1908 South Sydney season

The 1908 South Sydney season was the first in the club's history. They competed in the New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL) Premiership, finishing as the inaugural Australian rugby league premiers.

1908 South Sydney season
NSWRFL Rank	1st (out of 9)
Play-off result	Premiers
1908 record	Wins: 8; draws: 0; losses: 1
Points scored	For: 194; against: 53
Team information
Coach	Arthur Hennessy
Captains	Arthur Hennessy Edward Fry John Rosewell
Stadium	Royal Agricultural Society Showground
Top scorers
Tries	Arthur Butler (8)
Goals	Arthur Butler (11)
Points	Arthur Butler (46)
1909 →

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	South Sydney	9	8	0	1	1	194	53	+141	18
2	Eastern Suburbs	9	8	0	1	1	183	90	+93	18
3	Glebe	9	7	0	2	1	106	63	+43	16
4	North Sydney	9	6	0	3	1	155	66	+89	14
5	Newcastle	9	4	0	5	1	151	116	+35	10
6	Balmain	9	3	1	5	1	86	113	−27	9
7	Newtown	9	1	1	7	1	70	148	−78	5
8	Western Suburbs	9	1	0	8	1	47	190	−143	4
9	Cumberland[1]	8	1	0	7	2	38	191	−153	4*

• Cumberland deducted 2 points due to late entry into the competition.

Fixtures

Regular season

Round	Opponent	Result	Score	Date	Venue	Crowd	Ref
1	North Sydney	Win	11 – 7	Monday 20 April	Birchgrove	3,000	[2]
2	Western Suburbs	Win	42 – 7	Saturday 25 April	Royal Agricultural Society Showground		[3]
	Cumberland Fruit Pickers	Win	23 – 2	Saturday 9 May	Royal Agricultural Society Showground	20,000	[4]
3	Eastern Suburbs	Loss	12 – 13	Saturday 16 May	Royal Agricultural Society Showground	3,000	[5]
4	BYE
5	Newtown	Win	31 – 3	Friday 30 May	Royal Agricultural Society Showground	800	[6]
6	Glebe	Win	21 – 5	Saturday 20 June	Wentworth	1,500	[7]
7	Newcastle	Win	30 – 11	Saturday 27 June	Royal Agricultural Society Showground	4,000	[8]
8	BYE
9	Balmain	Win	16 – 2	Saturday 25 July	Birchgrove	800	[9]
10	Newcastle	Win	8 – 3	Sunday 8 August	Wentworth	200	[10]

Finals

	Semi-finals				Final
	15 August 1908 – Agricultural
	Eastern Suburbs	23
					29 August 1908 – Agricultural
	North Sydney	10
					South Sydney	14
	15 August 1908 – Wentworth
					Eastern Suburbs	12
	South Sydney	16
	Glebe	3

Statistics

Name	App	T	G	FG	Pts
Tommy Anderson	8	6	1	0	20
Arthur Butler	9	8	11	0	46
Harold Butler	11	4	3	0	18
William "Billy" Cann	5	6	0	0	18
John Cochrane	9	1	0	0	3
Arthur Conlin	8	2	2	0	10
Maxwell Coxon	5	1	0	0	3
Walter Davis	8	2	0	0	6
Bruce Douglas	1	0	0	0	0
Edward "Ed" Fry	9	2	0	0	6
Thomas Golden	1	1	0	0	3
Dick Green	11	6	8	0	34
William Harden	1	0	0	0	0
Arthur Hennessy	5	2	0	0	6
Fred Jarman	9	2	0	0	6
John Leveson	11	3	0	0	9
Arthur McCallum	2	0	0	0	0
William Neill	7	0	0	0	0
John Rosewell	8	1	3	0	9
Leo Senior	4	3	0	0	9
Frank Storie	8	6	0	0	18
George Wells	2	0	0	0	0
Richard Wylie	1	0	0	0	0
Totals	143	56	20	0	224

References

1. Whiticker, Alan; Collis, Ian (2006). The History of Rugby League Clubs. New Holland, Sydney. p. 120. ISBN 9781741104707.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
2. "NSWRFL 1908 - Round 1 - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
3. "NSWRFL 1908 - Round 2 - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
4. "NSWRFL 1908 - Round 2 - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
5. "NSWRFL 1908 - Round 3 - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
6. "NSWRFL 1908 - Round 5 - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
7. "NSWRFL 1908 - Round 6 - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
8. "NSWRFL 1908 - Round 7 - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
9. "NSWRFL 1908 - Round 9 - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
10. "NSWRFL 1908 - Round 10 - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 2021-09-25.