1940 NSWRFL season
The 1940 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the thirty-third season of Sydney’s top-level rugby league club competition, Australia’s first. Eight teams from across the city contested the premiership during the season, which lasted from April until August, culminating in Eastern Suburbs’ victory over Canterbury-Bankstown in the final.
Season summary
For this season St. George returned to Hurstville Oval as their home ground.Teams
- Balmain, formed on January 23, 1908, at Balmain Town Hall
- Canterbury-Bankstown
- Eastern Suburbs, formed on January 24, 1908, at Paddington Town Hall
- Newtown, formed on January 14, 1908
- North Sydney, formed on February 7, 1908
- South Sydney, formed on January 17, 1908, at Redfern Town Hall
- St. George, formed on November 8, 1920, at Kogarah School of Arts
- Western Suburbs, formed on February 4, 1908
| Balmain 33rd season Ground: Leichhardt Oval Coach: Bill Kelly Captain: Sid Goodwin | Canterbury-Bankstown 6th season Ground: Belmore Oval Coach: Alan Brady Captain: Alan Brady→Jack Bonnyman | Eastern Suburbs 33rd season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Dave Brown Captain: Ray Stehr | Newtown 33rd season Ground: Henson Park Coach: Frank Burge Captain: Percy Williams |
| North Sydney 33rd season Ground: North Sydney Oval Coach: Arthur Halloway Captain: Roy Thompson | South Sydney 33rd season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Charlie Lynch Captain: Fred Felsch | St. George 20th season Ground: Hurstville Oval Captain-coach: Neville Smith | Western Suburbs 33rd season Ground: Pratten Park Captain-Coach: Max Gray |
Ladder
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | |
| 1 | Eastern Suburbs | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 250 | 136 | +114 | 19 |
| 2 | Newtown | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 261 | 200 | +61 | 18 |
| 3 | St. George | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 263 | 203 | +60 | 16 |
| 4 | Canterbury-Bankstown | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 204 | 195 | +9 | 16 |
| 5 | Balmain | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 199 | 162 | +37 | 15 |
| 6 | South Sydney | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 165 | 259 | -94 | 14 |
| 7 | North Sydney | 14 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 156 | 243 | -87 | 8 |
| 8 | Western Suburbs | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 159 | 259 | -100 | 6 |
Finals
In the two semi finals, minor premiers Eastern Suburbs defeated St. George whilst fourth-placed Canterbury-Bankstown beat second-placed Newtown. Eastern Suburbs then beat Canterbury-Bankstown in the Final to collect their eighth premiership.Premiership Final
Led by their standard-setting captain-coach Dave Brown, the Tricolours continued their strong season performance with a semi-final victory over St George to gain a Final berth.Although Brown was ruled out on the morning of the decider with a leg injury, replacement Bill Brew slotted into the side and scored a try after backing up second rower Sid “Joe” Pearce who also scored the next try. The young Easts team, who averaged twenty years of age, overcame Canterbury by six tries to two.
Eastern Suburbs 24
defeated
Canterbury-Bankstown 14