Richard Huddart (22 June 1936 – 11 August 2021) was an English 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 who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. A

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

international representative forward, he played at club level in England for

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...

and St Helens (with whom he won the

1961 Challenge Cup Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

), and in Australia for

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 ...

(with whom he won the 1966 NSWRFL Premiership). Huddart was both a Whitehaven and St Helens R.F.C. Hall of Fame inductee.

Background

Dick Huddart was born in

Flimby Flimby is an English coastal village and former civil parish in the Allerdale district in Cumbria. It was Historic counties of England, historically in Cumberland. It currently forms part of the parish of Maryport and the Flimby ward of Allerdal ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

on 22 June 1936. After leaving school he worked as a fitter at a local coal mine. He played amateur rugby for Risehow, Huddart turned professional, signing with rugby league club Whitehaven in 1954.

Playing career

Britain

Huddart's first team debut for Whitehaven came in August 1956 against Warrington, the following month he played in his first

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

match for Cumberland. Huddart played right- in Whitehaven's 14–11 victory over

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 the

1956–57 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France The 1956–57 Kangaroo tour was the ninth Kangaroo tour, in which the Australian national rugby league team travelled to Great Britain and France and played twenty-eight matches, including the Ashes series of three Test matches against Great Brit ...

match at the

Recreation Ground A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

on Saturday 20 October 1956, in front of a crowd of 10,917. Later that year he became the first Whitehaven player to be selected to play for the

Great Britain national rugby league team The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions. For most of the 20th century, the Great Britain team toured overseas, ...

, touring Australia and New Zealand as a member of the 1958 Great Britain team and winning

the Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first Te ...

being

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

four times on the tour - twice against Australia and wice against New Zealand. Upon his return, Huddart decided to move to St. Helens, signing with them in October, 1958. During the 1959–60 season he played as a in St. Helens' 4–5 loss against

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in the

1959 Lancashire Cup Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

Final at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

on Saturday 31 October 1959. While at St. Helens he played for Great Britain in 1959 against Australia, in 1961 against New Zealand (three matches), in 1962 against France (two matches), Australia (three matches), and New Zealand (two matches), and in 1963 against Australia. During the 1960–61 season Huddart played at and was named

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

, winning the

Lance Todd Trophy The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to the annual Challenge Cup Final's man of the match. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed in ...

in the 12–6 victory over

in the

Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on Saturday 13 May 1961, in front of a crowd of 94,672. He also helped Great Britain retain the Ashes] in the 1962 tour of Australia. Huddart won a single cap for

while at St. Helens in 1962 against France. During the 1960–61 season he played at in the 15–9 victory over Swinton Lions, Swinton in the

1960 Lancashire Cup Year 196 ( CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 '' Ab urbe condit ...

Final at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 29 October 1960. During the 1961–62 season he played right- in the 25–9 victory over Swinton Lions, Swinton in the

1961 Lancashire Cup Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

Final at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 11 November 1961. During the 1962–63 season he played at in the 7–4 victory over Swinton in the

1962 Lancashire Cup Year 196 ( CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 '' Ab urbe condit ...

Final at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 27 October 1962.

Australia

Huddart moved to Australia to play for NSWRFL club

from the 1964 season. It was hoped he could help fill the large shoes left in the record-breaking champion St. George side's second-row by the retiring

Norm Provan Norman Douglas Somerville Provan (18 December 1932 – 13 October 2021) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach. Also nicknamed "Sticks", he was a second-row forward with the St George Dragons during the first ten of t ...

. Huddart went on to help the Dragons continue their dominance in that period, scoring a try in the 1966 NSWRFL season's Grand Final victory over Balmain. The turning point of that match came when Huddart and Ian Walsh put on a set move as the Balmain defence rushed up too early. Walsh burst through the line and with only the fullback to beat and passed the ball to Huddart who raced 30 yards to score. Huddart thus became the first Great Britain Test player to win a premiership in Australia. After leaving St. George, Huddart became player-coach at Dubbo Macquarrie in the Western Division of the

NSWRL The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

. Huddart returned to Britain in 1970–71 to play a final season with Whitehaven.

Personal life

Huddart was married twice, his first marriage to Iris ended in divorce after the family returned to England in 1970. After the divorce Huddart returned to Australia where he met and married his second wife, Lyn. He was the father of rugby league footballer; Milton Huddart while and uncle, Dan Huddart, also played professional rugby league for

Workington Town Workington Town R.L.F.C. is a semi-professional rugby league club playing in Workington in west Cumbria. Their stadium is Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team. They became Rugby League Champions in 1951 and ...

. He died on 11 August 2021, aged 85.

References

External links

Dick Huddart at saints.org.uk
*(archived by web.archive.org
Dick Huddart at yesterdayshero.com.au
*(archived by web.archive.org
When Haven beat the Aussies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huddart, Dick 1936 births 2021 deaths Cumbria rugby league team players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lance Todd Trophy winners Rugby league players from Maryport Rugby league second-rows St Helens R.F.C. players St. George Dragons players Whitehaven R.L.F.C. players