Tom Mooney (born 16 March 1952) is an Australian former professional

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 1970s. He played 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 Rugby Football League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

as a for the

Manly-Warringah The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

and South Sydney clubs. Mooney won the 1976 and 1978 premierships with Manly.

Career

Born in

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr ...

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 ...

, Mooney was a junior winger for Wauchope. He joined South Sydney in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

. He played three seasons with the Rabbitohs before joining Manly-Warringah in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. At the end of 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 Sydney ...

Mooney played in Manly's

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

-winning side which defeated

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 ...

13-10. He was also the 1976 season's top try-scorer, equal with teammate and Manly's captain

Bob Fulton Robert Fulton (1 December 1947 – 23 May 2021), also nicknamed "Bozo", was an Australian international rugby league footballer, coach and later commentator. Fulton played, coached, selected for and has commentated on the game with great succe ...

with both scoring 18 tries in the regular season, though Fulton would score another 3 tries in the finals series. Mooney scored a try in the

1978 NSWRFL season The 1978 NSWRFL season was the 71st season of the NSWRFL Premiership, Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, and Australia's first. Twelve clubs, including six of 1908's foundation teams and another six from around Sydney compet ...

's Grand Final against Cronulla-Sutherland, which was drawn 11-all and had to be re-played just three days later. Manly would go on to win the replay 16-0 though Mooney did not cross for a try. After playing in Manly's premiership team, Mooney was considered unlucky not to gain a place on the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

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 ...

. Seven of his teammates did tour, as did Manly coach Frank Stanton who was the head coach of the Kangaroos. Tom Mooney would also go on to be the

1979 NSWRFL season The 1979 NSWRFL season was the 72nd season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve New South Wales Rugby Football League clubs competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the sea ...

's top try scorer.Alan Whiticker. Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players. 2005 In 1990 Mooney was named on the wing in a Manly team made up of the best players in the club's history. He was one of the few exceptional players that failed to represent either his state or country. Former Manly teammate Paul "Fatty" Vautin told in his biography ''"The Strife and Times of Paul Vautin'' that during the

1981 NSWRFL season The 1981 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 74th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve clubs, including six of 1908's foundation teams and another six from around Sydney ...

, Mooney was considered to be in a form slump after not having scored a try in the first six games of the season (of which Manly had only won two). Before Manly's Round 7 match against South Sydney at Manly's home ground

Brookvale Oval Brookvale Oval (also known by the commercial sponsorship name 4 Pines Park) is a sporting ground located within Brookvale Park at Brookvale, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Northern Beaches Council and is primarily used by th ...

, a fired up Mooney all but ordered teammates to get him the ball during the game. Mooney went on to score two tries as the Sea Eagles won 21-13. Ironically it would be another 10 games before he crossed for another try. He scored a total of 9 tries for the season and retired from playing at the end of the year.

References

External links

Tom Mooney
nrlstats.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mooney, Tom 1952 births Living people Australian rugby league players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles captains South Sydney Rabbitohs players Rugby league wingers Rugby league players from Coffs Harbour