Bernie Purcell (1928–2001) was an Australian rugby league premiership winning footballer and coach. He was a goal-kicking

second-row forward A rugby league team consists of thirteen players on the field, with 4 substitutes on the bench. Each of the thirteen players is assigned a position, normally with a standardised number, which reflects their role in attack and defence, although pl ...

of the 1950s for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, the Australian national representative and the New South Wales state sides.

Club career

He played 178 games with South Sydney between 1949 and 1960, scoring 36 tries and 509 goals for a total of 1,126 points. A Souths junior, he was the Australian first forward in the game to score over 1,000 career points. He was also the first Australian forward to kick over 500 career goals a record only matched by three other players up till 2011. He played in the

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

and

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

victorious Rabbitohs Grand Final teams shouldering the goal-kicking responsibilities in each of those matches. In 1959 he overtook Tom Kirk's record for the most points scored in an NSWRFL career (1,042); Purcell's eventual total of 1,152 stood as the new career record for three seasons until it was bettered by Ron Willey in 1962.

Representative career

Purcell represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in one Test match (1950) and appeared four times for New South Wales (1951–1956). Purcell's sole Test appearance was in the third Test against Great Britain in 1950. This was the famous 5-2 victory that gave Australia the Ashes for the first time in thirty years. He was selected to represent

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

against France during their 1951 tour of Australasia in a match that ended in a 19-all draw. Purcell also toured Great Britain with the 1956-57 Australian Kangaroos, playing seven tour matches against British sides but no Tests.

Coaching career

Purcell coached the Rabbitohs (1964–1966) after his retirement as a player, the highlight being the 1965 Grand Final against

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

played at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...

in front of a record crowd of 78,056. Souths lost a hard fought encounter 12-8 against the then nine-times champions. Bernie Purcell died on 31 December 2001, 19 days short of his 74th birthday.Rugby League Project
/ref>

References

Sources

* ''The Encyclopaedia of Rugby League Players - South Sydney Rabbitohs'', Alan Whiticker & Glen Hudson, Bas Publishing, 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Purcell, Bernie 1928 births 2001 deaths Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league journalists Australian rugby league players New South Wales rugby league team players Place of birth missing Rugby league second-rows South Sydney Rabbitohs captains South Sydney Rabbitohs coaches South Sydney Rabbitohs players Western Suburbs Magpies players