Bob Bax (1925-2000) was an Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer and coach. During the 1940s he played in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership as a half back for the Brothers club and also played for the

Brisbane rugby league team The Brisbane Rugby League team, also called Brisbane Firsts or Combined Brisbane or Brisbane Capitals, was an Australian representative rugby league football side made up of players from the Brisbane Rugby League's first-grade premiership club ...

in the Bulimba Cup. From 1956 to 1970 Bax coached Brothers and Norths, reaching 14

grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. S ...

s and taking nine premierships. Bax inherited the coaching role at the Brisbane Rugby League's reigning premiers, Northern Suburbs RLFC from

Clive Churchill Clive Bernard Churchill AM (21 January 1927 – 9 August 1985) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach in the mid-20th century. An Australian international and New South Wales and Queensland interstate representative ...

in 1960 and won the premiership again that year. Norths then became the first club in BRL history to win three consecutive first grade premierships when they defeated

Fortitude Valley Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestr ...

29–5 in the 1961

in front of a record club crowd of 19,824 at Lang Park. Bax extended this record winning streak to six, claiming premierships again in 1962, 1963 and 1964. He coached the side to two more grand final wins in 1966 and 1969. In 1971 Bax became the first coach to sign an Australian rules football player: Barry Spring, who was 26 and had never played a game of rugby league. Spring frequently kicked field goals from anywhere within a 60-yard range, leading to a rule change, with two points for a field goal changing to one point in 1971. In 1992 Bax was part of a six-man panel selected by ''

Rugby League Week ''Rugby League Week'' (frequently abbreviated to RLW) was the highest selling Australian rugby league magazine, ahead of major competitor ''Big League''. It was published weekly (on Wednesdays) during the Australian rugby league season, which ru ...

'' to name an all-time greatest team to celebrate

rugby league in Australia Rugby league in Australia has been one of Australia's most popular sports since it started being played there in 1908. It is the dominant winter football code in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. In 2009, it was the most watched spor ...

's 85th year. Bob Bax's son, Robert Bax, operated the Brisbane law firm, Robert Bax and Associates. Bax died in 2000 at age 74 after a long illness and was buried in Nudgee Cemetery. The Norths Devils' award for "Player most likely to succeed" was named the Bob Bax Award in his honour. In 2008, the Norths clubs' 75th anniversary year, Bax was named as coach of their all-time greatest team.

References

1925 births 2000 deaths Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Brisbane rugby league team players Burials at Nudgee Cemetery Norths Devils coaches Past Brothers players Queensland rugby league team coaches Rugby league players from Brisbane Sportsmen from Queensland {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-stub