| Personal information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ronald Charles Ackland | |||||
| Playing information | ||||||
| Position | Centre, Second-row | |||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| Mt Wellington | ||||||
| Representative | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| Auckland | ||||||
| 1954–1963 | New Zealand | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Coaching information | ||||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Gms | W | D | L | W% |
| Mt Wellington | ||||||
| Representative | ||||||
| Years | Team | Gms | W | D | L | W% |
| 1977–1978 | New Zealand | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 17 |
| Source: RLP | ||||||
Ronald Charles "Ron" Ackland is a New Zealand former rugby league player and coach who represented his country in the 1957 and 1960 World Cups and coached his country in the 1977 World Cup. His nephew, John, also played for New Zealand.[1]
Contents |
Ackland was a Mt Wellington player. During the Auckland Rugby League's District era he played for Eastern Districts. In 1960 Ackland won the inaugural Rothville Trophy for player of the year, a feat he repeated in 1961.
He was selected for New Zealand in 1954 and went on to play in 18 test matches for the Kiwis. He was part of the 1957 and 1960 World Cup squads. He captained the Kiwis twice in 1961.[2] Ackland, along with Neville Denton and Gary Phillips, withdrew from the 1961 tour of Great Britain due to a dispute over allowances.[3]
After retirement Ackland became Mt Wellington's head coach. In 1976 he won the Hyland Memorial Cup as the Auckland Rugby League's coach of the year.
Ackland became the coach of New Zealand in 1977, taking the squad to the 1977 World Cup. In his two year reign the Kiwis won 1 out of six test matches.
Ackland was inducted as a New Zealand Rugby League "Legend of League" in 1995.[4] He is an Auckland Rugby League Immortal.[5]
In 2009 he was named in the New Zealand Rugby League Team of the Century in the second row.[6]
| Preceded by George Menzies |
Coach New Zealand Kiwis 1977-1978 |
Succeeded by Ces Mountford |
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|||||