Brian Davies (16 May 1930 – 14 November 2012) was a Queensland state and Australian national representative rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. 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.[2]
Davies was born in Brisbane, Queensland, and 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 Canterbury-Bankstown where he played four seasons. He returned to Queensland in 1963 as captain-coach of the St. George 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 careeredit
Before Davies begun playing rugby league, he played for Queensland's first ever representative water polo team. He played for Queensland at the 1948 Australian Championships, which was held at North Sydney Pool.[3]
Davies 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. He is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No.282.[4]
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.
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Brian Davies 16 May 1930 14 November 2012 was a Queensland state and Australian national representative rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s 1950s and 1960s 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 2 Brian DaviesPersonal informationBorn 1930 05 16 16 May 1930Brisbane Queensland AustraliaDied14 November 2012 2012 11 14 aged 82 Mitchelton QueenslandPlaying informationPositionSecond rowClub Years Team Pld T G FG P 1948 58 Brothers Brisbane 1959 62 Canterbury Bankstown 59 7 89 0 199 1963 St George Qld 1964 Brothers Brisbane Total 59 7 89 0 199 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1950 58 Queensland 31 8 14 0 52 1951 58 Australia 33 5 7 0 29Source 1 Contents 1 Club career 2 Representative career 3 Accolades 4 Representative matches played 5 References 6 SourcesClub career editDavies was born in Brisbane Queensland and 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 Canterbury Bankstown where he played four seasons He returned to Queensland in 1963 as captain coach of the St George 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 editBefore Davies begun playing rugby league he played for Queensland s first ever representative water polo team He played for Queensland at the 1948 Australian Championships which was held at North Sydney Pool 3 Davies 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 He is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No 282 4 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 editIn 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 5 In June 2008 he was chosen in the Queensland Rugby League s Team of the Century at second row 6 In 2009 Davies was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame 7 Representative matches played editTeam Matches Years Queensland 38 1950 1958 Australia Tests 27 1951 1958 Australia World Cup 6 1954 amp 1957References edit Rugby League Project Century s Top 100 Players Archived 25 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine Water Warriors page 127 ARL Annual Report 2005 page 53 Centenary of Rugby League The Players NRL amp ARL 23 February 2008 Archived from the original on 26 February 2008 Retrieved 23 February 2008 Ricketts Steve 10 June 2008 Locky named No 1 but Wal s still King The Courier Mail Archived from the original on 2 July 2008 Retrieved 20 May 2009 Mr Brian Davies Queensland Sport Hall of Fame qsport org au Archived from the original on 26 January 2014 Retrieved 26 January 2014 Sources editWhiticker Alan 2004 Captaining the Kangaroos New Holland Sydney Andrews Malcolm 2006 The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn Sydney Queensland Team of the Century named article at nz leagueunlimited com Preceded byDick Poole Australian national rugby league captain1958 Succeeded byBrian Carlson Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Brian Davies rugby league amp oldid 1201095838, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
