Stanley Colin (Col) Geelan (1927–1996) 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 112 ...

footballer and coach.

Career

A Newtown Junior, Geelan started his career at Newtown in 1948, but then spent the 1949 season at

Gunnedah Gunnedah is a town in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire local government area. In the the town recorded a population of 9,726. Gunnedah is situated within the Liverpool Plains, a fertile agricultur ...

before returning in 1950. He played five-eight and centre during his career. He played five seasons for Newtown between 1950 and 1954 playing over 75 first grade games, then captain-coached

Rockhampton, Queensland Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

in 1955. He returned to Sydney to captain

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in the south-western suburbs. The area is located around the Bankstown railway line, to the west of the St George region and to the south of the Inner West region. The suburbs o ...

in 1956, and he captain-coached them in 1957 before retiring.

Representative career

Col Geelan also represented

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in three games between 1952 and 1954. He was selected for

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 ...

on 8 occasions between 1951 and 1953 including the 1952/53

Kangaroo Tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australian national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours to ...

. He is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No.287. He was appointed

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of Newtown in 1954 and they won the minor premiership but he missed the Grand Final through injury.Rugby League Project- Col Geelan Geelan died on 11 May 1996, age 69 at his home in

Bawley Point, New South Wales Bawley Point is a small coastal hamlet in New South Wales, Australia, in the Shoalhaven with a population of 698 people at the . It is located 30 minutes south of Ulladulla, New South Wales, and 30 minutes north of Batemans Bay on the South Coas ...

References

1927 births 1996 deaths Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs coaches Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players New South Wales rugby league team players Newtown Jets coaches Newtown Jets players Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Sydney {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1920s-stub