John "Chicka" Ferguson (born 15 July 1954) is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

former 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 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1980s. An Australian international and New South Wales

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

representative winger, in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership for the

Newtown Jets The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSW Cup competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season. The Jets' home ground ...

Eastern Suburbs Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen ...

and finally the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

, with whom he won the 1989 and 1990 NSWRL premierships. A prolific try-scorer, who topped the NSWRL's scoring list in 1988, Ferguson also played in England with

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the 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 north-east and Warrington t ...

, helping them to victory in the

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Challenge Cup Final. He has since been named in Australia's indigenous team of the century (1908–2008).

Playing career

Ferguson played at South Grafton Rebels as a junior and then as a first grader from 1972 to 1975. He then moved to play at Glen Innes from 1976 to 1980. He was then lured to play for

for the 1981 season. Ferguson played in his first

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. S ...

with Newtown in 1981 before moving to Easts. He later moved to England, playing the 1984-85 season for Wigan. His stint in Lancashire saw him explode on the league scene, scoring 24 tries in 25 games and catching the eye of Australian selectors. John Ferguson played , i.e. number 2, in

's 18-26 defeat by St. Helens in the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

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

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

Final during the 1984–85 season at

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, on Sunday 28 October 1984, and played , i.e. number 2, and scored 2- tries in Wigan's 28-24 victory over

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

in the

Challenge Cup Final during the 1984–85 season 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 original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

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on Saturday 4 May 1985. Despite the Challenge Cup Final at the time conflicting with the start of the NSWRL season, Ferguson flew across the world to score two tries before 99,801 spectators in what has been described as the greatest Cup Final in history. Ferguson would later return to the NSWRL, topping the League's try-scoring list in 1988 before going on to feature in two premiership-winning

sides. In the famous '89 grand final, he scored a dramatic last-minute try to send the rugby league grand final into extra time. The Canberra Raiders eventually triumphed over the Balmain Tigers. In the post season he traveled with the Raiders to England for the

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australasian National Rugby League (NRL) and the European Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. The first such match was pl ...

, playing on the wing in Canberra's loss to

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...

. Ferguson, still one of the fastest players at the Raiders despite turning 36 during the season, won a second premiership with the Canberra Raiders in the

1990 NSWRL season The 1990 New South Wales Rugby League season was the eighty-third season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the premiership season, which culminated in a g ...

Representative career

Ferguson was selected to represent

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 ...

as a winger in three

series: * Games I, II and III of the

1985 State of Origin series The 1985 State of Origin series was the fourth time the annual three-match series between New South Wales and Queensland was contested entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. It was the year that New South Wales finally ended Queensland ...

* Games II and III of the 1988 State of Origin series * Games I, II and III of the

1989 State of Origin series The 1989 State of Origin series was the eighth time the annual three-game series between New South Wales and Queensland was contested entirely under 'state of origin' selection rules. It was Queensland's second consecutive Origin clean-sweep and ...

Ferguson is the oldest player to have participated in a New South Wales State of Origin team – 34 years and 348 days.

Awards

In 2001, Ferguson was named on the wing in the ''Indigenous Team of the Century''. Arthur Beetson, named as captain of the team, commented that "Chicka was as good a winger as anybody". Ferguson was again listed in a top Indigenous players team in 2004 when the Canberra Raiders selected a side representing the best Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to have played for the club.

Footnotes

External links

John Ferguson at wiganwarriors.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, John 1954 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Canberra Raiders players City New South Wales rugby league team players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players Indigenous Australian rugby league players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Newtown Jets players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league wingers Sydney Roosters players Wigan Warriors players