Ian Walsh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the Welsh international football player see Ian Walsh (footballer)
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ian Walsh | |
| Date of birth | 20 March 1933 | |
| Place of birth | Bogan Gate, New South Wales, Australia | |
| Nickname(s) | Abdul | |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist & Sales | |
| Senior clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (points) |
| 1950–51 1952–53 1954–55 1956–61 1962–1967 |
Condobolin Parkes Forbes Eugowra St George |
96 (12) |
| Representative teams | ||
| 1951 1959–1966 1959–1966 |
Western Division New South Wales Australian Kangaroos |
26 (6) 25 (0) |
|
* Professional club appearances and points |
||
Ian Walsh is an Australian former rugby league player. He was a Hooker with the St. George Dragons during their 11 year consecutive premiership winning run from 1956 to 1966. He was a representative in the Australian national team and captained his country in 10 Test matches from 1963 to 1966.
Born on 20 March 1933 in Bogan Gate near Parkes in Western New South Wales Walsh played in country sides at Parkes, Forbes and Eugowra. It was as a country representative that he was first selected to play for Australia in 1959.
Contents |
[edit] St George career
He joined St George in 1962 and played ninety-six games till 1967, playing in five winning Grand Finals.
After the retirement of Norm Provan in 1965, Walsh took on the task of captain-coach. The Dragons star players were growing old, the young and brutal South Sydney Rabbitohs were looming as title contenders and the inevitable end to the run had to be approaching.[1] Nevertheless Walsh was able to lead the Dragons against the Balmain Tigers to their 11th straight victory and the end of their run.
[edit] Representative career
His international representative debut was against New Zealand in 1959 and later that year was selected for the 1959-60 Kangaroo tour. He played in all six Tests and in 17 minor tour matches.
His first Test as captain was on the 1963 Tour of Great Britain which saw the Kangaroos become the first Australian touring team in 50 years to win the Ashes. He was skipper for the "Swinton Massacre" 2nd test of that tour when the Kangaroos registered the biggest win in Anglo-Australian test history, 50-12.
In 1966 he achieved a rare distinction becoming the only player to captain-coach his country to an Ashes series victory and his club to a premiership. He played a total of twenty-five tests for Australia from 1959 to 1966.[2]
[edit] Post playing
After retiring as a player Walsh coached the Parramatta Eels to the semi finals in 1971 before becoming a successful columnist with the Daily Telegraph for over 20 years and a Country and State selector. He worked in sales in the printing industry in Sydney.
In February 2008, Walsh 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.[3][4]
[edit] References
- Whiticker, Alan (2004) Captaining the Kangaroos, New Holland, Sydney
- Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
- Writer, Larry (1995) Never Before, Never Again, Pan MacMillan, Sydney
[edit] Footnotes
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Norm Provan 1962-1965 |
Coach St George Dragons 1966-67 |
Succeeded by Johnny Raper 1969 |
| Preceded by Ron Lynch 1970 |
Coach Parramatta Eels 1971-1972 |
Succeeded by Dave Bolton 1973-1974 |
| Preceded by -1965 |
Coach Australia 1966 |
Succeeded by 1967- |
