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 THE
NEW DECADE: 1930 - 1934
The
new decade began with no sign of one of Rugby League's
first ever clubs, Glebe. No home ground and geographical
considerations had forced the inner city club out
of the premiership. The competition was reduced to
eight teams thus temporarily doing away with the system
of teams getting byes.
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The
Dragon Slayers harden
1930:
SAINTS WIN THEIR FIRST MATCH OF THE NEW DECADE
North Sydney Oval,
21 June 1930: After a slow start to the year
which saw them lose their first 4 matches, St
George's 1930 campaign has begun with a win over
Norths by 10-7.
St George team1930
(click on pic for larger image) |
St
George win final but minor premiers get second
chance!
Sydney Sports Ground,
27 September 1930: The
St George Dragon Slayers, positioned 4th on
the ladder have hit form at the right end
of the season with two remarkable semi-final wins.
The first victory being over Eastern Suburbs 11-10
at Earl Park on September 20.
Saints then continued their good form into the
following weekend when in the final, they defeated
minor premiers Western Suburbs 14-6 in front of
16,557 people.
The two teams have met twice before during the
season with Wests winning the first encounter
in May and St George winning the second match
in August.
Under the previous system, the victory in the
final would have seen Saints declared premiership
champions. But in 1930, the minor premiers, Wests
were allowed a second chance if defeated during
the finals..
Sydney
Sports Ground, 4 October 1930: In what looks
more like a return match, the 'Grand Final' of 1930
was decided in front of 12,178 people.
Saints led 2-0 early on and competed well in the
first half. But Wests were a crack outfit and they
skipped away to a 16-2 as Saints lost veteran forward,
Harry Flower with an arm injury. Wests went
on to defeat St George 27-2. |
RL
Ladder
1930
(top 4 in semis)
| Wests
p |
24 |
| Easts |
22 |
| Souths |
18 |
| St
George |
14 |
| Newtown |
13 |
| Balmain |
12 |
| Norths |
5 |
| University |
4 |
(14
ROUNDS)
Saints
'30 record
Win
Loss Draw
6W, 6L, 2D
Pts for/against
For 161 (7th)
Against 151
(1st) |
 FRANK
BURGE DEPARTS: The season end saw the departure
of Frank Burge [pictured] as coach. Frank
came to Saints from Glebe in 1927 playing one season
as player-coach before remaining as coach.
While Saints didnt win a premiership under Frank,
the champion international had indeed instilled
the notion and belief that St George could win.
Frank Burge had a profound effect on the club and
turned the team into harder more ruthless outfit.
Saints were now a team to be feared.
MORE:
THE MIGHTY FRANK BURGE - CLICK HERE |
RL
Ladder
1931
(top 4 in semis)
| Easts |
24 |
| Souths
p |
18 |
| Wests |
18 |
| St
George |
16 |
| Norths |
12 |
| Newtown |
10 |
| Balmain |
10 |
| University |
4 |
(14
ROUNDS)
Saints
'31 record
Win
Loss Draw
8W, 6L, 0D
Pts for/against
For 178 (6th)
Against 183
(3rd) |
1931:
Saints finished 4th on the ladder
in 1931 with 8 wins and 6 losses.
Souths defeat Saints in minor
semi final
Sydney Sports Ground, 22 August
1931: Saints ended their season run with a
minor semi final loss to Souths in front a crowd
of 17,561. Souths scored five tries to one winning
16-5. Souths actually went on to defeat Wests
in the preliminary final only to be forced into
another playoff in the Grand Final against the
previously defeated minor premiers, Easts. Souths
won again to claim the 1931 premiership.
1932:
ST GEORGE OUT OF SEMIS FOR FIRST
TIME SINCE 1926
Sydney, 27 August 1932: In
the same year as the opening of the Sydney Harbour
Bridge, Saints finish the season in 6th position,
ahead of University and Norths. The 1932 record
for St George stands at 4 wins, 1 draw and 9 losses
for a total of 9 points. Never far away from winning,
Saints often went down by narrow margins. |
RL
Ladder
1932
(top 4 in semis)
| Souths
p |
26 |
| Wests |
22 |
| Easts |
18 |
| Balmain |
15 |
| Newtown |
14 |
| St
George |
9 |
| University |
4 |
| Norths |
4 |
(14
ROUNDS)
Saints
'32 record
Win
Loss Draw
4W, 9L, 1D
Pts for/against
For 140 (7th)
Against 203
(4th) |
'SNOWY'
RETIRES
1932:
Arthur 'Snowy' Justice [pictured] retires from
first grade football. Arthur played all his football
with Saints and first came to St George in 1922. The
small but tough rake who gained a reputation for playing
the game hard is expected to join the club's administration.
 Playing
110 games (+ 3 repl) for Saints and scoring 12 tries,
'Snowy' also represented NSW 17 times (1925-29) and
played five Tests for Australia (1928-30).
He played his first Test in 1928 against
Great Britain and went on the Kangaroo tour of 1929
playing in two Tests including the historic scoreless
draw..
In other news of 1932, Saints have signed
promising St George Rugby Union fullback/winger, Norm
Tipping. |
RL
Ladder
1933
(top 4 in semis)
| Newtown
p |
18 |
| Easts |
17 |
| Souths |
17 |
| St
George |
16 |
| Balmain |
13 |
| University |
11 |
| Norths |
11 |
| Wests |
9 |
(14
ROUNDS)
Saints
'33 record
Win
Loss Draw
8W, 6L, 0D
Pts for/against
For 165 (7th)
Against 174
(3rd) |
1933:
Saints
Runners-up and back in the hunt!
Sydney
Sports Ground, 9 September 1933: With the old
semi-finals 'sudden death' system back in place,
Saints found themselves in yet another Final, this
time against the minor premiers, Newtown.
 The
season saw Saints (16 points) finish 4th on
the ladder but they were only two points behind
Newtown (18 points). Easts and Souths made up the
the other two semi finalists (17 points ea). One week
before the Final, Saints beat Easts 13-10 after
forward, Jim Rutherford scored a sensational
try after the bell (Jim went on to captain St George
on a tour of New Zealand's North Island later in
the year).
Newtown got a week's rest after beating Souths on
the 26 August.
The Sports Ground attracted a large
crowd of 18,080 on Final day to see Newtown defeat
St George 18-5.
Also in 1933, Saints signed
forward Len Kelly [pic left].
1934:
Saints
finished 3rd on the ladder in 1934 and also
handed out a bit of revenge to last year's premiers,
Newtown with two wins (10-5 plus a whopping 32-14).
Saints also whipped arch rivals Souths with two
wins (31-8 plus 18-7).
Sydney Sports Ground, 18 August
1934: Saints are defeated by Wests 16-6 in
the major semi final in front of 16,154 spectators.
Wests eventually go on to win the Final.
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RL
Ladder
1934
(top 4 in semis)
| Easts |
24 |
| Wests
p |
24 |
| St
George |
18 |
| Souths |
16 |
| Newtown |
10 |
| Norths |
10 |
| Balmain |
8 |
| University |
2 |
(14
ROUNDS)
Saints
'34 record
Win
Loss Draw
9W, 5L, 0D
Pts for/against
For 251 (3rd)
Against 166
(4th) |
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