The 1950s Golden Era
After missing the semi finals for the previous four years, the Rabbitohs finished on top of the ladder at the end of the regular home and away season in 1949 ahead of Wests, St George and Balmain. However, they were beaten by St George twice; 16-12 in the first semi, then 19-12 in the grand final. In a rough game the Dragons had scored five tries to two. What followed, however was a run where they won five of the next six titles. Souths 12th premiership, their first in almost two decades, came in 1950, when they again finished as minor premiers. They disposed of Newtown 30-4 before beating Wests 21-15 in the final. 1951 was a remarkable year as Souths finished the regular season 11 points clear of nearest rivals Manly, whom they dispatched in a devastating display 42-14 in the premiership decider. The 42 points remains the highest score by a team in a grand final.
Souths were beaten in 1952 in a very controversial final against Western Suburbs 22-12 where Souths had a fair try disallowed. It was Wests 4th and final premiership. Leading the charge for Souths was captain Jack Rayner whose side included Les 'Chicka' Cowie, Johnny Graves, winger Ian Moir, Greg Hawick, Ernie Hammerton, goal-kicking forward Bernie Purcell and the great Clive Churchill.
In 1953, the Rabbitohs were once again minor premiers and narrowly beat Norths 5-4 in the first semi before a resounding victory over St George 31-12, with Churchill dominating the game. 1953 saw Newtown finish top of the ladder but they were beaten by Souths in the grand final 23-15.
The story of what Souths achieved in the season of 1955 is among the most famous in Australian sport. "The miracle of '55" was an epic fight in which the Rabbitohs won 11 virtual sudden-death matches in a row to steal the premiership. After the first match of the second round they had been equal second last on the ladder. In their incredible run home they came from behind in no less than five matches to win and earn themselves fourth spot and a place in the semi-finals. They beat Manly 14-12 in a desperate semi-final. They were down 14-11 in the final against St. George when in the dying minutes a try by winger Ian Moir and a pressure goal kicked by Bernie Purcell got them home. The grand final against Newtown was a fitting finale after such a season. Newtown led 11-7 with six minutes to go. But the never-say-die Souths scrambled a try to halfback, Col Donohoe and converted it through Purcell to complete the fairytale with a 12-11 last gasp victory.
1956 was the beginning of the Dragon era - Souths finished third on the ladder but their season came to an end one match short of the Grand Final losing to Balmain 36-33. The pattern continued in 1957 as they finished third again and finished their season in the final, this time losing to Manly 15-11. After this they missed the semis for almost a decade.
Read more about this topic: History Of The South Sydney Rabbitohs
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