Tommy Raudonikis

Infobox rugby league biography
playername = Tommy Raudonikis
fullname = Tom Raudonikis
nickname = Tom Terrific [cite book | author=Alan Whiticker & Glen Hudson |title=The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players |year=2007 |publisher="Gary Allen Pty Ltd" |location=Wetherill Park, New South Wales |isbn=9781877082931 |pages=page 453]

---

caption =
country =
dateofbirth = 1950
placeofbirth = Bathurst, New South Wales
countryofbirth =
height = convert|5|ft|7|in|cm|0|abbr=oncite journal | author = | title = World Series | journal = Rugby League Week | issue =1975–1976 |pages = pg 85 | publisher = Rugby League Week Pty Ltd | location = Rushcutters Bay, NSW | accessdate =2008-06-07 ]
weight = convert|11|st|7|lb|kg|abbr=oncite journal | author = | title = World Series | journal = Rugby League Week | issue =1975–1976 |pages = pg 85 | publisher = Rugby League Week Pty Ltd | location = Rushcutters Bay, NSW | accessdate =2008-06-07 ]
position = rlp|HB
club1 = Wagga Kangaroos
year1start = 1969
year1end =
appearances1 =
tries1 =
goals1 =
fieldgoals1 =
points1 =
club2 = leagueicon|Western Suburbs|16 Western Suburbs
year2start = 1969
year2end = 1979
appearances2 = 202
tries2 = 29
goals2 = 0
fieldgoals2 = 0
points2 = 87
club3 = leagueicon|Newtown Jets|16 Newtown Jets
year3start = 1980
year3end = 1982
appearances3 = 37
tries3 = 4
goals3 = 0
fieldgoals3 = 0
points3 = 12
club4 = leagueicon|Past Brothers|16 Brisbane Brothers
year4start = 1983
year4end =
appearances4 =
tries4 =
goals4 =
fieldgoals4 =
points4 =
teamA = leagueicon|New South Wales|16 New South Wales
yearAstart = 1971
yearAend = 1980
appearancesA = 24
triesA = 11
goalsA = 0
fieldgoalsA = 0
pointsA = 33
teamB = leagueicon|Australia|16 Australia
yearBstart = 1971
yearBend = 1980
appearancesB = 20
triesB = 2
goalsB = 0
fieldgoalsB = 0
pointsB = 6
coachteam1 = leagueicon|Past Brothers|16 Brisbane Brothers
coachyear1start = 1983
coachyear1end =
coachgames1 =
coachwin%1 =
coachpremierships1 =
coachteam2 = leagueicon|Norths Devils|16 Brisbane Norths
coachyear2start =
coachyear2end =
coachgames2 =
coachwin%2 =
coachpremierships2 =
coachteam3 = leagueicon|Ipswich Jets|16 Ipswich Jets
coachyear3start =
coachyear3end =
coachgames3 =
coachwin%3 =
coachpremierships3 =
coachteam4 = leagueicon|Western Suburbs|16 Western Suburbs
coachyear4start = 1995
coachyear4end = 1999
coachgames4 =
coachwin%4 =
coachpremierships4 =
coachteamA = leagueicon|New South Wales|16 New South Wales
coachyearAstart = 1997
coachyearAend = 1998
coachgamesA = 6
coachwinsA = 3
coachdrawsA = 0
coachlossesA = 3
updated =
source = [http://stats.rleague.com/rl/scorers/players/Tom_Raudonikis.html RL stats] [http://rugbyleagueproject.com/players/Tom_Raudonikis.html RLP]

Tommy Raudonikis OAM (born 1950 in Bathurst, New South Wales) is an Australian rugby league identity. He played over twenty-nine Tests and World Cup games as Australia representative halfback and captained his country in two Tests of the 1973 Kangarooo tour.

Early life and club playing career

Raudonikis is the son of a Lithuanian father and a Swiss mother who emigrated to Australia after WWII. He played 202 games for the Western Suburbs Magpies between 1969 and 1979 before moving to the Newtown Jets for 37 games in three seasons between 1980 and 1982. Raudonikis played under two famous coaches, Roy Masters at Wests and Warren Ryan at Newtown. Some rate him the toughest player to have ever played in the halves and in September 2004 he was named in the Western Suburbs Magpies team of the century.

Representative playing career

He was first selected in an Australian squad in 1971 behind Souths halfback Bob Grant and made his run on debut in 1972 against the Kiwis (the same year he won the Rothmans Medal for best club player for the season). He was the regular Test halfback for the next six years. He made Test appearances up until 1980 by which time he was being challenged by Greg Oliphant and Steve Mortimer.

He was the captain of the New South Wales State of Origin team in the inaugural 1980 contest.

Coaching career

Raudonikis' final playing year was in a captain coach role at Brisbane Brothers in 1983. He later coached Brisbane Norths and the Ipswich Jets in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership. Returning to Sydney, he was coach of the Western Suburbs Magpies from 1995 up until the formation of the Wests Tigers joint venture with the Balmain Tigers at the end of 1999. He had some initial coaching success making the finals in 1996, but Wests were ultimately unable to build on this and only won six games in their final two seasons.

Raudonikis coached the Blues in the 1997 and 1998 series. In those series he entered State of Origin folklore when he introduced the "cattle dog" call to which NSW players responded by breaking from the scrum with fists flying, resulting in two infamous all-in-brawls.

In the media

He is a long term friend of 2GB radio station owner John Singleton. Through this friendship, he also participates as a commentator for the Continuous Call Team with Ray Hadley on 2GB.

His hospitalisation in August 2006, for a heart bypass operation, made Australian sports news and drew messages of support from a spectrum of famous former players including Wests icons Arthur Summons (the subject of the NRL trophy with Norm Provan.) [cite news|author=Roy Masters|publisher="The Sydney Morning Herald"|title=Tom terrific after heart cops beating |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/tom-terrific-after-heart-cops-beating/2006/08/01/1154198140068.html |accessdate=2008-07-26|date=2006-08-02]

Currently Raudonikis works as a part of the Channel 9 rugby league commentary team.

In February 2008, Raudonikis was named in the list of Australia's "100 Greatest Players" (1908-2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. [cite news|author=Peter Cassidy |publisher="Macquarie National News"|title=Controversy reigns as NRL releases top 100 players |url=http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/02/22/Controversy_reigns_as_NRL_releases_top_100_players |accessdate=2008-02-23|date=2008-02-23] [cite web|publisher="NRL & ARL"|title=Centenary of Rugby League - The Players |url=http://www.centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au/site/the-players.aspx?cat=3&list=true |accessdate=2008-02-23|date=2008-02-23]

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.stateoforigin.com.au/soogame/PlayerDetails.aspx?Pid=232 Tommy Raudonikis at stateoforigin.com.au]
* [http://www.eraofthebiff.com/p35a.html Tom Raudonikis at eraofthebiff.com]
* [http://www.gpointmarketing.com/default.asp?cat=profile&id=8 Tom Raudonikis O.A.M.]
* [http://www.geocities.com/ball91au/rl/ Australian Rugby League Nicknames]