John Bailey (born 1954) is an Australian former

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 1970s.

Playing career

Bailey came to

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

Inverell Inverell is a large town in northern New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Macintyre River, close to the Queensland border. It is also the centre of Inverell Shire. Inverell is located on the Gwydir Highway on the western slopes of the No ...

, New South Wales, in 1973 and made first grade in 1975. He was a member of the St. George team that won the Under 23s grand final in 1974 and made it into first grade the following year. He played in the devastating 1975 Grand Final loss to

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

but returned in 1977 to play in the 1977 Grand Final victory over

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 ...

, scoring a penalty try in the last minutes of the match.

Coaching career

He retired after the grand final and went on to coach Western Suburbs between 1988 and 1990 after having coached the lower grades at 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 the ...

. Bailey's time as Western Suburbs coach was not a successful one and the club finished last in 1988. Bailey's final 2 seasons at the club saw Wests finish 14th and 13th on the table.Alan Whiticker/Glen Hudson: Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, 1995.

References

1954 births Living people Australian rugby league players Date of birth missing (living people) Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Inverell, New South Wales St. George Dragons coaches St. George Dragons players Western Suburbs Magpies coaches {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-stub