Ian John Walsh (20 March 1933 – 4 April 2013) was an Australian 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. He was a with the

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until th ...

from 1962 to 1967 and played in the last five of the Dragons’ historic 11 consecutive premiership winning teams. He captained St. George in the last of its 11 successive Grand Final wins in 1966 and led The Saints again when their premiership winning streak ended in 1967. He was a representative 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 ...

and captained them in 10 Test matches from 1963 to 1966.

Biography

Born on 20 March 1933 in Bogan Gate near

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

in western

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 ...

, Walsh played in country sides at Parkes,

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and

Eugowra Eugowra is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is split between Forbes Shire and Cabonne Shire local government area, west of the state capital, Sydney. At the , Eugowra had a population of 779. Geogr ...

. He was selected to represent the Western Division when they hosted the 1951 French touring side and lost. It was as a country representative that his international début was against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1959, and later that year was selected for the 1959-60

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 played in all six

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s and in 17 minor tour matches.

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until th ...

Walsh joined

in 1962 and played ninety-six games till 1967, playing in four winning

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. Sy ...

s (1962, 1963, 1965 and 1966). His first Test as captain was on the 1963 Tour of Great Britain which saw the Kangaroos become the first Australian touring team in 50 years to win the Ashes. He 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 ...

for the ''"Swinton Massacre"'' 2nd test of that tour when the Kangaroos registered the biggest win in Anglo-Australian test history, 50–12. After the retirement of

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 ...

in 1965, Walsh took on the role of St. George's captain-coach. In 1966 he achieved a rare distinction becoming the only player to captain-coach Australia to an

Ashes series 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 ...

victory and his club to a premiership. He played a total of twenty-five tests for Australia from 1959 to 1966.Writer, p. 415 The Dragons' star players were growing old, the young and brutal

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional 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 pla ...

were looming as title contenders and the inevitable end to the run had to be approaching.Writer, p. 413 Nevertheless, Walsh was able to lead the Dragons against 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 ...

to their 11th straight victory and the end of their run.

Post playing and accolades

After retiring as a player Walsh coached the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

to the semi finals of the

1971 NSWRFL season The 1971 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the sixty-fourth season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six foundation clubs and another six admitted since 1908, ...

before becoming a successful columnist with the ''

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'' for over 20 years and a Country and State selector. He worked in sales in the printing industry in Sydney. In February 2008, Walsh was named in the list of Australia's ''100 Greatest Players'' (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

and

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to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. Walsh died on 4 April 2013 at the age of 80 after a long illness 14 days after his 80th birthday. On 20 July 2022, Walsh was named in the St. George Dragons District Rugby League Clubs team of the century.

References

* Whiticker, Alan (2004) ''Captaining the Kangaroos'', New Holland, Sydney * Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'' Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney * Writer, Larry (1995) ''Never Before, Never Again'', Pan MacMillan, Sydney

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Ian 1933 births 2013 deaths Australia national rugby league team captains Australia national rugby league team coaches Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league administrators Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league journalists Australian rugby league players City New South Wales rugby league team coaches Clive Churchill Medal winners Parramatta Eels coaches Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from New South Wales St. George Dragons coaches St. George Dragons players