John Rheinberger (

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, New South Wales) 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 ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

footballer. He made just two appearances for

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 ...

. One of those two appearances came in 1975, including the 1975 Grand Final in which Easts beat the St George Dragons 38–0, a record grand final score at the time. Rheinberger, who played in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

position, was virtually plucked out of obscurity by Easts' coach

Jack Gibson Jack Gibson may refer to: * Jack Gibson (rugby league) (1929–2008), Australian player and coach * Jack Stanley Gibson (1909–2005), Irish physician * Jack Gibson (ice hockey, born 1880) (1880–1955), ice hockey player and executive * Jack Gibson ...

. Rheinberger had spent the early months of the 1974 season trialling with the Eastern Suburbs

fourth grade side as a winger, Ironically, they were unable to find a place for him. Following the 1975 grand final John Rheinberger never played in another first grade match, suffering a serious shoulder injury in the following year's pre-season. Rheinberger made his return in the club's Under 23s side that year, and again won a premiership. He was also a talented cricketer who represented Australian Schoolboys in 1972, and had a long career in Indoor Cricket.

External links

John Rheinberger at rl1908.com
Australian rugby league players Sydney Roosters players Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Rugby league players from Sydney {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-stub