Peter "Pedro" Gallagher (1937–2003) was an Australian rugby league 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 , motto_translation = "They Can Because They See They Can" , city = Ipswich, Queensland , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Independent secondary school , religion = Catholicis ...

from 1950−1955.

Playing career

Born in Townsville, Queensland Gallagher played his entire

Brisbane Rugby League premiership The Brisbane Rugby League is a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in 2001, known as the FOGS premiership under the Quee ...

first grade career of 11 seasons with the Brothers club. He first represented Queensland at age 25 in 1962 and then regularly over the next 5 years making 12 appearances against New South Wales as well as 5 appearances against touring international sides. Gallagher made his Test debut against New Zealand 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. At the end of that year he was selected for the 1963

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 ...

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

of England in 1967-68 and played in 10 tour matches and 6 Tests. He made his sole appearance as captain of the Kangaroos 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 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 The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

and ARL 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