Herb Narvo
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Herb Narvo | |
| Date of birth | 1912 | |
| Place of birth | Sydney, Australia | |
| Date of death | 1958 | |
| Child(ren) | Frank Narvo | |
| Senior clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (points) |
| 1937&1949 1938-41 1946 1947 1948 |
Newtown Norths Newcastle St. George Dragons Cootamundra Camden |
48 (59) 13 (25) |
| Representative teams | ||
| 1938 - 1945 1937 - 1938 |
New South Wales Australia |
12 (39) 4(6) |
| Professional clubs coached | ||
| 1946 | St. George Dragons | |
|
* Professional club appearances and points |
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Herbert Narvo (1912-1958) was an Australian rugby league national representative player and heavyweight boxing champion. He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.
Contents |
[edit] Rugby league career
Born in Sydney, but raised in Newcastle, Herb Narvo signed with Newtown in 1937 and soon shone as one of the form forwards of the competition. Following an injury to Joe Pearce, Narvo was a late call up to 1937 Kangaroo tour where he starred, playing in four Tests, eighteen minor matches and scoring ten tour tries.
He played for Norths Newcastle in 1938 and made state representative appearances for New South Wales from 1938-41 but his national Test career was limited due to the war. Whilst in the RAAF Narvo helped the Newtown club win the 1943 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership but along with Len Smith missed the final the following year due to his war service.
In 1945 he joined the St. George Dragons and the following year as captain-coach steered the club to a Grand final appearance in which they were defeated by the Balmain Tigers.
He captain-coached sides in Cootamundra in 1947 and Camden in 1948 before finishing his career in 1949 with Newtown.
[edit] Boxing career
Narvo was also a boxer of note, winning the Australian Heavyweight Championship in 1945. In only his 13th professional fight Narvo defeated Billy "Wocko" Britt in just 23 seconds to claim the Australian title.
He lost his boxing title to Jack Johnson in 1946 and captained St George in a club match the very next day.
[edit] War service
He was in the the Royal Australian Air Force during WWII. He was stationed at Richmond, New South Wales and served as a physical training, boxing and paratroop instructor.
[edit] Accolades
In February 2008, Narvo 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][2]
Narvo died of cancer in 1958. His son Frank Narvo played for Newtown and St George in the 1950s.
[edit] References
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