1950 NSWRFL Grand Final

Saturday, 16 September 1950 · Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, New South Wales

1950 Grand Final ▾

1950 NSWRFL Grand Final result: South Sydney def. Western Suburbs, 21-15, at Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, New South Wales on Saturday, 16 September 1950.

Sourcing caveat: This match was played under the old "right of challenge" system as "the Final" — because minor premiers South Sydney won it outright, no subsequent challenge Grand Final was needed, and this match is counted in premiership records as the 1950 Grand Final. This was Souths' first premiership in 18 years, ending a drought stretching back to 1932. In 1950 a try was worth 3 points and a goal 2 points; the scoring breakdown above reconciles exactly to 21-15 (South Sydney: Johnny Graves x2 and Cliff Smailes tries x 3 = 9, plus Bernie Purcell 5 goals and Graves 1 goal = 12, totalling 21; Western Suburbs: Keith Holman's try = 3, plus Bill Keato 6 goals = 12, totalling 15). Cliff Smailes' surname is spelled "Smailles" on rugbyleagueproject.org and "Smailes" on Wikipedia — the same player; "Smailes" is used here. Squad numbers are confirmed as plausible sequential 1-13 jersey numbers and are retained. Exact goal-attempt (made/missed) counts and try minutes could not be confirmed. No reserves are recorded for either side.

Result

	Team	Score
Winner	South Sydney	21
Runner-up	Western Suburbs	15

Attendance: 32,373

NRL 1950 — full season ladder & finals series

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	Pts
1	South Sydney	18	14	0	4	323	228	+95	28
2	Balmain	18	12	2	4	255	208	+47	26
3	Newtown	18	11	2	5	347	269	+78	24
4	Western Suburbs	18	10	2	6	307	259	+48	22
5	St. George	18	9	3	6	336	261	+75	21
6	Canterbury-Bankstown	18	9	0	9	296	277	+19	18
7	Eastern Suburbs	18	7	0	11	237	345	-108	14
8	Manly-Warringah	18	6	0	12	231	293	-62	12
9	Parramatta	18	3	3	12	203	296	-93	9
10	North Sydney	18	3	0	15	258	357	-99	6

Qualified for the finals series — top 4 that season.

Finals series

Semi-Final

Date	Result	Venue	Attendance
2 Sep 1950	South Sydney Rabbitohs 30–4 Newtown	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW	33,514
9 Sep 1950	Western Suburbs Magpies 28–10 Balmain Tigers	Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, NSW	33,542

Grand Final

Date	Result	Venue	Attendance
16 Sep 1950	South Sydney Rabbitohs 21–15 Western Suburbs Magpies	Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, NSW

Permalink to this season's ladder page →

Match officials

Referee	Tom McMahon

Scorers

South Sydney	Tries: Johnny Graves — minute unconfirmed; Johnny Graves — minute unconfirmed; Cliff Smailes — minute unconfirmed Goals: Bernie Purcell (5/unconfirmed); Johnny Graves (1/unconfirmed)
Western Suburbs	Tries: Keith Holman — minute unconfirmed Goals: Bill Keato (6/unconfirmed)

Teams

South Sydney			Western Suburbs
1	Clive Churchill	Fullback	Bill Keato	1
2	Johnny Graves	Wing	Jack Wall	2
3	Kevin Woolfe	Centre	Dev Dines	3
4	Milton Atkinson	Centre	Jack Wood	4
5	Cliff Smailes	Wing	Jack Lackey	5
6	Greg Hawick	Five-eighth	Frank Stanmore (c)	6
7	Bill Stewart	Halfback	Keith Holman	7
8	Les Cowie	Lock	Peter McLean	8
9	Jack Rayner (c)	Second Row	Don Milton	9
10	Bernie Purcell	Second Row	Kevin Hansen	10
11	Ken Macreadie	Prop	Bill Horder	11
12	Ernie Hammerton	Hooker	Allan Hornery	12
13	Denis Donoghue	Prop	Don Stait	13
Substitutes
—	no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1950		no reserve/interchange players recorded — no interchange bench existed in 1950	—

Jack Rayner		Coach	Jeff Smith

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

South Sydney's 1950 triumph ended an eighteen-year premiership drought stretching back to 1932 and launched the club's greatest era. Under the top-four finals system then in use, the premiership decider was formally 'the Final', with the minor premier retaining the right to challenge if beaten; because minor premiers South Sydney won the decider themselves, no challenge match was required, and the game stands in the premiership records as the season's grand final. Souths, minor premiers under captain-coach Jack Rayner, had crushed Newtown 30-4 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in their semi-final, while fourth-placed Western Suburbs accounted for Balmain 28-10 at the Sydney Sports Ground. The decider was likewise staged at the Sydney Sports Ground rather than the SCG, before 32,373, a crowd South Sydney's official records still list as the club's largest at that venue. It was a close, bruising encounter. Winger Johnny Graves crossed twice and Smailes added a third try, while goal-kicking forward Bernie Purcell landed five goals, at one stage slotting five successive penalty kicks, and Graves chipped in another. Western Suburbs stayed within striking distance through Keith Holman's try and six goals from veteran full-back Bill Keato. The second half yielded no tries at all, the sides trading penalty goals as Wests' forwards pounded the South Sydney line; young full-back Clive Churchill, already the competition's outstanding player, was composed under the sustained aerial and physical assault, and Souths held their nerve to win 21-15. Rayner, marshalling a pack built around Purcell, Denis Donoghue and himself, was credited by the season's chroniclers with leading the team in fine style to their first title in eighteen years. For South Sydney it was the first instalment of a dynasty: the Rabbitohs would contest the next five premiership deciders as well, collecting further titles in 1951, 1953, 1954 and 1955, with Churchill, Graves, Purcell and Rayner the spine of arguably the finest club side of the immediate post-war era. For Western Suburbs, defeat proved temporary, as the Magpies would return two years later, at the height of the challenge system, to interrupt the very dynasty this match began.

Sources

Data last verified: 11 August 2026.

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