1916 NSWRFL Season

The competition ran without interruption through the war's third year with the same eight clubs. Balmain and South Sydney tied for the minor premiership on 22 competition points (Glebe finished third on 21), requiring a decider: Balmain defeated South Sydney 5-3 at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 26 July 1916 before roughly 6,000-7,000 spectators, with a try and goal proving decisive over a lone South Sydney try. Eastern Suburbs finished a clear fourth on 16 points, while North Sydney and Newtown occupied the middle of the table with losing records. Annandale finished seventh with a 4-0-10 record, its best return of competition points to that point in the club's history, but Western Suburbs finished with the wooden spoon, winning only twice from fourteen matches and conceding 249 points, the highest total against of any club that season. Glebe's third-place finish on 21 points was built on the competition's highest points-for tally of 217, ahead of both premiership contenders Balmain and South Sydney; Newtown's 4-1-9 record left them narrowly ahead of Annandale in the table, with a considerably stronger points differential of -19 compared to Annandale's -69.