Brian Davies (rugby league)

Infobox rugby league biography
playername = Brian Davies
fullname = Brian Davies
nickname = Bull


caption =
dateofbirth = 16 May 1930
placeofbirth = Brisbane, Queensland
countryofbirth = Australia
height =
weight =
position = Rlp|SR
club1 = Brothers (Brisbane)
year1start = 1948
year1end = 1958
appearances1 =
tries1 =
goals1 =
fieldgoals1 =
points1 =
club2 = Canterbury-Bankstown
year2start = 1959
year2end = 1962
appearances2 = 59
tries2 = 7
goals2 = 89
fieldgoals2 = 0
points2 = 199
club3 = St.George (Queensland)
year3start = 1963
year3end =
appearances3 =
tries3 =
goals3 =
fieldgoals3 =
points3 =
club4 = Brothers (Brisbane)
year4start = 1964
year4end =
appearances4 =
tries4 =
goals4 =
fieldgoals4 =
points4 =
teamA = Queensland
yearAstart = 1950
yearAend = 1958
appearancesA = 38
triesA =
goalsA =
fieldgoalsA =
pointsA = 52
teamB = Australia
yearBstart = 1951
yearBend = 1958
appearancesB = 33
triesB = 5
goalsB = 7
fieldgoalsB = 0
pointsB = 29
updated =
source =
new = yes

Brian Davies (born 16 May, 1930 in Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian former Queensland state and Australian national representative rugby league footballer. He played in 27 Tests between 1951 and 1958 as captain on 3 occasions. He played at both Prop forward and as a Second rower and was a noted goal-kicker. His club career was played in both the Brisbane and Sydney domestic competitions.He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century. [ [http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/02/22/Controversy_reigns_as_NRL_releases_top_100_players Century's Top 100 Players] ]

Club career

Davies did not begin playing rugby league until he was eighteen. He was recruited purely on the basis of his size by Brisbane Brothers identity Bert Fraser to trial with Brothers in 1948. He became a regular first grader in 1950. He won a Brisbane premiership with Brothers in 1956 and captained the side to a second premiership in 1958.

In 1959 he moved to Sydney and signed on as captain with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs where he played four seasons. He returned to Queensland in 1963 as captain-coach of the St George (Qld) district side in 1963 and his final playing year in 1964 as captain-coach was back with the Brisbane Brothers club where his career had started.

Representative career

He made his state representative debut for Queensland in the same year he debuted in club first grade and in that year 1950, also played for Queensland against a touring Great Britain side.

He made his Test debut against France in 1951 and played in all three Tests of that series at home. He was selected on the 1952 Kangaroo tour and played in all six Tests and eighteen minor tour matches. In 1953 he also made a three Test tour against New Zealand. He made further Test appearances in the 1954 Ashes series, the 1954 World Cup, in Australia's 1955 series loss to France and in 1956 Tests against New Zealand. He made a second Kangaroo Tour in 1956 appearing in three Tests and nine tour matches and also played in the 1957 World Cup.

His first appearance as captain of the Kangaroos was in the 1958 jubilee year of rugby league in the Ashes series against the visiting British Lions. Davies was captain-coach of Australia in all three matches of the series which was lost 2 Tests to one. The Second Test in Brisbane is remembered for the heroic performance of Lion's captain Alan Prescott who played 76 minutes of the match with a broken-arm, refusing to come off with his side already down to twelve men having lost five-eighth Dave Bolton with a broken collar-bone. Against all odds the British side won 25-18.

In 1980 in the inaugural Rugby League State of Origin series along with fellow Queensland legend Duncan Hall, Davies was invited to be manager of the Queensland Maroons.

Accolades

In February 2008, Davies 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 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]

Representative matches played

References

ources

* Whiticker, Alan (2004) "Captaining the Kangaroos", New Holland, Sydney
* Andrews, Malcolm (2006) "The ABC of Rugby League" Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
* [http://nz.leagueunlimited.com/news.php?newsid=16380 "Queensland Team of the Century named" - article at nz.leagueunlimited.com]