John Jansen 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 and 1980s.
Career
Originally from
Corrimal, New South Wales, John 'JJ' Jansen came to the
St George Dragons in 1976, as a 21-year-old. He had an immediate impact in the lower grades and cemented a first grade position in the second-row alongside
Robert Stone and blossomed under the guidance of master coach
Harry Bath.
Jansen won a premiership with
St George Dragons in 1977, he played in the
drawn 1977 Grand Final and scored a marvelous try in the
1977 Grand Final replay. He would have been picked in the 1979 Grand Final squad if a chronic knee injury hadn't ruined his season.
1983 was his last season, and due to a season-ending injury to
Craig Young
Craig Young (born 25 June 1956) is an Australian former representative rugby league footballer for the Australia national rugby league team, the New South Wales Blues and a stalwart player over 11 seasons from 1977 to 1988 with the St. Georg ...
, John Jansen captained the Dragons to the semi-finals. He later coached the lower grades at
St George Dragons and the
Illawarra Steelers
The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 until 1998. On the 13th of December 1980, the ...
.
Rugby League legend and Immortal,
Johnny Raper stated in the Big League Magazine on 17 September 1977 about John Jansen and
Robert Stone that "They are potentially the best pair of second rowers St. George have ever had."
[Big League Magazine 17–23 September 1977. Volume 58. No.31 - Article- 'Dynamic Duo' (pages 4 & 5)]
References
1955 births
Living people
Australian rugby league players
Corrimal Cougars players
Rugby league players from Wollongong
Rugby league second-rows
St. George Dragons players
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