Harry Bath

Infobox rugby league biography
playername = Harry Bath
fullname = Harry Bath
nickname = Old Fox


dateofbirth = 28 November 1924
placeofbirth = Brisbane
countryofbirth = Australia
dateofdeath = death date and age|2008|10|4|1924|11|28|df=yes
placeofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height =
weight =
position = rlp|SR
club1 = Brisbane Souths
year1start = 1940
year1end = 1945
appearances1 =
tries1 =
goals1 =
fieldgoals1 =
points1 =
club2 = Balmain Tigers
year2start = 1946
year2end = 1947
appearances2 = 30
tries2 = 11
goals2 = 0
fieldgoals2 = 0
points2 = 33
club3 = Barrow
year3start = 1948
year3end =
appearances3 =
tries3 =
goals3 =
fieldgoals3 =
points3 =
club4 = Warrington
year4start = 1948
year4end = 1956
appearances4 = 346
tries4 =
goals4 =
fieldgoals4 =
points4 =
club5 = St. George Dragons
year5start = 1957
year5end = 1959
appearances5 = 60
tries5 = 10
goals5 = 240
fieldgoals5 = 0
points5 = 510
teamA = Queensland
yearAstart = 1945
yearAend =
appearancesA = 4
triesA =
goalsA =
fieldgoalsA =
pointsA = 3
teamB = New South Wales
yearBstart = 1946
yearBend = 1947
appearancesB = 4
triesB =
goalsB =
fieldgoalsB =
pointsB = 9
teamC = Other Nationalities
yearCstart = 1949
yearCend = 1955
appearancesC = 10
triesC = 1
goalsC = 20
fieldgoalsC =
pointsC = 43
coachteam1 = Balmain Tigers
coachyear1start = 1961
coachyear1end = 1966
coachgames1 = 117
coachwins1 = 65
coachdraws1 = 3
coachlosses1 = 49
coachteam2 = Newtown Jets
coachyear2start = 1969
coachyear2end = 1972
coachgames2 = 88
coachwins2 = 33
coachdraws2 = 4
coachlosses2 = 51
coachteam3 = St. George Dragons
coachyear3start = 1977
coachyear3end = 1981
coachgames3 = 110
coachwins3 = 65
coachdraws3 = 4
coachlosses3 = 41
coachteamA = Australia
coachyearAstart = 1962
coachyearAend = 1971
coachgamesA =
coachwinsA =
coachdrawsA =
coachlossesA =
updated =
source = [http://203.166.101.37/NRL08/playercareer.asp?lplayer=844 NRL Stats]

Harry Bath, born Alfred Henry Bath, (28 November, 1924 – 4 October, 2008) was an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. A state and international representative who played 12 matches for Other Nationalities in the International Championship from 1949-1955, he played at Second-row forward and has been referred to as the best Australian rugby league player never to be picked for the Australian national team. [cite book | author=Malcolm Andrews |title=ABC of Rugby League |year=2006
publisher="ABC Books" |location=Sydney, New South Wales
isbn=9780733319464 |pages=page 65]

Club career

Bath, to be known late in his career as 'the Old Fox', was graded as a sixteen year old to play for the Brisbane club Southern Suburbs in 1940. After six years with the club he moved to Sydney to play for the Balmain club in New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1946.

In his first season for Balmain, Bath helped his side reach the Grand Final in which they defeated St. George 13-12. A year later he again helped Balmain reach their second Grand Final appearance and a 13-9 victory over the Canterbury Bulldogs.

Harry Bath then accepted an offer to play in England for Barrow. The forward only stayed at Barrow for six months before being signed by Warrington. He spent a total of nine seasons for Warrington, playing 346 games for the club. In the 1954 Challenge Cup final replay he captained Warrington to victory in front of a record crowd 102,569 people. Bath's reputation as a skillful ball-player and a great goal kicker grew while playing in England. He scored over 700 goals in his career, including 173 goals in 1952-53 when he was the season's leading goal kicker.

He returned to Australia in 1957 and joined St. George after his former club Balmain decided against a signing due to his age of 33. In 1957 St. George were premiers, winning the Grand Final against Manly 31-9. He was the leading point scorer in the competition in 1958 scoring a season club record of 225 points (3 tries, 108 goals). His 16 point tally in the Grand Final has never been equalled.

In 1958 St. George again made it to the Grand Final this time defeating Western Suburbs 20-9. Bath again topped the season's point scoring table, totalling 211 points. The following season St. George again won the premiership with a 20-0 Grand Final defeat of Manly. Bath was sent off in the Grand Final for fighting with Manly's Rex Mossop. He decided to hang up his boots at the end of 1959 at the age of 35.

Representative career

He represented for Queensland in 1945 and for New South Wales Blues in 1946 after one Sydney season. In the 1946 fixture for NSW against the touring Great Britain side he badly injured his leg and so was unavailable for Australian Test selection a week later.

It has been suggested that Bath was punished by the Australian selectors for the ten years he spent in the English league. However he was 33 years old when he returned to Australia for his final three seasons and he was then competing for a representative position against star players Norm Provan and Rex Mossop.

Coaching career

Bath then took up a career in rugby league coaching and joined the inaugural NSWRL coaching panel in 1961. He was selected manager, coach and as the sole selector for the Australian national team's 1962 Ashes series.

Bath's greatest achievement in coaching the national side was leading the Kangaroos to World Cup glory in the 1968 and 1970 World Cups. He also coached the team on tours of New Zealand in 1969 and 1971. He coached the national side in the 1972 World Cup in which they lost to Great Britain in controversial circumstances. The World Cup final was tied at 10-10 after full time and was still locked after extra time. Great Britain were awarded the victory due to a higher points table placing after the pool rounds of the competition.

Harry Bath also took the coaching helm at his former club Balmain. He guided them to Grand Final appearances in 1964 and 1966 both lost against St. George 6-11 and 4-23 respectively. He also coached Newtown between 1969 and 1972.

He came out of retirement to coach his other former club St. George to premiership success in 1977. The Grand Final against Parramatta was drawn 9-9 but St. George won the replay 22-0. He again coached the Dragons to premiership success in 1979 after their 17-13 Grand Final victory over Canterbury. His side was nicknamed 'Bath's Babes'. He retired from Rugby League coaching in 1981.

Hall of Fame

Bath is the only player to have won a premiership in every season of his Sydney first-grade career (1946 and 1947 with Balmain and 1957-1959 with St. George). His eight goals from eight attempts in the 1957 Grand Final is the standing record for the most goals in a grand final and the most number of points scored in a grand final (16).

He holds two places in the record of top pointscorers in one season by position. His 205 points scored in 1959 are the most ever scored by a prop-forward in a season and the 225 points of 1958 stands as the most ever scored by a second-rower in a season.

Harry Bath was recognised in 2004 for his outstanding achievements in playing and coaching rugby league when was inducted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame. [ [http://rl1908.com/Hoffame/index.htm Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame] ] .

In February 2008, Bath was named in a 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 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]

Death

Bath passed away after a long illness on 4 October, 2008 aged 83. "Harry's loss will be felt by many within the game", NRL boss David Gallop said. "He is one of the few people to have a distinguished career as both a player and a coach." [cite news|publisher="The Herald Sun"|title=Harry Bath passes away |url=http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/nrl/story/0,27074,24447751-14823,00.html |accessdate=2008-10-05|date=2008-10-04]

References

ources

* Andrews, Malcolm (2006) "The ABC of Rugby League" Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney

External links

* [http://www.smh.com.au/news/obituaries/old-fox-was-in-a-league-of-his-own/2008/10/08/1223145442489.html Obituary] at The Sydney Morning Herald
* [http://rl1908.com/Hoffame/Harry-Bath.htm Harry Bath] at rl1908.com
* [http://www.eraofthebiff.com/p23a.html Harry Bath] at eraofthebiff.com
* [http://www.australianrugbyleague.com.au/index.cgi?sID=10 Harry Bath] at Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame
* [http://www.qrl.com.au/qrl_history/qld_rep_b.php Queensland Representatives] at qrl.com.au