[4] South Sydney, led by new skipper John Sattler, began their period of dominance by downing Canterbury in a torrid 80 minutes played in bleak conditions with a light rain throughout.

Taylforth and Eric Simms opened accounts with early goals, before John O'Neill barged over for a close-range try from dummy half.

Canterbury's Ron Raper responded with a field-goal kicked from halfway and then Taylforth punished Souths with two successful penalty goals after firstly a clash between Kevin Ryan and O'Neill and then a scrum infringement.

A turning point came just before half-time when Rabbitohs second rower Bob McCarthy swooped on a lofted pass from Canterbury's Col Brown intended for Johnny Greaves and ran the length of the field to take Souths into the break with a 10–8 lead.

With five minutes remaining Canterbury's Ross Kidd was penalised for an incorrect scrum feed and Simms kicked the Rabbitohs to a two-point lead which they held to give them their 17th premiership title.