1962 NSWRFL Grand Final
Saturday, 15 September 1962 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales
1962 NSWRFL Grand Final result: St. George def. Western Suburbs, 9-6, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, New South Wales on Saturday, 15 September 1962.
Sourcing caveat: In 1962 a try was worth 3 points and a goal 2 points; the scoring breakdown above reconciles exactly to 9-6 (St George: Johnny King's try = 3, plus Kevin McDonald 3 goals = 6, totalling 9; Western Suburbs: no tries, plus Ken Bray 3 goals = 6). CORRECTION to this page's earlier prose: the Western Suburbs goal-kicker was previously named "Keith Bray" — no player of that name exists in any source found; the actual kicker, per rugbyleagueproject.org's player record, was Kenneth "Ken" John Bray, playing his only starting first-grade match of the season as a late injury replacement for regular fullback Don Parish. Billy Wilson's dismissal, for striking Jim Cody in retaliation for Cody's earlier off-the-ball knockout hit on Norm Provan, was a permanent send-off rather than a temporary sin bin (no sin-bin law existed in 1962); Jim Cody himself was not penalised or sanctioned for the original hit on Provan. With no replacements permitted, St George played the second half effectively a man short after Wilson's dismissal, and briefly two men short while the concussed Provan was off the field being treated. No reserves are recorded for either side; 1962 laws permitted no in-game replacements. Exact goal-attempt (made/missed) counts could not be confirmed.
Result
| Team | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | St. George | 9 |
| Runner-up | Western Suburbs | 6 |
Attendance: 41,184
NRL 1962 — full season ladder & finals series
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. George | 18 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 373 | 194 | +179 | 27 |
| 2 | Newtown | 18 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 290 | 230 | +60 | 26 |
| 3 | Western Suburbs | 18 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 299 | 210 | +89 | 25 |
| 4 | Parramatta | 18 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 236 | 218 | +18 | 20 |
| 5 | Eastern Suburbs | 18 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 213 | 230 | -17 | 19 |
| 6 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 18 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 228 | 235 | -7 | 16 |
| 7 | Manly-Warringah | 18 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 234 | 270 | -36 | 15 |
| 8 | Balmain | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 237 | 300 | -63 | 12 |
| 9 | North Sydney | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 263 | 361 | -98 | 10 |
| 10 | South Sydney | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 212 | 337 | -125 | 10 |
Qualified for the finals series — top 4 that season.
Finals series
Minor Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Aug 1962 | Western Suburbs Magpies 6–0 Parramatta Eels | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 26,281 |
Major Semi-Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Sep 1962 | St. George 30–9 Newtown | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 36,058 |
Preliminary Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Sep 1962 | Western Suburbs Magpies 25–13 Newtown | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW | 26,554 |
Grand Final
| Date | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Sep 1962 | St. George 9–6 Western Suburbs Magpies | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW |
Match officials
| Referee | Jack Bradley |
Scorers
| St. George | Tries: Johnny King — 17th minute Goals: Kevin McDonald (3/unconfirmed) Sin bin: Billy Wilson — sent off (permanent dismissal, not a temporary sin bin) in the first minute of the second half, for striking Jim Cody |
| Western Suburbs | Goals: Ken Bray (3/unconfirmed) |
Teams
| St. George | Western Suburbs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin McDonald | Fullback | Ken Bray | 1 |
| 2 | Eddie Lumsden | Wing | Dave Barsley | 2 |
| 3 | Reg Gasnier | Centre | Fred Norden | 3 |
| 4 | Johnny Riley | Centre | Gil McDougall | 4 |
| 5 | Johnny King | Wing | Peter Dimond | 5 |
| 6 | John Raper | Five-eighth | Arthur Summons (c) | 6 |
| 7 | George Evans | Halfback | Don Malone | 7 |
| 8 | Elton Rasmussen | Lock | Kevin Smyth | 8 |
| 9 | Norm Provan (c) | Second Row | Garry Russell | 9 |
| 10 | Kevin Ryan | Second Row | Jim Cody | 10 |
| 11 | Monty Porter | Prop | Denis Meaney | 11 |
| 12 | Ian Walsh | Hooker | Noel Kelly | 12 |
| 13 | Billy Wilson | Prop | John Hayes | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| — | no reserve/interchange players recorded — 1962 laws permitted no in-game replacements | no reserve/interchange players recorded — 1962 laws permitted no in-game replacements | — | |
| Norm Provan | Coach | Jack Fitzgerald | ||
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 1962 Grand Final, a rematch of the previous year's decider, was everything the 1961 edition was not: a brutal, mud-caked arm-wrestle that St. George survived 9-6 to claim a seventh consecutive premiership, the first under new 29-year-old captain-coach Norm Provan, who had taken over from Ken Kearney at the end of 1961. Played in miserable weather before 41,184 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the match became a forward slog on a mud-heap in which the referee handed out nine cautions. Western Suburbs, weakened by the loss of Kel O'Shea to pneumonia and Don Parish to influenza, set out to stop the Dragons through sheer physicality, with Gil McDougall enjoying some success in hammering Reg Gasnier and keeping the champion centre bottled up. The game's only try came in the 17th minute and was pure St. George: Provan burst through the middle, found prop Kevin Ryan in support, and Ryan sent winger Johnny King over on the fly, King's third consecutive Grand Final with a try. Kevin McDonald kicked three goals for the Saints and Ken Bray answered with three for Wests, the Dragons taking a 7-2 lead into halftime. The contest boiled over around the interval. Provan was knocked out in a crushing off-the-ball hit from Wests forward Jim Cody before halftime and needed stitches during the break, and within the first minute of the second half veteran St. George prop Billy 'Bluey' Wilson was sent off for retaliating against Cody, leaving the Dragons to defend their lead a man short for the entire second stanza. They did so with trademark resolve, though the Magpies came agonisingly close, Peter Dimond finishing literally within inches of a try that could have levelled or won the match. The game was Wilson's farewell in the Red V after featuring in six of the Grand Final triumphs, and his dismissal made him the only man sent off in two Grand Finals. For Provan, blood-stained and concussed, it was a captaincy baptism that defined the second phase of the dynasty: where the Kearney-era wins had often been processions, this was a title claimed through defence, discipline under provocation, and the champion's knack of scoring the one try that mattered. The bitterness between the clubs would carry directly into an even more controversial decider a year later.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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