South Sydney Rabbitohs 5–4 North Sydney Bears — Semi-Final, 1953 NRL Finals Series
29 Aug 1953 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 30,392
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Semi-Final, 1953 NRL finals series: South Sydney Rabbitohs 5–4 North Sydney Bears, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW on 29 Aug 1953.
Sourcing caveat: RLP's individual match page lists jersey numbers (e.g. 25, 21, 41, 29) that do not look like genuine 1-13 match-day numbers for either team, more likely internal player-ID artifacts of the database. Positions and player order are reported as reliable; jersey numbers are omitted (left blank) as unverified for this match.
Scorers
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | Tries: Churchill Goals: Churchill (1) |
| North Sydney Bears | Goals: Arkey (2) |
Team sheets
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | North Sydney Bears | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Churchill | Fullback | Arkey | ||
| Moir | Wing | O'Brien | ||
| Woolfe | Centre | Martin | ||
| Gallagher | Centre | Middleton | ||
| Threlfo | Wing | Toole | ||
| Dougherty | Five-Eighth | Emery | ||
| Mason | Halfback | Gillon | ||
| Cowie | Lock | Diversi | ||
| Rayner (c) | Second Row | Haslam | ||
| Moon | Second Row | Lay | ||
| Richards | Prop | Hudson (c) | ||
| Hammerton | Hooker | Strong | ||
| Donoghue | Prop | Waters | ||
| Jack Rayner | Coach | Ross McKinnon | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Jack O'Brien |
Match report
29 Aug 1953, 3:00pm, SCG. Halftime: North Sydney 2, South Sydney 0.