Warren James Boland (born 11 February 1955, in Sydney) is a former science teacher and professional footballer (

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 ...

) with the

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly r ...

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in t ...

. He presented weekend radio shows called "Weekends with Warren" on

ABC Local Radio ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...

stations across

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia, broadcasting from the studios of

612 ABC Brisbane ABC Radio Brisbane (callsign: 4QR) is an ABC Local Radio station in Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of the largest stations in the network, serving as a base for Queensland programming - many programs are broadcast across the ABC Local Radio ...

. Boland's radio broadcasts could be heard from 9am-midday (10am-midday outside

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

) on Saturdays and from 10am-midday on Sundays. Warren's contract at 612ABC was not renewed at the end of 2013 and he was replaced in the lineup.

Rugby league career

A halfback in high school, Boland recalled being rejected due to his small stature. "After I had gone to try out for the school side in Year 11, I was told to go away and grow some more," he said. Boland won an under-23s premiership with

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

before travelling overseas in 1975. Upon his return to Australia, he signed for the

and was a member of the Tigers' Amco Cup-winning side in 1976. From 1979, he played five seasons with the

. He often captained the side from his position of , including in the 1980 semi-final campaign. A broken leg suffered in the 1981 pre-season saw some questioning whether his career was over, but he returned to first grade in late July. He was again captaining the side in the 1982 semi-finals appearance, before retiring in 1983 at the relatively young age of 28. He was later named as winger and captain of Western Suburbs Magpies Team of the Eighties. Warren Boland was considered an anomaly in the tough Western Suburbs teams of his time which had a strong reputation as being working class "battlers" and included such players as

Tommy Raudonikis Thomas Walter Raudonikis (13 April 1950 – 7 April 2021) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He played 40 International games and World Cup games as Australia representative and captained his country in two matches of the 1 ...

Les Boyd Les Boyd (born 17 November 1956) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played representative football for the Australian national side in international matches as well as the New South Wales si ...

and John "Dallas" Donnelly. He was described as, "well-educated, articulate, ambitious, and deeply concerned with social issues." An arts graduate of

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

, Boland hosted a "social issues" radio show on

2SM 2SM is an Australian radio station, licensed to and serving Sydney, broadcasting on 1269 kilohertz on the AM band. It is owned and operated by Broadcast Operations Group. The SM call sign is taken from the initials of Saint Mary's. 2SM's progra ...

during his time as a player.

Media

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Warren Boland commentated on the ABC-TV's Saturday afternoon New South Wales Rugby League / Australian Rugby League matches, generally alongside co-caller David Morrow until becoming chief caller in 1990 with Morrow's move to Channel 10. He also commentated with fellow ex-players David Wright,

John Peard John "Bomber" Peard (born 15 January 1945) is an Australian former rugby league footballer and later coach. An Australian international and New South Wales representative , he played for the Eastern Suburbs, St George and Parramatta NSWRFL ...

and

Arthur Beetson Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson OAM (21 January 1945 – 1 December 2011

, as well as

Debbie Spillane Deborah Elizabeth Spillane (born 25 December 1955) is an Australian sports journalist and commentator. Early life and education Spillane was born in Sydney, and was educated at Bethlehem College, Ashfield and received a Bachelor of Arts from ...

. Boland also covered the

1990 Kangaroo Tour of Great Britain and France The 1990 Kangaroo Tour was the seventeenth Kangaroo Tour, where the Australian national rugby league team (known as the Castlemaine XXXX, XXXX Kangaroos due to sponsorship reasons) travelled to Europe and played eighteen matches against British a ...

for the ABC, calling the two tests the

Australian Kangaroos The Australian National Rugby League Team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the 'Northern Union game' in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian ...

played against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on the French leg of the tour.1990 Kangaroo Tour Highlights (France Leg)
/ref> Following this, he worked for

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

in 1997–98. During the football season these days, he co-hosts the ABC-TV coverage of

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by four ...

rugby league matches. These telecasts are broadcast within

on ABC-TV and across Australia on both

and digital channel

ABC2 ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment progra ...

(free-to-air channel 21, pay TV channel 126). In addition to rugby league, Boland has also commentated on a range of other sports, including

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, and numerous Olympic Games, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games events for the ABC and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union BU On 29 April 2010, Warren was named the inaugural 612 ABC Brisbane Employee of the Week. Well known for his intelligent sense of humour, Boland played "Pete the French Polisher" on the ABC-TV show ''

Club Buggery ''Club Buggery'' is an Australian television series made in the 1990s. It was created and performed by Australian comedy duo Roy and HG ( John Doyle and Greig Pickhaver) and broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) network ...

'' in the mid-1990s. Boland is also famous for his trademark moustache.

References

* Whiticker, Alan and Hudson, Glen; ''The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players''; published 2005 by BAS publishing, f16/171 Collins St, Melbourne, Vic., 3000

External links

Warren Boland: Rugby League StatisticsWarren Boland at yesterdayshero.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boland, Warren 1955 births Living people Australian radio presenters Australian rugby league players Australian schoolteachers Balmain Tigers players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league centres Rugby league wingers Western Suburbs Magpies captains Western Suburbs Magpies players