Robert "Rocky" Laurie (1956 – June 2022)League mourns loss of ‘Rocky’ Laurie
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 played for the

Eastern Suburbs Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen ...

and the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are one of nine existing tea ...

in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership.http://www.stats.rleague.com/rl/scorers/players/Robert_Laurie.html Laurie along with Ian Schubert, both from the rural

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) township of Wauchope, came to the

Roosters The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

in NSWRFL season 1975, although Laurie did not make his first grade debut till the following season. During the

1976 NSWRFL season The 1976 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 69th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from around Sydne ...

, he played in the forwards, helping Eastern Suburbs to victory in their unofficial

1976 World Club Challenge The 1976 World Club Challenge was an unofficial trial of what would later become the World Club Challenge concept, with the 1975 NSWRFL season's premiers, Eastern Suburbs hosting the 1975–76 Northern Rugby Football League season's Premiersh ...

match against British champions St. Helens in Sydney. However, his move to the South Sydney Rabbitohs proved a master stroke, with Laurie making the five-eighth position his own in the red and green. Laurie played his best football at Souths, carving up the opposition and setting up spectacular tries for players such as dynamic winger Terry Fahey. Laurie was awarded the 1980

Dally M Medal The Dally M Medal is awarded each year (annually) to the player voted for as the ' Player of the year' over the National Rugby League (NRL) regular season. The awards are named in honour of Australian former rugby league great Herbert Henry "Da ...

, the only South Sydney player to date to win the coveted award. Laurie played for Easts in their win at the final of the 1981 Craven Mild Cup. In 1983, Laurie returned to Wauchope and captained a NSW Country representative side in a match against New Zealand's South Island, Laurie starred in the match scoring 3 tries. During the

1988 Great Britain Lions tour The 1988 Great Britain Lions tour was the Great Britain national rugby league team's 18th tour of Australasia and took place from May to July 1988. It started with a Test match against Papua New Guinea before the best-of-three series against Austr ...

, Laurie captained a Northern Division side to victory over the visitors. Rocky's younger brother, Mark Laurie, was a three-time premiership winner with the

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

club.

References

1950s births 2022 deaths City New South Wales rugby league team players Country New South Wales rugby league team players Indigenous Australian rugby league players New South Wales rugby league team players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Wauchope, New South Wales South Sydney Rabbitohs players Sydney Roosters players South Sydney Rabbitohs captains {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-stub