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1916 New South Wales Rugby Football League
1916 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams	8
Premiers	Balmain (2nd title)
Minor premiers	Balmain (2nd title)
Matches played	57
Points scored	1174
Top points scorer(s)	Charles Fraser (94)
Top try-scorer(s)	Frank Burge (22)
	← 1915 1917 →

The 1916 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the ninth season of Sydney’s top-level professional rugby league competition, Australia’s first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season which culminated in a grand final between Balmain and South Sydney.^[1]

Season summary

Three teams dominated the season, Balmain, South Sydney and Glebe. With two rounds to go, each of the three teams had a genuine chance of winning the premiership with each separated by half a win. This created an interesting scenario with Balmain (20 points, first) facing South Sydney (18 points, third) and Glebe (19 points, second) facing Eastern Suburbs who were placed fourth at the time. As it turned out, Balmain lost 11–7 to Souths, leaving the competition wide open for Glebe to take the competition lead by one point. However, Glebe ended up losing crucially to Eastern Suburbs 8–5 on the same day. With both Balmain and Souths now equal on 20 points with one game to play, it would have taken a miracle for Glebe to come back given that they were still on 19 points. All three teams won their final games, but it was equal placed Balmain and South Sydney that would play off in a premiership decider.

Teams

The teams remained unchanged from the previous season.

Annandale
Balmain, formed on January 23, 1908, at Balmain Town Hall
Eastern Suburbs, formed on January 24, 1908, at Paddington Town Hall
Glebe, formed on January 9, 1908
Newtown, formed on January 14, 1908
North Sydney, formed on February 7, 1908
South Sydney, formed on January 17, 1908, at Redfern Town Hall
Western Suburbs, formed on February 4, 1908


Annandale 7th season Ground: Wentworth Park Coach: Captain: Walter Haddock	Balmain 9th season Ground: Birchgrove Oval Captain-coach: Arthur Halloway	Eastern Suburbs 9th season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Captain: Jack Watkins	Glebe 9th season Ground: Wentworth Park Coach: Captain: Frank Burge
Newtown 9th season Ground: Erskineville Oval Coach: Captain: Paddy McCue	North Sydney 9th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Denis Lutge Captain: Con Sullivan	South Sydney 9th season Ground: RAS Showground Coach: Captain: Roy Almond	Western Suburbs 9th season Ground: St. Lukes Oval Coach: Captain: Harold Leddy

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Balmain	14	11	0	3	181	100	+81	22
2	South Sydney	14	11	0	3	170	117	+53	22
3	Glebe	14	10	1	3	217	106	+111	21
4	Eastern Suburbs	14	7	2	5	170	89	+81	16
5	North Sydney	14	5	0	9	108	189	-81	10
6	Newtown	14	4	1	9	134	153	-19	9
7	Annandale	14	4	0	10	94	163	-69	8
8	Western Suburbs	14	2	0	12	92	249	-157	4

Final

Balmain	Position	South Sydney
Lyall Wall	FB	Wally Dymant
Reg Latta	WG	Gordon Vaughan
Charles Fraser	CE	C. Phelps
Jim Craig	CE	Rex Norman
Jack 'Junker' Robinson	WG	Bill Cann
Albert "Rick" Johnston	FE	Roy Norman
Arthur Halloway (c)	HB	George McGowan
Alf Fraser	PR	Roy Almond
D. Cranston	HK	John Kerwick
Edward Burnicle	PR	Owen McCarthy
Bill Schultz	SR	Arthur Oxford
D. Stewart	SR	George Moore
Robert Craig	LK	Bill Groves

Having won all three grades in 1915 Balmain returned in 1916 to repeat the effort for a second straight season. At the conclusion of the season Balmain and Souths were equal aloft the premiership ladder with 22 points apiece. The League did not expect such a finish and a Final had to be scheduled. This Final was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground where they were to be held for many years to come. The game played on July 26, 1916, in front of just six thousand people, saw the lead change three times in the first half with Balmain ahead 5–3 at the break after a try by Arthur Halloway and a penalty goal by Charles “Chook” Fraser. The second half saw the game played predominantly on Balmain's line, with South Sydney putting on repeated attacks. However, the Balmain defence never gave in and the score didn't change by game's end – a two-point margin securing Balmain's second consecutive title.

Balmain 5 (Try: Arthur Halloway. Goal: Charles Fraser)

defeated

South Sydney 3 (Try: Gordon Vaughan )