🙌 The Miracle of 1955: South Sydney’s Impossible Premiership
In 1955, at a time when rock and roll was taking over the world and Australian sport was changing fast, the South Sydney Rabbitohs delivered what many still consider one of the greatest stories in Rugby League history. It became known simply as The Miracle of ‘55, a season where the red and green battled through injuries, doubt and sudden-death stakes to win eleven straight games and claim the premiership in the dying minutes of the grand final.
Souths entered the year as favourites. They still carried the nucleus of the side that had dominated the early fifties, winning four premierships between 1950 and 1954. But after a poor start, injuries mounted and confidence slipped. By mid-season, critics wrote them off as too old, too battered and too far gone. Newtown and St George surged ahead and the Rabbitohs fell to the lower half of the ladder.
What followed is the reason the story endures. Every match from mid-year became sudden-death. The side could not afford a single loss. And yet, one by one, the Rabbitohs kept finding a way. Behind the calm leadership of captain-coach Jack Rayner and the brilliance of their champion players, Souths slowly climbed back into contention. Their run was built on grit, belief and an unshakeable refusal to surrender.
Round 17 against Manly-Warringah provided the season’s defining moment. In the opening tackle, Clive Churchill broke his wrist. Doctors and officials urged him to leave the field. He refused and played on, tackling, organising and holding his team together with one functioning hand. With minutes remaining and Souths trailing 7-4, Les Cowie scored in the corner to level the scores. Churchill, his wrist strapped to a cardboard splint, lined up the conversion from inches inside the sideline. The ball drifted wide, then swung back at the last moment to sneak inside the upright. Souths led 9-7. The crowd erupted. Rayner called it the bravest thing he had ever seen on a football field. Many still do.
From there the Rabbitohs surged into the finals, knocking over St George and then Manly-Warringah again to reach the decider. In the grand final, Newtown looked home with a late 11-7 lead. But, true to the pattern of their remarkable run, Souths summoned one last escape act. A loose ball near the Blues’ line bounced free, Jack Rayner toed it ahead and Col Donohoe dived on it beside the posts. Bernie Purcell calmly converted and the Rabbitohs snatched a 12-11 victory with six minutes to play.
When the final whistle blew, the Sydney Cricket Ground erupted. Supporters streamed onto the field and players completed a victory lap with the J.J. Giltinan Shield held high. It was Souths’ fifth premiership in six seasons, but this one meant something different. It was a triumph of heart over circumstance and belief over exhaustion. A season where eleven straight must-win games were all taken the hard way, including five victories secured in the final ten minutes.
The Miracle of '55 is remembered not just for the trophy, but for what it represented. Courage. Leadership. Loyalty. That famous South Sydney spirit. The spirit that has carried this club since 1908, and still carries us today.
Since 1908. Still Here.
