Rupert John Raynor (11 April 1921 – 17 May 2008) was an Australian state and national representative

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 ...

player and NSWRFL coach. His club playing career was with the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional 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 pla ...

from 1946 to 1957 and he also represented

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 ...

on eleven occasions and played in five Test matches for the Australian national side.

War service

Rayner served with the AIF in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. He played rugby league in some inter-regiment games and was spotted by former Kangaroo and South Sydney coach Eric Lewis, who suggested that Rayner try out for Souths once the war ended.

Club career

Jack Rayner was introduced to the club by South's stalwart, Eric Lewis. Rayner trialed with Souths in 1946 and was graded straight to first grade. The Rabbitohs had won only one match in

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

. Rayner broke his ankle early in the

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

season and the club ended up winless that year. In 1947 Rayner was selected as club captain due to his leadership skills and tough performances as a second rower and the club managed nine wins and began to move up the premiership ladder. In 1949 he was appointed the coach of the club as well as captain and Souths finished as minor-premiers and managed a

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 ...

appearance going down to

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 ...

in 1949 season decider. Souths were by now the main premiership force and under Rayner entered their most successful era. For six consecutive seasons from 1950 the Rabbitohs were Grand Finalists, winning premierships in 1950,

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

, NSWRL season 1953,

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

and

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 ...

. They were denied by Western Suburbs in controversial circumstances in season 1952. Rayner's fifth premiership win in

stands as the record for the most number of grand final successes by an individual as captain (equaled by

Ken Kearney Kenneth Howard "Killer" Kearney (3 May 192418 August 2006) was an Australian rugby footballer – a List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code international player – and a rugby league coach. He represented the Australia national rugby ...

's who also achieved five in 1960). As captain-coach for all of those wins Rayner was the first man to coach a side to five Grand Final victories, a record subsequently matched by Kearney and

Jack Gibson Jack Gibson may refer to: * Jack Gibson (rugby league) (1929–2008), Australian player and coach * Jack Stanley Gibson (1909–2005), Irish physician * Jack Gibson (ice hockey, born 1880) (1880–1955), ice hockey player and executive * Jack Gibs ...

and eventually beaten in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

by Wayne Bennett. A knee injury saw him retire during the 1957 season aged 36. He had overtaken

Benny Wearing Benny Wearing (11 June 1901 – 9 April 1968) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. An Australian international and New South Wales representative three-quarter, he played his club football in the NSWRF ...

's record for most games with the Rabbitohs.

Representative career

New South Wales

Rayner was first called up to represent his state in 1947. He made eleven appearances for the

New South Wales rugby league team The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Also known as the Blues due to their sky blue jerseys, the team competes in the ann ...

scoring two tries with a total of six points. His last game for New South Wales was in 1954.

Australia

In 1948, he made his test debut for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the first Test loss against

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 ...

at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...

. He was a reserve in the second test of that series in Brisbane. He was selected in the 1948-49

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 ...

and played in the first two Tests against Great Britain and in 22 minor tour matches, making the most number of match appearances in the touring party. His final test appearances came on Australia's tour of New Zealand in 1949.

The man and his playing style

The True Blue reference quotes

Clive Churchill Clive Bernard Churchill AM (21 January 1927 – 9 August 1985) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach in the mid-20th century. An Australian international and New South Wales and Queensland interstate representative ...

describing Rayner ''"He was a brilliant tactician. I never saw a better forward in cover defence on the blind side than Rayner. Jack was the crankiest forward I played with but what a grand fellow he was".'' Rayner was a Police Detective by occupation and a man whom the Sydney Telegraph obituary described as renowned for his sportsmanship and dignified manner and who embodied an "Australian tough but fair attitude".

Coaching career

Jack Rayner took up the reins as South Sydney's

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

in 1949 and held that role for all five of the premiership victories he enjoyed at Souths. His playing retirement in 1957 marked his coaching retirement at the club. Rayner coached the club to 5 premierships: 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954 and 1955. For the 1958 NSWRFL season he took on the challenge as coach at

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 ...

who had been wooden-spooners in 1956 and 1957 and consistent cellar-dwellers all through the 1950s. A turn-around proved too much to hope for and the Eels finished last in all three years under Rayner, winning no more than three games in each season.

Accolades

In 2004 he was named by Souths as Coach of their ''South Sydney Dream Team'',South Sydney Dream Team
from the official South Sydney website. consisting of 17 players and a coach representing the club from 1908 through to

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. While playing football Rayner served in the

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...

and in 2008, rugby league's centenary year in Australia, he was named as captain-coach of a NSW Police "Team of the Century".

Footnotes

Sources

* Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'', Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sydney * NRL Official 2007 Season Guide, News Magazines Surry Hills Sydney, for the National Rugby League * Heads, Ian (1992) ''True Blue'', Ironbark, Sydney * ''Sunday Telegraph'', ''Jack Rayner obituary'' 18May2008, News Limited, Sydney

External links

Interview with Jack Rayner at rl1908.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayner, Jack 1921 births 2008 deaths Australia national rugby league team players Australian Army officers Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian police officers Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Clive Churchill Medal winners New South Wales rugby league team players Parramatta Eels coaches Rugby league second-rows South Sydney Rabbitohs captains South Sydney Rabbitohs coaches South Sydney Rabbitohs players