Season Summary
Both Balmain and Eastern Suburbs dominated the 14-round season, dropping just two and three games respectively. They were undefeated after eight rounds but a mid-year Australian tour to New Zealand saw Balmain miss their representative stars and their lead was lost to Eastern Suburbs late in the season.
With three rounds to go, Balmain led Eastern Suburbs by one point on the ladder but relinquished this lead by losing their round 12 match against Glebe as Eastern Suburbs beat winless Annandale 28–0. This meant Eastern Suburbs now led by one point with two rounds to play. However, they lost the very next round 15–12 to South Sydney, who had won just four of their twelve previous matches. Meanwhile, Balmain managed to beat Newtown 18–5, giving them the one point advantage heading into the final round.
The final match of the season turned out to be the decider for the premiership, with the top two teams playing one another at the Royal Agricultural Society Ground. The winner of the match would take out the premiership, whilst a draw would give Balmain the title. At the end of the day, it was the goal kicking of Balmain's Les Wall that secured the premiership, with a 13–4 win over Eastern Suburbs. Five of Wall's attempts hit the post that day, but four crossed the bar and won Balmain the title. Members of the Balmain premiership winning side included Bob Craig and Bill Kelly.
The City Cup was won by Wests for the second consecutive season.
Read more about this topic: 1919 NSWRFL Season
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