Balmain Tigers 36–33 South Sydney Rabbitohs — Preliminary Final, 1956 NRL Finals Series
1 Sep 1956 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 42,350
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Preliminary Final, 1956 NRL finals series: Balmain Tigers 36–33 South Sydney Rabbitohs, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW on 1 Sep 1956.
Sourcing caveat: An early extraction pass mis-stated South Sydney's Les Cowie as scoring only 1 try alongside three other scorers; a targeted re-check corrected this to Cowie scoring 4 tries, which is the figure that reconciles exactly with the recorded score and is used here.
Scorers
| Balmain Tigers | Tries: Kevin Mosman (3); Terry McGovern (2); Neville Watt Goals: Keith Barnes (9/11) |
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | Tries: Les Cowie (4); Martin Gallagher; Dale Puren; Jack Rayner Goals: Bernie Purcell (6/10) |
Team sheets
| Balmain Tigers | South Sydney Rabbitohs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keith Barnes | Fullback | Clive Churchill | 1 |
| 2 | Arthur Lorimer | Wing | Dale Puren | 2 |
| 3 | Geoff Hawkey | Centre | Greg Hawick | 3 |
| 4 | Kevin Mosman | Centre | Martin Gallagher | 4 |
| 5 | Terry McGovern | Wing | Bob Honeysett | 5 |
| 6 | Bill Harris | Five-Eighth | Johnny Dougherty | 6 |
| 7 | Brian Staunton (c) | Halfback | Col Donohoe | 7 |
| 8 | Gus Gray | Lock | Les Cowie | 8 |
| 9 | Ron Potter | Second Row | Bernie Purcell | 9 |
| 10 | Ron Moses | Second Row | Jack Rayner (c) | 10 |
| 11 | Bob Heaney | Prop | Jim Richards | 11 |
| 12 | Neville Watt | Hooker | Ernie Hammerton | 12 |
| 13 | Jack Moon | Prop | Denis Donoghue | 13 |
| Norm Robinson | Coach | Jack Rayner | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Darcy Lawler |
Match report
1 Sep 1956, 3:15pm, SCG. Halftime: South Sydney led 15-14. Jack Moon (Balmain) was sent off during the match.