Nick Yakich (18 January 1940 – 28 May 2019) was an Australian

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 for the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

in the

New South Wales Rugby League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

competition. His position of choice was on the .

Early life

Nick Yakich, the son of a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n immigrant who stowed away on a ship bound for

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in the 1920s, moved to Mossman (Qld) in the late 1940s. From there he moved to

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 ...

where he attended Marist Brothers North Shore (Mosman) with future rugby league star winger

Ken Irvine Kenneth John Irvine (5 March 1940 – 22 December 1990), also nicknamed "Mongo", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He holds the standing Australian record for the most tries in a ...

. He then attended Newcastle Teachers College with his brother

Fred Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Ro ...

(also a future Sea Eagle). After graduating he was posted to Harbord Primary School on

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the entra ...

, right in the heart of the Sea Eagles area and trialled with Manly at the instigation of cricket team mate, and Manly junior, Frank Stanton. He later taught PE at Pittwater High School at Mona Vale.

Playing career

Yakich was graded with the Sea Eagles as a winger in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, immediately impressing with his speed and try scoring ability in open play. He went on to play in a total of 74 games with the club between 1960 and 1966, scoring 52 tries. His best season in the NSWRFL was

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

when he crossed for 16 tries, only two behind the season's leading try scorer, St. George's test

Reg Gasnier Reginald William "Reg" Gasnier (12 May 1939 – 11 May 2014) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He played for the St. George Dragons from 1959 to 1967 and represented Australian national rugby league team, Australia in a then ...

. During his time with Manly, Yakich was considered one of the fastest players in rugby league behind only North Sydney's Ken Irvine and South Sydney's

1962 Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth. The ...

100 yards Bronze Medallist, Michael Cleary. Yakich was also unlucky not to play more than three games for

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 ...

(NSW) during his career, regularly competing with test wingers Irvine, Cleary,

Johnny King Johnny Cecil King (born 2 July 1942) is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He was a winger with the St. George Dragons for the last seven years of their eleven consecutive premiership-winning run from 1956 to 1966. He was ...

and

Eddie Lumsden Edmund Lumsden (28 September 1936 – 6 October 2019) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer. He was a with the St. George Dragons during their eleven-year premiership winning run from 1956 to 1966, playing in and winning ...

(both from the record setting St. George Dragons of the 1960s) for a place in the side. Yakich played all of his three games for NSW in 1965, scoring a try on each occasion. Following the interstate series (won 4-0 by NSW), he was called up to the Australian squad to tour New Zealand, but was unable to displace Irvine and Cleary from the test team and only played in minor games on tour, though he was the squad's leading try scorer on tour with 6 tries. Nick Yakich's rugby league career came to a premature end in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

when he suffered a major knee injury playing against Souths which required surgery. He retired for good in 1967 after suffering a shoulder injury whilst captain-coach of

Werris Creek Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, New South Wales, Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi, New South Wales, Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line, New South ...

in northern

Beach Sprinting

Nick Yakich was a sprinting protege' of former Manly, NSW and Australian winger

Johnny Bliss John Charles "Johnny" Bliss (30 August 1922 – 9 September 1974) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played for Balmain, North Sydney and Manly-Warringah in the NSWRL between 1942 and 1951. Rugby league career Born in Queensland ...

, who had also won a record 12 Australian Beach Sprint championships. Yakich would go on to win 5 Australian championships with the

North Narrabeen North Narrabeen is a suburb in northern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 25 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. North Narrabeen is part of the Northern Beache ...

Surf Club before his knee injury suffered in 1966 forced his retirement.

Career playing statistics

Point scoring summary

Matches played

Sources

* Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players'', Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yakich, Nick 1940 births 2019 deaths Australia national rugby league team players Australian people of Croatian descent Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Rugby league players from Innisfail, Queensland Rugby league wingers