Top 10 Most Memorable Grand Finals - Number 4
March 18th 2011 10:22
Top 10 Most Memorable Grand Finals
Number 4
1955: South Sydney Rabbitohs verses Newtown Bluebags
While certainly a fairytale, the Souths side of 1955 were a team of champions at the tail end of the club’s second golden era. Having gone down to St. George in 1949, the Bunnies had taken four of the five Premierships between 1950 and 1954, having stumbled against Western Suburbs in the decider of 1952.
Their star was Clive Churchill, noted as one of the greatest players to have ever played the game of Rugby League and one of the first Immortals. His courageous inspiration and exciting play had further bolstered Souths’ claim to being the ‘Pride of the League’. It was in 1955 however, that Churchill’s courage and inspiration would count the most.
Interestingly, back in 1955, the NSWRL Premiership season was split into two rounds, unlike the 26 continuous rounds of today. It was the first round of the 1955 season that really set up the fairytale story for Souths.
Despite dominating the 1950s up until that point, Souths were floundering in second last; winning three out of the ten games in the first round. Licking their wounds over the break, the Rabbitohs faced a seemingly impossible task; they needed to win every single one of the remaining nine matches of the second round to sneak into the finals.
Every match was literally sudden-death for the club, placing incredible pressure upon the champion team. The way they did it though, stretches the realms of disbelief to almost unbelievable limits.
Winning every one of the first seven games, Souths came up against Manly-Warringah at Redfern Oval. It was on this day that Churchill’s courage and tenacity shone through in a remarkable way. Early in the game, the champion fullback broke his left arm against the head of Manly winger George Hugo in a tackle gone wrong.
‘It was my own fault – I went in too high in the tackle’, Churchill explained later.
In the days of no interchange, Churchill remarkably battled on. With his arm dangling by his side, Souths’ doctor administered a pain killer and bound his arm between the covers of an exercise book; an act that would never been seen today.
The Little Master - Clive Churchill
Churchill’s determination to battle on proved pivotal in the dying stages of the game, as Manly lead 7-4. Still injecting himself into the play, Churchill put lock Chic Cowie into a gap and he bolted away to level the scores. With the result of the game depending on the conversion, Souths captain Jack Rayner saw no alternative to give the ball to their normal goal kicker; Churchill.
With the game and Souths season hanging in the balance, it was Churchill’s arm that was also left dangling as he lined up the shot from the Western touchline. Obviously with tensions unbearable, the ‘Little Master’ as he was known, sent away a kick that initially veered East of the posts.
‘It was a shocking kick. It wobbled and twisted all over the place’, Churchill recalled a quarter of a century later.
Adding to the unbelievable story though, the kick somehow straightened at the appropriate moment and slotted over between the posts for an epic goal.
Souths had won, but Churchill was lost for the season. Nevertheless, the Bunnies battled on, now bound with the inspiring efforts of Churchill.
They once again came from behind in the final match of the season to beat St. George to succeed in their remarkable effort of making the finals. Once there, the sudden-death games continued and so did Souths come-from-behind victories.
In a tight match, Souths played Manly again in the Minor Semi-Final. Trailing late in the game, it was Chic Cowie who once again scored a late try to steal the match away from the Sea-Eagles. The Rabbitohs won 14-12 and came up against St. George in the Preliminary Final the following week.
In a script that would boarder on the unimaginable, Souths once again trailed late in the day. With Saints leading 14-11, the Rabbitohs somehow managed to fight back to win 18-14. This set up a blockbuster Grand Final with Newtown, who Souths had beaten in the decider the year before.
This time though, Newtown were out for revenge. They were Minor Premiers and had only had to win one final against the Dragons to make the Grand Final. They were fresh, fit and hungry, while Souths were missing Churchill and another one of their stars Greg Hawick.
In a match that fittingly lived up to the curtain call of Souths epic season; the Grand Final was fiercely contested. At half-time Newtown led 8-4 and sustained their lead in the second half when they were ahead 11-7 with six minutes to go.
In a true captain’s knock, South’s skipper Jack Rayner pulled off the big play right on Newtown’s try-line when he managed to win a strike for the play the ball (the striking rule at the play the ball still existed up until this point). Toeing it ahead, the ball went to Newtown lock Peter Ryan, who fumbled and Rayner toed the ball through again.
With the ball in the in-goal, Souths half-back Col Donohoe scurried through to score right next to the posts. According to reports, the 42,000 strong crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground sat with an eerie quiet as second-rower Bernie Purcell kicked the conversion and Souths took a one point lead.
Souths looked home, but one final twist would play out in their remarkable story when prop Norm Nilson punched a Newtown opponent. The Bluebags opted to take a long range penalty attempt with time all but expired.
It was left to Newtown fullback Gordon Clifford to take the unenviable shot. With the crowd hushed in silence, his kick soared high into the air and straight for the posts. Amazingly however, the finger-nail biting story of Souths season refused to subside, even to the last second as Clifford’s kick sailed into the breeze.
Despite being well directed, the kick dropped in the wind and fell only inches under the bar. Souths had won by one point.
The timing of Souths comeback seemingly had been timed to perfection in every aspect. As for Newtown, they had been the top performing side for two seasons, but the Premiership still eluded them.
The victory ended Souths second golden era. Jack Rayner’s fifth Premiership as captain stands alongside St. George’s Ken Kearney’s five victories as the most number of successful Premierships by a captain. Having also been the captain-coach of the Rabbitohs, Rayner was the first coach to succeed with five Premiership victories, subsequently matched by ‘Mastercoach’ Jack Gibson in the 1980s and later outdone by Wayne Bennett in 2006.
To this day the stunning story of the 1955 Souths side has not been matched. It would seem amazing if it ever is. It truly was a ‘Red and Green Miracle’.
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