Peter "Pedro" Gallagher (1937–2003) 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 11 ...

footballer. He was a front-row forward for the Australian national team. He played in 17 Tests between 1963 and 1968 as captain on 1 occasion. He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.

Early life

Hickey was born in Townsville, Australia. He was educated at St Edmund's College, Ipswich from 1950−1955.

Playing career

Born in

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

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 , establishe ...

Gallagher played his entire Brisbane Rugby League premiership first grade career of 11 seasons with the

Brothers A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

club. He first represented

at age 25 in 1962 and then regularly over the next 5 years making 12 appearances against

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 ...

as well as 5 appearances against touring international sides. Gallagher made his Test debut against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the first Test of the 1963 series in Sydney and played in all five domestic Tests that year against New Zealand and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. At the end of that year he was selected for the 1963 Kangaroo Tour of England and France. He played in 3 Tests and 18 minor tour matches. In 1967 after recovering from a knee injury he returned to the national side for all three Tests against New Zealand. He made his 2nd Kangaroo Tour of England in 1967-68 and played in 10 tour matches and 6 Tests. He made his sole appearance as captain of the

Kangaroos Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

in the 2nd Test in London in November 1967.

After football

In retirement he was heavily involved in the Queensland Racing Industry. He was Vice Chairman of the

Gold Coast Turf Club Gold Coast Turf Club is an Australian horse racing organization based in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia. Race track The racecourse holds numerous Thoroughbred racehorse meetings each year. The feature event is the annual Gold Coast ...

for ten years and then Chairman for a further five years. He was a driving force behind the Magic Millions Racing Carnival. He succumbed to cancer aged 66. In February 2008, Gallagher was named in the list of Australia's ''100 Greatest Players'' (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and

ARL ARL may refer to: Military * US Navy hull classification symbol for repair ship * Admiralty Research Laboratory, UK * United States Army Research Laboratory * ARL 44, a WWII French tank Organizations * Aero Research Limited, a UK adhesives comp ...

to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.

References

Sources

* Whiticker, Alan (2004) ''Captaining the Kangaroos'', New Holland, Sydney * Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'' Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
Peter Gallagher at rugbyleagueproject.comQueensland Representatives at qrl.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Peter 1937 births 2003 deaths Australian rugby league players Australia national rugby league team players Past Brothers players Australia national rugby league team captains Rugby league props Rugby league players from Townsville