Western Suburbs Magpies 7–5 Balmain Tigers — Preliminary Final, 1961 NRL Finals Series
9 Sep 1961 · Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 40,726
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Preliminary Final, 1961 NRL finals series: Western Suburbs Magpies 7–5 Balmain Tigers, at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, NSW on 9 Sep 1961.
Scorers
| Western Suburbs Magpies | Tries: Kel O'Shea Goals: Dave Barsley (1/2); Keith Holman (1/3) |
| Balmain Tigers | Tries: Gil MacDougall Goals: Keith Barnes (1/5) |
Team sheets
| Western Suburbs Magpies | Balmain Tigers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Don Parish | Fullback | Keith Barnes (c) | 1 |
| 2 | Dave Barsley | Wing | Ron Mack | 2 |
| 3 | Bill Brown | Centre | William Bischoff Jnr | 3 |
| 4 | Billy Martin | Centre | Gil MacDougall | 22 |
| 5 | Peter Dimond | Wing | Bob Mara | 5 |
| 6 | Arthur Summons | Five-Eighth | Alan Mason | 4 |
| 7 | Keith Holman | Halfback | Laurie Fagan | 7 |
| 8 | Kevin Smyth | Lock | Peter Provan | 8 |
| 9 | John Hayes | Second Row | Bob Boland | 9 |
| 10 | Kel O'Shea | Second Row | Rex Percy | 10 |
| 11 | Denis Meaney | Prop | Don Amos | 11 |
| 12 | Noel Kelly | Hooker | Bede Goff | 12 |
| 13 | Neville Charlton (c) | Prop | Harry Raven | 13 |
| Jack Fitzgerald | Coach | Harry Bath | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Darcy Lawler |
Match report
Sat 9 Sep 1961, 3:00pm, SCG. Halftime: Western Suburbs 5-3.