Reese Kenneth Griffiths (25 December 1937 – 16 September 2016) was a New Zealand

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 ...

player who represented

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

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

and 1960 World Cups.

Playing career

Griffiths played in the outside backs for Runanga in the West Coast Rugby League competition. He represented the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

between 1954 and 1964, and the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

in 1965. He was first selected for the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

in 1957 and attended the World Cup that year as an injury replacement for Neville Denton. Griffiths went on to play in eleven test matches for the Kiwis between 1957 and 1963, including at the

1960 World Cup The 1960 Rugby League World Cup was the third staging of the tournament and the first Rugby League World Cup to be held in Great Britain. The same format as used in 1957 was used, with a group stage leading to a final table. The 1960 World Cup ...

. He finished his international career having played in 35 games and scored 18 tries for New Zealand. In 1960 Griffiths was also involved in the West Coast side that won the

Northern Union Cup The Rugby League Cup is a New Zealand rugby league trophy that is contested between districts on a challenge basis. The trophy used to be known as the Northern Union Challenge Cup. It is the oldest rugby league competition in New Zealand. Histo ...

from

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009'', 2009. .

Personal life

Griffiths worked in the West Coast mines and also owned a commercial fishing boat. He is commemorated in a mural on the side of a Runanga dairy, alongside George Menzies and Bernie Green. Griffiths died in Greymouth on 16 September 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Reese 1937 births 2016 deaths New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players West Coast rugby league team players Rugby league wingers Rugby league centres Runanga players South Island rugby league team players