1944 NSWRFL Grand Final

Saturday, 16 September 1944 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales

1944 Grand Final ▾

1944 NSWRFL Grand Final result: Balmain def. Newtown, 12-8, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales on Saturday, 16 September 1944.

Sourcing caveat: The 1944 premiership was decided over two matches under the right-of-challenge system: Balmain first beat Newtown 19-16 in the Final on 9 September 1944 (attendance 41,807), after which minor premiers Newtown exercised their right of challenge, and Balmain won the resulting challenge Grand Final 12-8 on 16 September 1944. The fields on this page record the challenge Grand Final, the match that finally decided the premiership. In 1944 a try was worth 3 points and a goal 2 points; the scoring breakdown above reconciles exactly to 12-8 (Balmain: Pat Devery and Keith Parkinson tries x 3 = 6, plus Joe Jorgenson 3 goals = 6, totalling 12; Newtown: Frank Farrell and Lin McLean tries x 3 = 6, plus Tom Kirk 1 goal = 2, totalling 8). Bruce Ryan replaced the injured or unavailable Len Smith at centre for this match. Squad numbers are confirmed as plausible sequential 1-13 jersey numbers matching listed positions and are retained. Exact try minutes could not be confirmed.

Result

	Team	Score
Winner	Balmain	12
Runner-up	Newtown	8

Attendance: 24,186

NRL 1944 — full season ladder & finals series

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	Pts
1	Newtown	14	11	0	3	379	220	+159	22
2	Balmain	14	10	1	3	402	171	+231	21
3	St. George	14	9	0	5	230	238	-8	18
4	South Sydney	14	7	1	6	193	287	-94	15
5	North Sydney	14	5	1	8	204	202	+2	11
6	Western Suburbs	14	4	2	8	180	246	-66	10
7	Eastern Suburbs	14	4	0	10	227	360	-133	8
8	Canterbury-Bankstown	14	3	1	10	206	297	-91	7

Qualified for the finals series — top 4 that season.

Finals series

Semi-Final

Date	Result	Venue	Attendance
26 Aug 1944	Newtown 55–7 St. George	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW	34,883
2 Sep 1944	Balmain Tigers 15–6 South Sydney Rabbitohs	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW	28,237

Final

Date	Result	Venue	Attendance
9 Sep 1944	Balmain Tigers 19–16 Newtown	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW	41,807

Grand Final

Date	Result	Venue	Attendance
16 Sep 1944	Balmain Tigers 12–8 Newtown	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW

Permalink to this season's ladder page →

Match officials

Referee	Jack O'Brien

Scorers

Balmain	Tries: Pat Devery — minute unconfirmed; Keith Parkinson — minute unconfirmed Goals: Joe Jorgenson (3/4)
Newtown	Tries: Frank Farrell — minute unconfirmed; Lin McLean — minute unconfirmed Goals: Tom Kirk (1/2)

Teams

Balmain			Newtown
1	Dave Parkinson	Fullback	Tom Kirk	1
2	Arthur Patton (c)	Wing	Sid Goodwin	2
3	Joe Jorgenson	Centre	Lin McLean	3
4	Tom Bourke	Centre	Bruce Ryan	4
5	Keith Parkinson	Wing	Norm Jacobson	5
6	Stan Ponchard	Five-eighth	Tommy Nevin	6
7	Pat Devery	Halfback	Jack Kadwell	7
8	Jack Hampstead	Lock	Charles Cahill	8
9	Sid Ryan	Second Row	Leo Ryan	9
10	Athol Smith	Second Row	Keith Phillips	10
11	Colin Campbell	Prop	Charlie Montgomery	11
12	George Watt	Hooker	Jim Brailey	12
13	Dawson Buckley	Prop	Frank Farrell (c)	13
Substitutes
—	no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1944		no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1944; Bruce Ryan replaced Len Smith at centre for this match	—

Norm Robinson		Coach	Arthur Folwell

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 last full wartime season ended with the premiership being decided twice, Balmain having to beat Newtown on consecutive Saturdays to lift the trophy. Defending premiers Newtown claimed the minor premiership with an 11-3 record and opened the finals in terrifying style, annihilating St. George 55-7, a margin that stood as the Saints' heaviest defeat for half a century, until 1994. Balmain beat South Sydney 15-6 in the other semi-final to set up the Final of 9 September, where 41,807 saw the Tigers edge a magnificent contest 19-16. But because Newtown were minor premiers, the era's right-of-challenge rule gave them one more life, and they invoked it, forcing a challenge Grand Final at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 16 September. The week between the two matches was cruel to the Bluebags: injuries and war duties stripped them of key men, including the brilliant Len Smith and boxer-forward Herb Narvo, both of whom had starred in the 1943 triumph. Before 24,186, the rematch became a tense, low-scoring struggle. Balmain, captained by winger Arthur Patton, led just 5-3 at half-time. Halfback Pat Devery and winger Keith Parkinson scored the Tigers' tries, while Newtown answered through their captain Frank 'Bumper' Farrell and centre Lin McLean, with Tom Kirk landing a goal. With the game in the balance in the closing stages, Balmain's representative centre Joe Jorgenson, who finished with three goals, coolly kicked two late penalty goals to settle it, 12-8. Balmain thus completed the rare feat of beating the same opponent twice to seal a premiership, and denied Newtown back-to-back titles; the Bluebags, so dominant all season, had lost the two matches that mattered most. It was Balmain's eighth premiership, their first since 1939, and the springboard for a golden post-war run in which the Tigers appeared in three more deciders and won again in 1946 and 1947. For Newtown, the near-miss of 1944 was the beginning of a long fade: the club that had drawn wartime Sydney's biggest crowds would never win another premiership.

Sources

Data last verified: 11 August 2026.

← All Grand Finals

← Rugby League · Champions list · All-time records · World Cup · All competitions · Venues · Teams · Players