NSWRFL 1908

Match Notes

The differences between newspaper reports of this game are many and varied. When comparing them all, the only common denominators are that Artie Coleman, Stan Carpenter and Bill Bailey scored at least 2 tries each, while Ted McGuinness is sure to have also scored a try of his own and kicked at least one goal. That accounts for 23 points. But what about the rest?

Papers such as the Sunday Times, Newcastle Herald as well as regional papers in Grafton, Casino, Kyogle and Orange agree that the score of this game was 32 points to nil in favour of Newcastle. Of those, detailed match reports from the Sunday Times and Newcastle Herald also agree on the tryscorers - exactly as above, but with Artie Coleman scoring 3 tries, not just 2. They also agree on there being 4 goals kicked by Newcastle. The Times credits all 4 to Ted McGuinness; the Herald, however, says McGuinness had two, while Stan Carpenter kicked a conversion and a goal from a mark.

In Sydney, however, is where things start to lose synchronicity. Such a blowout scoreline seems to have made their cadets lose interest after halftime. Reports in both the Daily Telegraph and Sydney Morning Herald describe the first half in some detail, but fall away in the second stanza. The SMH really goes off the rails, the scorers not even closely matching the 37-nil scoreline. The DT, meanwhile, comes closer to the reported scorers in the Newcastle Herald. It swaps one of Bill Bailey's 3 tries with one by George Cox, who also scores a second and converts it himself. One of Ted McGuinness's 2 goals is credited to W. Robinson. It must be reiterated, however, that this determination is derivative and its description of the second half is little more than a general summation.

Another Sydney newspaper, the Referee, contradicts itself on the very same page. In one column, it describes a 37-nil scoreline with no additional details. Then later, when listing the scores for Round 3, declares the result was 32-nil.

On top of that, all tables presented from Round 3 onwards have a for and against which supports a 32-nil scoreline for this game, across all newspapers, to the end of the season. Some books also describe the result of this game as 32-nil and their reproductions of the 1908 table reflect this value.

Other present day sources such as official yearbooks, the NRL website, and Paul Jeffs' excellent RL Tables all indicate a score of 37-nil.