Harry Bath (28 November 1924 – 4 October 2008), born Alfred Henry Bath, also known by the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

of "The Old Fox", 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 who was prominent and influential in the mid-20th century. A state and international representative who played 12 matches for

Other Nationalities The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They have also played under the name The Exiles and more recently Combined Nations All Stars. They competed in the first ...

in the International Championship from 1949 to 1955, he played as a and has been referred to as the best Australian rugby league player never to be picked for the Australian national team. Following his retirement, Bath coached in the

New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

for two decades, also achieving selection as the Australian national team coach.

Playing career

Australia

Bath, to be known late in his career as 'the Old Fox', was graded as a sixteen-year-old to play for the Brisbane club Southern Suburbs in 1940. After six years with the club, including selection to represent Queensland, he moved to Sydney to play for the Balmain club in New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1946. He represented

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in 1945 and

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 1946 after one Sydney season. In the 1946 fixture for NSW against the touring

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side he badly injured his leg and so was unavailable for

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal ...

Test selection a week later. Also in his first season for Balmain, Bath helped his side reach the Grand Final in which they defeated St. George 13–12. In 1947 he again won a premiership with 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, New South Wales, Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of ...

. He was also selected to play for Australia against a touring England side that year but injured his leg in a club match and was prevented from playing in any of the three tests. A year later he again helped Balmain reach their second Grand Final appearance and a 13–9 victory over the Canterbury-Bankstown club.

England

Harry Bath then accepted an offer to play in Britain for Barrow. The forward only stayed at Barrow for six months before being signed by

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the Borough of Warrington, 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 populati ...

. He spent a total of nine seasons with Warrington, playing 346 games for the club. Harry Bath played left-, i.e. number 11, and was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

's 19–0 victory over

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in the 1949–50

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves a ...

Final during the 1949–50 season at

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on Saturday 6 May 1950, in front of a crowd of 94,249, played in the 4–4 draw with Halifax in the 1953–54

Final during the 1953–54 season at

on Saturday 24 April 1954, in front of a crowd of 81,841, and played left-, and scored a conversion in the 8–4 victory over Halifax in the 1953–54

Final

replay Replay may refer to: * Replay (sports), a replayed match between two sport teams Technology * Game replay, a recording of a game session. * Instant replay, in motion pictures and television, a showing again of part of a film * Replay Professional, ...

during the 1953–54 season at

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is the home of Bradford Bulls Rugby League team. It has also been used by the Bradford Dukes speedway team, BRISCA F1 and F2 stock cars, the football team Bradford City, following the V ...

, Bradford on Wednesday 5 May 1954, in front of a record crowd of 102,575 or more. Bath's reputation as a skillful ball-player and a great goal-kicker grew while playing in Britain. He scored over 700 goals in his career, including 173 goals in 1952–53 when he was the season's leading goal kicker. Bath played right-, i.e. number 12, in

's 8–14 defeat by

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 ...

in the 1948–49

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

County Cup Final during the 1948–49 season at

Station Road, Swinton Station Road was a stadium in Pendlebury, near Manchester, England. It was the home of Swinton Rugby League Club between 1929 and 1992 and was widely recognised as one of the finest grounds in the Rugby League. Swinton moved to Station Road w ...

on Saturday 13 November 1948, and played left-, i.e. number 11, in the 5–28 defeat by

in the 1950–51

County Cup Final during the 1949–50 season at

on Saturday 4 November 1950. He played for the British Empire XIII versus

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on Wednesday 23 January 1952 at

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Return to Australia

Bath returned to Australia in 1957 and joined St. George after his former club Balmain decided against a signing due to his age of 33. In the 1957 NSWRFL season St. George were premiers, winning the Grand Final against Manly-Warringah 31–9. He was the leading point scorer in the competition in 1958 scoring a season club record of 225 points (3 tries, 108 goals). His 16-point tally in the Grand Final has never been equaled. In 1958 St. George again made it to the Grand Final this time defeating Western Suburbs 20–9. Bath again topped the season's point scoring table, totalling 211 points. The following season St. George again won the premiership with a 20–0 Grand Final victory over Manly. Bath was sent off in the Grand Final for fighting with Manly's

Rex Mossop Rex Peers "Moose" Mossop (18 February 1928 – 17 June 2011) was an Australian rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s – a dual-code international, and an Australian television personality from 1964 un ...

. It has been suggested that Bath was punished by the Australian selectors for the ten years he spent in the English league. However he was 33 years old when he returned to Australia for his last three seasons and he was then competing for a representative position against star players Norm Provan and

. He retired at the end of 1959 at the age of 35.

Playing records

Bath became the only player to have won a premiership in every season of his Sydney first-grade career (1946 and 1947 with Balmain and 1957, 1958, and 1959 with St. George). His eight goals from eight attempts in the 1957 Grand Final is the standing record for the most goals in a grand final and the most points scored in a grand final (16). He holds two places in the record of top point scorers in one season by position. His 205 points scored in 1959 are the most ever scored by a in a season and the 225 points of 1958 stands as the most ever scored by a in a season.

Coaching career

Bath took up a career in rugby league coaching and joined the inaugural

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 wa ...

coaching panel in 1961. He was selected manager, coach and as the sole selector for the Australian national team's 1962 Ashes series. Bath's greatest achievement in coaching the national side was leading the Kangaroos to

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

glory in the

1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

and

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

World Cups. He also coached the team on tours of New Zealand in 1969 and 1971. He coached the national side in the

1972 World Cup The sixth Rugby League World Cup was held in France in October and November 1972. Australia started as the favourites to retain the trophy they had won just two years previously. New Zealand had beaten all three of the other nations in 1971 an ...

in which they lost to Great Britain in controversial circumstances. The World Cup Final was tied at 10–10 after full-time and was still locked after extra time. Great Britain were awarded the victory due to a higher points table placing after the pool rounds of the competition. Harry Bath also took the coaching helm at his former club Balmain. He guided them to Grand Final appearances in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

and

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is ...

both lost against St. George 6–11 and 4–23 respectively. He also coached Newtown between 1969 and 1972. He came out of retirement to coach his other former club St. George Dragons to premiership success in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...

. The Grand Final against

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

was drawn 9–9 but St. George won the

22–0. He again coached the Dragons to premiership success in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

after their 17–13 Grand Final victory over Canterbury. His side was nicknamed 'Bath's Babes' due to the side's youthful roster. He retired from Rugby League coaching in 1981.

Accolades

Bath was recognised in 2004 for his outstanding achievements in playing and coaching rugby league when was inducted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame. In February 2008, Bath was named in a list of Australia's '' 100 Greatest Players'' (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. Bath is also a Warrington RLFC Hall of Fame inductee. On 20 July 2022, Bath was named in the St. George Dragons District Rugby League Club's team of the century.

Death

Bath died after a long illness on 4 October 2008, 55 days short of his 84th birthday. "Harry's loss will be felt by many within the game", NRL boss David Gallop said. "He is one of the few people to have a distinguished career as both a player and a coach." His funeral was held at St. Andrew's Church, Cronulla on 9 October 2008 and he was cremated at Woronora Memorial Park. A largely attended wake was held for Harry at the St. George Leagues Club after the funeral service.Sydney Morning Herald 9/10/2008 – Obituary "Harry Bath" His ashes have been memorialised at Woronora Memorial Park at Henry Lawson Garden Walk, section GWR no. 0135

References

Sources

* Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'' Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney