 The Dally M Award was given to Canterbury's fullback, Michael Potter, while "Rugby League Week" gave their player of the year award to Parramatta's halfback, Peter Sterling.At the close of the previous season Newtown became the first club since University in 1937 to exit the League, reducing the number of clubs this season from fourteen to thirteen.This included five Sydney-based foundation teams, another six from Sydney, one from greater New South Wales and one from the Australian Capital Territory.