Bob Boland (born 7 January 1938) nicknamed "Bolo" is an Australian former professional

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 112 ...

footballer and coach who played for the

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in t ...

and

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

Playing career

Boland made his debut for

in 1957. Boland played with the club for 11 seasons and was a member of the Balmain sides who played in the 1964 and 1966 grand final defeats against St George. In 1968, Boland moved out west to join the newly admitted club

where he played for three seasons before retiring.

Coaching career

After joining Penrith, Boland took on the role as captain-coach, but after retirement became the full-time non-playing coach. Boland held the position until he was terminated by the club at the end of the 1972 season. Boland's time as coach was not as successful as his playing career only winning 35% of games played. In 1976, Boland moved to

Nambucca Heads Nambucca Heads is a town on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia in the Nambucca Valley. It is located on a ridge, north of the estuary of the Nambucca River near the Pacific Highway. Its 2021 population was 6,675 (6,327 in 2016 ...

and coached the Nambucca Roosters.

Later life

In 2016, Boland spoke about his playing career saying,
''“I used to go to the movies or out around town and see the old Balmain players – and you look up to them ... when they said hello it gave you a bit of a lift, “When I started to play, I became the person people looked up to". “I used to get the tram to work and if I had a good game, everyone would want to sit next to me. If I had a shit game – I’d be all alone"''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boland, Bob 1938 births Living people Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Balmain Tigers players Penrith Panthers coaches Penrith Panthers captains Penrith Panthers players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league second-rows