Norman John "Johnny" Hawke (1925 – 10 January 1992) 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 who played in the 1940s, and 1950s. An Australian international and New South Wales interstate representative back, he played club football in the ACT as well as in

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 ...

for

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until the ...

,Johnny Hawke
at ''yesterdayshero.com.au'' whom he captained and won a premiership with in 1949.

Background

Hawke was born in

Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in the south-eastern region of New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the ...

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 ...

in 1925. At an early age, he displayed enormous sporting talent. Like many young sportsmen of the time, he played

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

on Saturday and

on Sunday.

Rugby league career

Early years

In 1940 at the age of 15, Hawke played first grade for the Queanbeyan Blues rugby league team and Queanbeyan Tigers Australian football team. After leaving school, he started work at Commonwealth Government Printing Office. He transferred to the

Eastlake Football Club The Canberra Demons (formerly known as the Eastlake Football Club) is a semi-professional Australian rules football club based in the inner-south of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. The senior team competed in the North East Austral ...

as many of the Printing Office staff played for that club. He won Eastlake's best and fairest award in 1945 and in 1946 he captained the team. Eastlake lost the 1946 Grand Final after being undefeated during the year. Hawke played for the Queanbeyan Blues in 1946 but transferred to play in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

in 1947. In 1948, he received several inducements to leave but remained playing in the local competition for 6 pounds per week. During 1948, Hawke was selected for Monaro,

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

and

. He used up all his leave entitlements from the Printing Office and as a result did not have any leave left to play in the final selection game, New South Wales versus

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. Even though his leave application was rejected, he went and played in the game but the consequence was that the Printing Office dismissed him on his return to work. Hawke was selected for the 1948-49

Kangaroo tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australian national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours to ...

and left Canberra in August 1948 with a gift of just over 10 pounds from the Canberra Rugby League. He played four Tests against Great Britain and France. During the tour, as five-eighth and centre, he scored 11 tries and played 23 out of the 37 games.

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

Upon the tour's return, he signed with the

for the

1949 NSWRFL season The 1949 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the forty-second season of Sydney's top-level professional rugby league football club competition, Australia's first. Ten teams from across the city contested the premiership during ...

and was appointed captain at the age of 24. In the 1949 semi-final against South Sydney, he suffered a broken upper jaw and cracked teeth after a heavy tackle by

Jack Rayner Rupert John Raynor (11 April 1921 – 17 May 2008) was an Australian state and national representative rugby league player and NSWRFL coach. His club playing career was with the South Sydney Rabbitohs from 1946 to 1957 and he also represented ...

. He remained on the field and set up the winning try to winger

Ron Roberts Ronald or Ron Roberts may refer to: * Ronald Roberts (basketball) (born 1991), American-Dominican basketball player * Ronald Roberts (swimmer) (1922–2012), British swimmer * Ronald Suresh Roberts (born 1968), British West Indian biographer, lawy ...

. Three weeks later, he led the Saints to premiership victory and played a leading role in the 19-12

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. Sy ...

win over South Sydney. Mid-season 1949, he had made the Kangaroo tour to New Zealand and another Test appearance. In 1950, he was in the running for the Ashes series captaincy but injured his knee in the visiting

Great Britain national rugby league team The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions. For most of the 20th century, the Great Britain team toured overseas, ...

's tour match against

at the SCG which drew a record crowd of over 70,419 and made no further rep appearances that year. He made a career total of six

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

appearances for New South Wales and captained the side. Hawke captained-coached St. George in the premiership seasons of 1951 and 1952, and in 1951 made his final test appearance against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In 1952, he suffered a slipped disc that led to him being in plaster from neck to thighs. Injury led to his career at St. George being curtailed at the end of the

1952 NSWRFL season The 1952 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the forty-fifth season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Ten teams from across Sydney contested for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season which culminated in a gr ...

Later years

Hawke left St. George to take a captain-coach role at

Kyogle, New South Wales Kyogle () is a town in the Northern Rivers region of northern New South Wales, Australia. It falls within the local government area of Kyogle Council. At the 2016 census, Kyogle had a population of 2,751 people. Kyogle is known as a "gateway" ...

and the team won the premiership in his first year as coach. He left Kyogle to coach at

Woy Woy Woy Woy is a coastal town in the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the southern reaches of Brisbane Water north of Sydney. It is a population centre within the local government area. Woy Woy is located in the nor ...

. Hawke returned to Canberra in 1956. Hawke died of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

on 10 January 1992 at the age of 66. He was married to Joan for 46 years. After his death, he was inducted into the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

Sports Hall of Fame.

References

1925 births 1992 deaths Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Australian rules footballers from the Australian Capital Territory City New South Wales rugby league team players Country New South Wales rugby league team players Neurological disease deaths in the Australian Capital Territory Deaths from Parkinson's disease Eastlake Football Club players New South Wales rugby league team players Queanbeyan Football Club players Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Queanbeyan St. George Dragons captains St. George Dragons coaches St. George Dragons players {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-stub