Anthony Peter Coll ( – 14 May 2020) was a New Zealand 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 and coach 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 three

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

Early life and family

Coll grew up on 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 ...

. He was the son of Peter Coll—a

rugby league representative who played in the team that defeated the touring Great Britain side in 1946—and the uncle of squash player

Paul Coll Paul Daniel Coll (born 9 May 1992) is a professional squash player from New Zealand. In March 2022, he became the first New Zealand man to achieve a world ranking of World No. 1. He is the current British Open champion, having won this tourna ...

. He was educated at Marist Brothers High School, Greymouth.

Playing career

A West Coast representative, Coll played in 65 games (including 30 tests) 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 ...

including three world cups. Coll trialled for the 1971 Kiwis unsuccessfully, however he was selected the following year. He was the Kiwis' captain at the 1977 World Cup. Coll also had a brief spell in the

Canterbury Rugby League Canterbury Rugby League is the regional body that administers rugby league in Canterbury, New Zealand. CRL manages local competitions from senior level down to age group competitions. Canterbury Rugby League also manages the Canterbury rugby lea ...

competition, playing with Marist-Western Suburbs and representing

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987.

Later years

Coll coached the

in 1986 and 1987. He was made a

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

"Legends of League" in 2007.Three more greats inducted into New Zealand's Legends of League
''rleague.com'', 3 June 2007 He ran a sports store in

Greymouth Greymouth () (Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is , which accounts for % of the West Coas ...

. In 2011 Coll was elected to the Grey District Council in a by-election. Coll suffered a heart attack in 2019. On 14 May 2020, he died aged 70 after suffering a second heart attack while biking near Karoro.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coll, Tony 2020 deaths Canterbury rugby league team players Local politicians in New Zealand Marist (West Coast) players Marist-Western Suburbs players New Zealand national rugby league team captains New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand sportsperson-politicians Place of birth missing Rugby league second-rows South Island rugby league team players West Coast rugby league team coaches West Coast rugby league team players Year of birth missing People educated at John Paul II High School, Greymouth