sixth in 1945, third in 1946 and on top of the table in 1947. They finished the competition three points clear of the Balmain Tigers with Newtown and Wests making up the four. They beat Newtown 25–15 in the first semi but lost to Balmain 19–25 in the final. As they had been minor premiers, they had the right of a rematch to force a Grand Final. However, Canterbury were unsuccessful, going down 9–13 after leading 7–4 at half time. Their loss of the 1947 campaign was, more than the lapse of 1943 to 1945, the end of their first successful period. With the retirement of the famous front three of Eddie Burns, Roy Kirkaldy and Henry Porter (remarkably, none ever played for Australia owing to the war), Canterbury was unable to develop top-line players or attract established stars to its ranks, for the club's budget in this era was largely devoted to the establishment and development of their licensed club. The club's financial position is the late 1950s was so precarious that only a loan from patron Stan Parry prevented the club from closing down. Ron Willey was their sole Australian international between 1948 and 1962, but never played a Test match, whilst long-serving hooker Fred Anderson was the only Canterbury player between 1954 and 1962 to reach even State representation. Even a spell by Australian coach Vic Hey in 1955 and 1956, and the presence of other renowned mentors Col Geelan and Cec Cooper did not life the Berries up the ladder. In 1948 they won only seven games, and after at one point looking like a surprise minor premiership in 1953 collapsed to never win more than six in a season from 1954 to 1959. Between 1952 and 1959 Canterbury were second last on five occasions (only Parramatta denying them the wooden spoon in four cases) but in 1960 under the coaching of club legend Burns they made the semis in an unparalleled four-way play-off. However their finals campaign only lasted one match as they lost to Easts 16–9 in the second semi-final. In the following seasons, they slipped back down the ladder quickly: after beating Easts on 6 July 1963 they did not win again until 25 July 1964. However, the emergence of skillful fullback Les Johns gave them hope, and despite finishing third last in 1966, the next year they made the Grand Final. The