1945 NSWRFL Grand Final
Saturday, 1 September 1945 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales
1945 NSWRFL Grand Final result: Eastern Suburbs def. Balmain, 22-18, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales on Saturday, 1 September 1945.
Sourcing caveat: This Grand Final was decided outright in a single match: minor premiers Eastern Suburbs won it, so no challenge decider was required (unlike the preceding 1944 season, which needed two matches, and the following 1946 and 1947 seasons, which each required a challenge Grand Final). In 1945 a try was worth 3 points and a goal 2 points; the scoring breakdown above reconciles exactly to 22-18 (Eastern Suburbs: Dick Dunn x3 and Jack Arnold tries x 3 = 12, plus Dunn 5 goals = 10, totalling 22; Balmain: Stan Ponchard x2, Ted Dawes and Bob Nielsen tries x 3 = 12, plus Joe Jorgenson 3 goals = 6, totalling 18). Dick Dunn's match-sealing try came in the dying seconds, immediately after a long-range penalty goal (from around halfway) put Eastern Suburbs ahead 19-18 with about 3 minutes left; he reportedly carried his 14-month-old daughter's sock in his shorts pocket for luck throughout the match. Squad numbers could not be confirmed as genuine on-field jersey numbers from available sources (the numeric IDs on rugbyleagueproject.org do not fit a plausible 1-13 range) and have been omitted rather than guessed. Full given names for Ted Dawes and Bob Nielsen could not be confirmed beyond their common short forms. Exact try/goal minutes beyond the match-sealing sequence could not be confirmed.
Result
| Team | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | Eastern Suburbs | 22 |
| Runner-up | Balmain | 18 |
Attendance: 44,585
NRL 1945 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eastern Suburbs | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 276 | 190 | +86 | 22 |
| 2 | Newtown | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 326 | 177 | +149 | 21 |
| 3 | Western Suburbs | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 238 | 192 | +46 | 17 |
| 4 | Balmain | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 252 | 202 | +50 | 16 |
| 4 | North Sydney | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 188 | 175 | +13 | 16 |
| 6 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 217 | 285 | -68 | 9 |
| 6 | St. George | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 183 | 253 | -70 | 9 |
| 8 | South Sydney | 14 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 144 | 350 | -206 | 2 |
Qualified for the finals series — top 4 that season.
Finals series
Playoff
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 Aug 1945 | Balmain Tigers 9–5 North Sydney Bears | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 17,207 |
Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 Aug 1945 | Eastern Suburbs Roosters 28–13 Western Suburbs Magpies | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 34,916 |
| 25 Aug 1945 | Balmain Tigers 13–9 Newtown | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 35,151 |
Grand Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Sep 1945 | Eastern Suburbs Roosters 22–18 Balmain Tigers | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW |
Match officials
| Referee | Tom McMahon |
Scorers
| Eastern Suburbs | Tries: Dick Dunn — minute unconfirmed; Dick Dunn — minute unconfirmed; Dick Dunn — final minutes, match-sealing try; Jack Arnold — minute unconfirmed Goals: Dick Dunn (5/7) |
| Balmain | Tries: Stan Ponchard — minute unconfirmed; Stan Ponchard — minute unconfirmed; Ted Dawes — minute unconfirmed; Bob Nielsen — minute unconfirmed Goals: Joe Jorgenson (3/5) |
Teams
| Eastern Suburbs | Balmain | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Ray Pratt | Fullback | Dave Parkinson | — |
| — | Ken Foster | Wing | Bob Nielsen | — |
| — | Johnny Hunter | Centre | Joe Jorgenson | — |
| — | Paul Tierney | Centre | Tom Bourke (c) | — |
| — | Lionel Cooper | Wing | Bob Paterson | — |
| — | Wally O'Connell | Five-eighth | Harry Leo | — |
| — | Sel Lisle | Halfback | Stan Ponchard | — |
| — | Ray Stehr (c) | Prop | Jack Hampstead | — |
| — | George Watt | Hooker | Sid Ryan | — |
| — | Jack Arnold | Prop | Jack Metcalf | — |
| — | Sid Hobson | Second Row | Hilton Kidd | — |
| — | Bert Rollason | Second Row | Ted Dawes | — |
| — | Dick Dunn | Lock | Jack Spencer | — |
| Substitutes | ||||
| — | no interchange bench existed in 1945; Bert Rollason replaced originally-named Wally Rees before kickoff, a pre-match team change rather than an in-game substitution | no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1945 | — | |
| Arthur Halloway | Coach | Norm Robinson | ||
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 first peacetime premiership decider in six years was played on the first day of spring 1945, barely a fortnight after Japan's capitulation ended the Pacific War, and the day before the formal surrender was signed aboard USS Missouri. Eastern Suburbs, coached by Arthur Halloway and captained by front-rower Ray Stehr, had dominated the season, taking the minor premiership with an 11-3 record along with the Club Championship. The Tricolours thrashed Western Suburbs 28-13 in their semi-final, while Balmain, who had needed a midweek playoff win over North Sydney just to reach the semis, beat Newtown 13-9 to book the second berth. Under the era's right-of-challenge rules the minor premiers could not be eliminated by a single finals loss, but Eastern Suburbs made the question academic by winning the decider outright before 44,585 fans at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The afternoon belonged so completely to lock forward Dick Dunn that it is still remembered at the club as 'Dick Dunn's Day'. Dunn scored three tries and kicked five goals for 19 of his side's 22 points, a haul that stood for decades as the club record for a premiership decider, all while carrying his fourteen-month-old daughter's sock in his shorts pocket for luck. Balmain made a fight of it through tries to Stan Ponchard (two), Dawes and Nielsen, with Joe Jorgenson landing three goals, and with three minutes remaining the Tigers led 18-17. Awarded a penalty on halfway, Dunn talked his reluctant captain Stehr into letting him attempt the long-range shot, and kicked the goal from his then-unorthodox upright stance to edge Easts ahead 19-18. In the dying seconds Dunn finished the job in open play, taking a scrum-base pass from five-eighth Wally O'Connell to cross for his third try and seal a 22-18 victory. Jack Arnold scored Eastern Suburbs' other try. It was the club's ninth premiership, capping a season in which Dunn had played every game and amassed 178 points, and it gave the crowd a double celebration: a premiership on Saturday and the official end of the Second World War on Sunday.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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