Rugby League season kicks off, 1924

A short newsreel about the opening NSW rugby league games of the 1924 season. South Sydney defeat Western Suburbs, 13-5, in the rain. Easts defeat Newtown by a single point, 14-13.

The game’s original ‘wonder winger’, Harold Holder, played for Souths in the 1924 season. Holder joined Souths Juniors in 1912 and went on to become arguably the greatest attacking winger the code has seen.

At the end of the season, Balmain and Souths were on even points, having only lost one game each. Both teams had earlier met in Round 5, resulting in a 10–10 draw. The grand final was played in July with Balmain claiming their sixth premiership by a single try, 3-0. This was the lowest-scoring grand final since the NSWRFL (NSW Rugby Football League) had started in 1908 and the first in which a team had been held scoreless. It was also the first time a rugby league match was broadcast on radio.