1953 NSWRFL season

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Crowd
Semifinals
South Sydney	5–4	North Sydney	29 August 1953	Sydney Cricket Ground	Jack O'Brien	30,392
St. George	25–7	Eastern Suburbs	5 September 1953	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	37,753
Final
South Sydney	31–12	St. George	12 September 1953	Sydney Cricket Ground	Darcy Lawler	44,581

	Semi-finals					Final					Grand final
	1	Souths	5
											MP	Souths	X
	3	Norths	4
						Souths		31				Souths	X
						St George		12
	2	St George	25
	4	Easts	7

To win the 1953 premiership St George would need to beat minor premiers Souths in both a final and a Grand final, emulating the feats of the Dragons of 1949 from which team only Noel Pidding was still playing. A crowd of 44,581 were at the Sydney Cricket Ground to see the first phase of this attempt.

Souths opened the scoring with a penalty goal in the ninth minute kicked by Clive Churchill from 40 yards. The Dragons threatened Souths' line continuously in the next stanza but bombed three tries and then lost some momentum in the 14 minutes before half-time during the absence of centre Merv Lees while he was off the field having stitches to his lip after driving a tooth through it. Souths scored 13 points in this period. Ian Moir capitalised on a spillage of the ball by Pidding behind his own line after a heavy tackle, Churchill then featured when he firstly sent Threlfo in and then set up Moir for his second try. The score at half time was 15–0.

Early in the second half Pidding kicked a penalty and a few minutes later Wilson and Gallagher were sent off for fighting. With Wilson gone Rabbitoh hard-men Rayner and Donoghue then took control and four Souths tries flowed to Woolfe, Dougherty, Hammerton and Moir’s third. Two late Dragons’ tries to Brown and Lees made no difference and South Sydney powered to their fourteenth premiership.

South Sydney Rabbitohs 31
Tries: Moir (3), Woolfe, Threlfo, Dougherty, Hammerton
Goals: Dougherty (4), Churchill (1)

St George Dragons 12
Tries: Lees, Brown
Goals: Pidding (3)

The following statistics are as of the conclusion of Round 18.

Top 5 point scorers Points Player Tries Goals Field Goals 152 Ron Rowles 8 64 0 114 Bob Hobbs 2 54 0 99 Noel Pidding 3 45 0 91 Norm Stewart 1 44 0 88 Gordon Clifford 0 44 0 Top 5 try scorers Tries Player 20 Ian Moir 18 Horrie Toole 18 Ray Preston 14 Barry Stenhouse 13 Peter O'Brien

Top 5 goal scorers Goals Player 64 Ron Rowles 54 Bob Hobbs 45 Noel Pidding 44 Norm Stewart 44 Gordon Clifford

• "Rugby League Tables – Season 1953". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. The World of Rugby League
• Haddan, Steve [2007] The finals – 100 Years of National Rugby League Finals, Steve Haddan Publishing, Brisbane
• "Results: 1951-60". rabbitohs.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012.
• "J J Giltinan Shield". rleague.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012.
• "NSWRFL season 1953". rugbyleagueproject.org. Archived from the original on 23 October 2008.