Ian Walsh (rugby league)

Ian Walsh
Personal information
Nickname	Abdul
Born	20 March 1933 (1933-03-20) (age 78) Bogan Gate, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Position	Hooker
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1950–51	Condobolin
1952–53	Parkes
1954–55	Forbes
1956–61	Eugowra
1962–67	St George
	Total	0	0	0	0	0
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1951	Western Division
1959–66	New South Wales	26				26 6
1959–66	Australian Kangaroos	25				25 0

Ian Walsh (Born 1933) is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. 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.

1 St George career
2 Representative career
3 Post playing
4 References
5 Footnotes

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.

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]

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]

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

Footnotes

^ Writer, p. 413
^ Writer, p. 415
^ Peter Cassidy (2008-02-23). "Controversy reigns as NRL releases top 100 players". Macquarie National News. http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/02/22/Controversy_reigns_as_NRL_releases_top_100_players. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
^ "Centenary of Rugby League - The Players". NRL & ARL. 2008-02-23. http://www.centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au/site/the-players.aspx?cat=3&list=true. Retrieved 2008-02-23.

Country Rugby League Team of the Century (1908-2007)

1. Clive Churchill • 2. Brian Carlson • 3. Michael Cronin • 4. Graeme Langlands • 5. Eddie Lumsden • 6. Bob Fulton • 7. Andrew Johns 8. Steve Roach • 9. Ian Walsh • 10. Glenn Lazarus • 11. Herb Narvo • 12. Bradley Clyde • 13. Wally Prigg

St. George Dragons squad – 1962 NSWRFL Premiers (9th Title)

1 Kevin McDonald 2 Johnny King 3 Johnny Riley 4 Reg Gasnier 5 Eddie Lumsden 6 Johnny Raper 7 George Evans 8 Monty Porter 9 Ian Walsh 10 Billy Wilson 11 Kevin Ryan 12 Norm Provan (Ca./Co.) 13 Elton Rasmussen

St. George Dragons squad – 1963 NSWRFL Premiers (10th Title)

1 Graeme Langlands 2 Johnny King 3 Reg Gasnier 4 Billy Smith 5 Eddie Lumsden 6 Bruce Pollard 7 George Evans 8 Monty Porter 9 Ian Walsh 10 Kevin Ryan 11 Elton Rasmussen 12 Norm Provan (Ca./Co.) 13 Johnny Raper

St. George Dragons squad – 1965 NSWRFL Premiers (12th Title)

1 Graeme Langlands 2 Johnny King 3 Reg Gasnier 4 Billy Smith 5 Eddie Lumsden 6 Brian Clay 7 George Evans 8 Robin Gourley 9 Ian Walsh 10 Kevin Ryan 11 Elton Rasmussen 12 Norm Provan (Ca./Co.) 13 Johnny Raper

St. George Dragons squad – 1966 NSWRFL Premiers (13th Title)

1 Graeme Langlands 2 Johnny King 3 Bruce Pollard 4 Ken Maddison 5 Eddie Lumsden 6 Brian Clay 7 Billy Smith 8 Robin Gourley 9 Ian Walsh (Capt./Coach) 10 Kevin Ryan 11 Elton Rasmussen 12 Dick Huddart 13 Johnny Raper 14 Trevor Levin

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-

Persondata
Name	Walsh, Ian
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1933-03-20
Place of birth	Bogan Gate, New South Wales
Date of death
Place of death