Brian Carlson
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Brian Carlson | |
| Date of birth | 12 February 1933 | |
| Place of birth | Wyoming, NSW, Australia | |
| Date of death | 14 April 1987 (aged 54) | |
| Senior clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (points) |
| 1951–1953 1954–1955 1956 1957 1957–1962 1963–1965 |
Norths Newcastle Wollongong Souths Newcastle Blackall North Sydney Souths Newcastle |
|
| Representative teams | ||
| 1952–1959 1957 1952–1961 |
New South Wales Queensland Australia |
15 (??) 4 (??) 17 (40) |
|
* Professional club appearances and points |
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Brian Carlson (12 February 1933 to 14 April 1987) was an Australian rugby league player. He was a Centre & utility back for the Australia national team. He played in 17 Tests and 6 World Cup games between 1952 and 1961, as captain on 2 occasions.
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[edit] Club career
Carlson was a naturally gifted athlete raised in Newcastle, New South Wales. He represented at district junior cricket, played 1st Grade cricket with the Wickham club in Newcastle and was also a surf lifesaving competitor. After playing rugby league at school he was graded by the Norths Newcastle club in 1951. At age 18 he was selected to represent Newcastle against the touring French side.
[edit] Early representative career
In 1952 he scored two tries on representative debut for Country Firsts. He represented for New South Wales that same season against Queensland in the 2nd game of the interstate series and then against the touring New Zealanders.
He was selected in the 1952-53 Kangaroo tour as a winger. He played in two Tests against England, one against France and in sixteen minor tour games. He was highest try-scorer on the tour returning with a tally of twenty-nine.
[edit] Career threatening injury
In 1954 a rib injury rupturing his kidney threatened both his career and his life. He was close to death but recovered and sat out the 1955 season to recuperate. He returned to the field in 1956 and 1957 accepting positions as player-coach firstly with Souths Newcastle then with Blackall in Central Queensland. He was selected in the 1957 World Cup squad and left Blackall in dispute over a release and signed a contract with the North Sydney Bears.
[edit] Further honours
His return to representative rugby league at age 24 saw him rise to new heights. He played in three matches of the World Cup, was top scorer with 28 points and named "Player of the 1957 World Cup". He played in all three Tests in 1957 against the visiting Great Britain side. He toured with the 1959-60 Kangaroos playing in 24 matches including two Tests and was the tour's second highest scorer behind Keith Barnes his selection rival for the fullback position.
Carlson was named Australian captain in the first Test of 1959 against New Zealand. His second honour as Australian captain came in the first Test of the 1961 tour of New Zealand. Keith Barnes was the Kangarooo captain for the 11 matches between Carlson's captaincy appearances.
He returned to Souths Newcastle in 1963 as captain-coach for three seasons. After retiring from playing he worked in Newcastle as a tally clerk on the wharves.
[edit] Accolades
In February 2008, Carlson was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908-2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. [1]
[edit] Representative matches played
| Team | Matches | Years |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 15 | 1952-1959 |
| Queensland | 4 | 1957 |
| Australia | 23 | 1952-1961 |
[edit] References
[edit] Sources
- Whiticker, Alan (2004) Captaining the Kangaroos, New Holland, Sydney
- Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
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