Johnny King (right defends against North Sydney in a 1964 game at the SCG. The other St George players are Kevin Ryan, Elton Rasmussen and Ian Walsh. Billy Wilson, a former Dragon, is the Norths’ player
St George’s Test winger, Johnny King made it five Grand Finals in a row as a try scorer when he crossed for the only three pointer of the 1964 decider at the SCG, against the Balmain Tigers.
St George’s 11-6 win made it nine premierships on the trot for the magnificent ‘Dragons’, their run of Grand Final victories beginning in 1956, against Balmain.
Dragons’ lock, Johnny Raper said the 1964 victory came down to not much more than one mistake.
The mistake Raper was referring to was prop, Bob Boland’s failure to find touch from a penalty. Fullback, Graeme Langlands reached out, dragged the ball in and made a long run before getting the ball to centre, Billy Smith, who found Johnny King in support, and he did the rest.
Balmain were coached by Queenslander, Harry Bath, who had studied the Dragons’ style of play, and his Tigers, led by Test fullback, Keith Barnes, made life difficult for the favourites, with Balmain leading 4-2 at halftime, thanks to two Barnes’ penalty goals.
Man of the match, Langlands, kicked four goals for St George. Norm Provan was the Dragons’ captain-coach.
Both clubs had the backing of giant licensed clubs, with Balmain Leagues club boasting what was the biggest sauna bath in Australia at the time, a facility the players frequented.
The crowd for the Grand Final was 61,369 and the referee was Col Pearce, who was inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame in August, 2024. As a judge, I had the honour of presenting the Hall of Fame ring to Col’s niece, Liz Wheatley.
The 1964 Brisbane Grand Final was won 13-4 by Norths against Brothers, at Lang Park, in front of a then record crowd of 21,000. Don Lancashire was the referee.
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