John Mowbray (born 1940) is an Australian 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 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He played for Western Suburbs in the NSWRL competition, as a .

Early life

Mowbray was born in Springwood and played his junior rugby league with the

Guildford Owls The Guildford Owls are a rugby league club based in Guildford, New South Wales, Australia. They have previously competed in the Ron Massey Cup, the Sydney Shield and have also competed in the Sydney Metropolitan Women's Rugby League. History Gu ...

in the Parramatta district. Mowbray initially trialed with Balmain but was unsuccessful in being signed in their squad. Mowbray then went and trialed with Western Suburbs and was successful in obtaining a contract after starring in a pre-season match against Parramatta at

Cumberland Oval Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, 23 kilometres west of Sydney's central business district. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure t ...

Playing career

Mowbray made his first grade debut for Wests against Manly at

Pratten Park Pratten Park is a sporting complex in the Sydney suburb of Ashfield. It was officially opened on 12 September 1912 by the Governor of New South Wales, Frederic Thesiger. Pratten Park was named after Herbert Pratten, an alderman and then mayor ...

in 1959. Mowbray did not feature for Western Suburbs in either the 1961 or 1962 grand final defeats to St George but was a member of the 1963 grand final side which lost to St George 8–3. The grand final is widely remembered for the muddy conditions during the match and the photograph 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 ...

and

Arthur Summons Arthur James Summons (13 December 1935 – 16 May 2020) was an Australian representative rugby union and rugby league player, a dual-code rugby international fly-half or five-eighth. He captained the Australian national rugby league team in fiv ...

which was taken at full time. This would be the last grand final that Western Suburbs would play in as a stand-alone entity until they exited the competition in 1999. Mowbray played a further five seasons for Wests and retired at the end of 1968.

References

1940 births Living people Western Suburbs Magpies players Australian rugby league players Rugby league players from New South Wales Rugby league wingers {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1940s-stub