John "Rupert" Mudge (1928–1993) was an Australian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

and

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. He played both

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

codes 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 ...

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 playing

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Rupert John Mudge played for the Randwick

club in his junior years before being recruited by English rugby league club,

Workington Town Workington Town R.L.F.C. is a semi-professional rugby league club playing in Workington in west Cumbria. Their stadium is Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team. They became Rugby League Champions in 1951 and ...

, where he was joined by fellow Australian recruit

Tony Paskins Tony Paskins (5 December 1927 – 15 August 2019) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) and English Rugby Football League (RFL) competitions as well as playing rugby union for the Randw ...

. While in England, he played at representative level for

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

and

Other Nationalities The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They have also played under the name The Exiles and more recently Combined Nations All Stars. They competed in the first ...

. Mudge was coached by former

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

rugby league test captain,

Gus Risman Augustus "Gus" John Ferdinand Risman (21 March 1911 – 17 October 1994) was a Welsh professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s through to the 1950s, and coached in the 1940s through to the 1970s. A devastating three-quarter ...

. A back-rower, or , Rupert Mudge played left-, i.e. number 11, and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

's 18–10 victory over

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship (rugby league), Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rover ...

in the 1951–52

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

Final during the 1951–52 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

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on Saturday 19 April 1952, in front of a crowd of 72,093. Three Australian footballers were in the Workington Town side, including Rupert,

and

Bevan Wilson Bevan William Wilson (born 22 March 1956) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. A full-back, Wilson represented Otago at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks The New Zealand nationa ...

. They played the match in front of

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid promo ...

, who was Foreign Minister in the Government and Rupert John Mudge scored the longest ever running try at Wembley, which was the turning point in the match. It was then added to when Aussie teammate

and George Wilson together scored another try in the final minutes of the game and Workington Town team beat Featherstone and won. Rupert Mudge played left-, i.e. number 11, in

's 12–21 defeat by Barrow in the

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

Final during the 1954-55 season at

on Saturday 30 April 1955, in front of a crowd of 66,513. In 1955 both Mudge and Paskins returned to Australia where they joined the

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

rugby league team, Paskins was appointed captain. Mudge who played 45 matches for the Eastern Suburbs club in the years (1955–58) is recognised as that club's 448th player. After his retirement from football Rupert spent some years as a panelist on the Channel Seven Rugby League panel discussion program "Controversy Corner" hosted by Rex (the Moose) Mossop. In his professional life in Australia, besides football, he worked for P.Rowe Pty. Ltd. He married his Australian sweetheart, Yvonne Rita Trenerry, who had followed him to England in Workington Town where they lived until 1955 when they returned to Australia to live at Coogee Beach. They had two children, Barbara and John. In the late 1990s Rupert John Mudge was invited to England for a special celebration at Wembley Stadium, because he still held the record for the longest running try. Returning home happy he succumbed to the cancer which claimed his life in six short weeks. He died at the

Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney The Prince of Wales Hospital is a 440-bed major public teaching hospital located in Sydney's eastern suburb of Randwick, providing a full range of hospital services to the people of New South Wales, Australia. The hospital has strong ties to th ...

on the 23 July 1993. He was cremated at

Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park, Eastern Suburbs Crematorium and Botany General Cemetery (aka Botany Cemetery), is a cemetery and crematorium on Bunnerong Road in Matraville, New South Wales, in the eastern suburbs district of Sydney, Australia. ...

.Sydney Morning Herald: Death Notice- 26 July 1993

References

* ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players''; Alan Whiticker & Glen Hudson * ''The Story of Australian Rugby League''; Gary Lester

External links

Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.orgFrance defeated in ‘Battle of the Boulevard’30 April 1955 Photograph of Workington Town
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mudge, Rupert 1928 births 1993 deaths Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players British Empire rugby league team players Other Nationalities rugby league team players Place of birth missing Rugby articles needing expert attention Rugby league locks Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Sydney Roosters players Workington Town players Expatriate rugby league players in England Burials at Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park