 5 | South Sydney | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 161 | 147 | +14 | 16 |
| 6 | Eastern Suburbs | 14 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 131 | 214 | -83 | 8 |
| 7 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 115 | 244 | -129 | 6 |
| 8 | Western Suburbs | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 132 | 176 | -44 | 6 |
Qualified for the finals series — top 4 that season.
Finals series
Playoff
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Aug 1943 | Newtown 11–10 Balmain Tigers | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 47,232 |
Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Aug 1943 | North Sydney Bears 21–16 Newtown | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 35,920 |
| 21 Aug 1943 | St. George 12–5 Balmain Tigers | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 27,395 |
Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Aug 1943 | North Sydney Bears 25–19 St. George | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 41,646 |
Grand Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Sep 1943 | Newtown 34–7 North Sydney Bears | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW |
Match officials
| Referee | Jack O'Brien |
Scorers
| Newtown | Tries: Sid Goodwin — minute unconfirmed; Sid Goodwin — minute unconfirmed; Bruce Ryan — minute unconfirmed; Jim Brailey — minute unconfirmed; Keith Phillips — minute unconfirmed; Herb Narvo — minute unconfirmed; Len Smith — minute unconfirmed; Frank Farrell — minute unconfirmed Goals: Tom Kirk (5/unconfirmed) |
| North Sydney | Tries: Johnny McLachlan — minute unconfirmed Goals: Ted Rudd (2/unconfirmed) |
Teams
| Newtown | North Sydney | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Kirk | Fullback | Stan Ridgway | 1 |
| 2 | Sid Goodwin | Wing | Ron Ainsworth | 2 |
| 3 | Len Smith | Centre | Frank Hyde (c) | 3 |
| 4 | Norm Jacobson | Centre | Ted Rudd | 4 |
| 5 | Bruce Ryan | Wing | Frank Collins | 5 |
| 6 | Tommy Nevin | Five-eighth | Cyril McMahon | 6 |
| 7 | Paddy Bugden | Halfback | Johnny McLachlan | 7 |
| 8 | Charles Cahill | Lock | Don McKinnon | 8 |
| 9 | Keith Phillips | Second Row | Gerard Scully | 9 |
| 10 | Herb Narvo | Second Row | Harry McKinnon | 10 |
| 11 | Frank Farrell (c) | Prop | Frank Facer | 11 |
| 12 | Jim Brailey | Hooker | Laurie Doran | 12 |
| 13 | Gordon McLennan | Prop | Max Whitehead | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| — | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1943 | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1943 | — | |
| Arthur Folwell | Coach | Frank Hyde | ||
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
In the fourth wartime season, with rosters stripped by military call-ups, Newtown and Balmain tied atop the ladder and met in a playoff that drew an extraordinary 47,232 to the Sydney Cricket Ground; Newtown won 11-10 to secure the minor premiership and its attached right of challenge. As in 1942, that right decided the premiership. Newtown were upset 21-16 by North Sydney in their semi-final, St. George beat Balmain 12-5, and North Sydney then defeated St. George 25-19 in the Final on 28 August, but the beaten minor premiers exercised their challenge, forcing a Grand Final on 4 September. Wartime Sydney, starved of entertainment, responded astonishingly: a record crowd of 60,922, the largest ever to watch rugby league in Australia to that date, packed the SCG, with uniformed service personnel admitted free, thousands more watching from roofs and vantage points outside, gates closed by police two hours before kick-off, some 10,000 fans locked out, and desperate latecomers offering up to ten pounds for a stand seat. North Sydney, captained by Frank Hyde, had beaten Newtown in the semi-final but were weakened by servicemen on active duty; their fullback Neville Butler had been killed in an Air Force action not long before the decider. Newtown, captained by the fearsome Frank 'Bumper' Farrell, turned North Sydney's short-kicking tactics into an attacking weapon of their own and led 14-0 at half-time. The Bluebags ran in eight tries, winger Sid Goodwin scoring twice, with Ryan, Brailey, Phillips, the heavyweight boxing champion Herb Narvo, Len Smith and Farrell himself also crossing, and fullback Tom Kirk landing five goals. North Sydney's only reply was a try to Johnny McLachlan and two Ted Rudd goals. The 34-7 result, headlined by the Sydney Morning Herald as 'Newtown's Easy Victory', established a 27-point record winning margin for a premiership decider. It was Newtown's third premiership, after 1910 and 1933, and it would prove their last: the foundation club never won again before leaving the top flight after the 1983 season, leaving this vast wartime afternoon as the final summit of one of the game's original clubs.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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