Eastern Suburbs Roosters 20–14 Balmain Tigers — Semi-Final, 1942 NRL Finals Series
29 Aug 1942 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 19,782
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Semi-Final, 1942 NRL finals series: Eastern Suburbs Roosters 20–14 Balmain Tigers, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW on 29 Aug 1942.
Sourcing caveat: Neither side's named scoring reconciles fully. Eastern Suburbs' named scoring (Kaine 2 tries + Lisle 4 goals) totals 14, 6 short of the recorded 20 - a further scorer or two is implied but not named in the source. Balmain's named scoring (Bliss 2 tries, Bourke's goal tally confirmed as 0 in the raw scoresheet) totals only 6, 8 short of the recorded 14 - the gap cannot be closed by Bourke's kicking since it is confirmed zero, so the remaining scorer(s) are genuinely missing from the source. Reported honestly as unresolved on both sides.
Scorers
| Eastern Suburbs Roosters | Tries: Kaine (2) Goals: Lisle (4) |
| Balmain Tigers | Tries: Bliss (2) |
Team sheets
| Eastern Suburbs Roosters | Balmain Tigers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parker | Fullback | Dobson | 1 |
| 2 | Bevan | Wing | Patton | 2 |
| 3 | Kaine | Centre | Winchester | 3 |
| 4 | Dunn | Centre | Bourke | 4 |
| 5 | Dermond | Wing | Bliss | 5 |
| 6 | O'Connell | Five-Eighth | Box | 6 |
| 7 | Lisle | Halfback | Stapleton | 7 |
| 8 | Gulliver | Lock | Buckley (c) | 8 |
| 9 | Portsmouth | Second Row | Watt | 9 |
| 10 | H. Pierce | Second Row | Spencer | 10 |
| 11 | Blacker | Prop | A. Smith | 11 |
| 12 | Clarke | Hooker | De Belin | 12 |
| 13 | Stehr (c) | Prop | Murphy | 13 |
| Joe Pearce | Coach | Bill Kelly | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Jack O'Brien |
Match report
29 Aug 1942, SCG. Halftime: Eastern Suburbs 10-8. George Watt (Balmain) was sent off.