George Peponis (born Georgios PeponisGreek: Γιώργος Πεπόνης; on 3 September 1953) is a Greek Australian company director and former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. An Australia national and New South Wales state representative hooker, he played in the NSWRFL Premiership for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, with whom he won the 1980 Grand Final. He also captained the Bulldogs and New South Wales, and played in eight Test matches for Australia between 1978 and 1980, captaining the side on five consecutive occasions between 1979 and 1980.
George Peponis
Personal information
Full name
Georgios Peponis
Born
(1953-09-03) 3 September 1953 (age 69) Tripoli, Greece
Peponis was born in Tripoli, Arcadia in the Peloponnese to ethnic Greek parents who originally came from the small Arcadian village of Levidi on the outskirts of Tripoli on 3 September 1953. He emigrated with his family to Australia when he was just 18 months old in 1954 like many other Greeks in those days. He attended Sydney's Canterbury Boys' High School where he played rugby union and was a Canterbury rugby league junior with the St George Dragons JRLFC at Clemton Park before being graded in 1973 to the under-23's side in which year he played in the Preliminary Final against the Balmain Tigers.
Professional playing career
1970s
Peponis started the 1974 season in reserve grade and that year debuted in first grade against South Sydney when Barry Phillis was injured. He stayed in first grade for that year's finals series including Canterbury's Grand Final 1974 loss to the Eastern Suburbs.
After a 1975 season interrupted by a broken leg injury, for the next five seasons from 1976 he was Canterbury's regular first grade hooker. The Canterbury club maintained a scholarship scheme for its juniors at the time which supported him financially while he conducted his medical studies.
Peponis made his state debut for the New South Wales Blues in 1976 and would go on to play seven games for his state up till 1980.
In 1978, Peponis was appointed Canterbury's first-grade captain and played in the Preliminary Semi-Final against the Parramatta Eels. He would go on to captain Canterbury on 71 occasions between 1978 and 1982. As a hooker he was a consistent winner of possession in those days of contested scrums and was known for his trademark ability to burrow over for tries from the dummy half position. He made his Test debut for Australia in 1978 in the first Test against New Zealand. He was vying for the Australian hooker position with Max Krilich and Queensland's Johnny Lang and would in his career regularly compete against Krilich for representative honours. He was selected for the 1978 Kangaroo tour on which he played two Tests, four minor tour matches and scored six tries.
In 1979, after the playing retirement of Bob Fulton, he took over as state captain of New South Wales and that same year was selected as Kangaroo captain for the domestic Ashes series against Great Britain. Australia's fitness and skill dominance over Great Britain began to show in this series which was a three-nil drubbing to the locals. He led Canterbury to the 1979 Grand Final loss against St George.[2]
1980s
After leading Australia to victory in two Tests in the 1980 tour of New Zealand, Peponis attained the career record of captaining Australia on five successive occasions to a clean record of five wins. Peponis was captain of Canterbury in their 18-4 1980 premiership victory over Eastern Suburbs.[3]
Persistent neck injuries hampered the remainder of Peponis' career and he retired midway through the 1982 season.
Post playing
A medical practitioner, Peponis remained involved with the game through FootyTAB promotions and being on the NRL Drugs Tribunal. He was elected Chairman of the Bulldogs Football Club following the club's salary cap scandal in 2002 when they were penalised 37 competition points and fined $500,000 for systematically breaching the cap. As of 2007 Peponis is still the Chairman and was in charge when personally difficult decisions were made which saw his former 1980 Grand Final teammates Garry Hughes and Steve Mortimer forced out of their positions with the club.
Peponis was named at hooker in the 'Berries to Bulldogs 70 Year Team of Champions' in 2004. He is a Life Member of the Football Club and in 2007 was inducted into the Bulldogs Ring of Champions.
Dr Peponis was Chairman of the NSW Rugby League from 2012 to 2022.[4] He was elected as a Director of ClubsNSW in 2017 and was appointed to the position of Deputy Chair in 2018. He was elected as Chairman of the ClubsNSW Board after Peter Newell resigned his position in June 2019.[5]
References
^"George Peponis - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
^"BULLDOGS RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB - OFFICIAL WEBSITE". thebulldogs.com.au.
^"Top 5 grand final moments for Canterbury Bulldogs". Daily Telegraph.
^Chammas, Michael (25 February 2022). "Politis, Peponis quit NSWRL board over election dispute". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Publishing. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
^"Dr. George Peponis OAM; MBBS". ClubsNSW. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
External links
Whiticker, Alan (2004) Captaining the Kangaroos, New Holland, Sydney
Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
george, peponis, born, georgios, peponis, greek, Γιώργος, Πεπόνης, september, 1953, greek, australian, company, director, former, professional, rugby, league, footballer, played, 1970s, 1980s, australia, national, south, wales, state, representative, hooker, p. George Peponis born Georgios Peponis Greek Giwrgos Peponhs on 3 September 1953 is a Greek Australian company director and former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s An Australia national and New South Wales state representative hooker he played in the NSWRFL Premiership for the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs with whom he won the 1980 Grand Final He also captained the Bulldogs and New South Wales and played in eight Test matches for Australia between 1978 and 1980 captaining the side on five consecutive occasions between 1979 and 1980 George PeponisPersonal informationFull nameGeorgios PeponisBorn 1953 09 03 3 September 1953 age 69 Tripoli GreecePlaying informationHeight179 cm 5 ft 10 in Weight80 kg 12 st 8 lb PositionHookerClubYears Team Pld T G FG P1974 82 Canterbury Bankstown 132 27 0 0 81RepresentativeYears Team Pld T G FG P1976 80 New South Wales 8 3 0 0 91978 80 Australia 8 2 0 0 81977 80 NSW City 3 0 0 0 0Source 1 Contents 1 Background 2 Professional playing career 2 1 1970s 2 2 1980s 3 Post playing 4 References 5 External linksBackground EditPeponis was born in Tripoli Arcadia in the Peloponnese to ethnic Greek parents who originally came from the small Arcadian village of Levidi on the outskirts of Tripoli on 3 September 1953 He emigrated with his family to Australia when he was just 18 months old in 1954 like many other Greeks in those days He attended Sydney s Canterbury Boys High School where he played rugby union and was a Canterbury rugby league junior with the St George Dragons JRLFC at Clemton Park before being graded in 1973 to the under 23 s side in which year he played in the Preliminary Final against the Balmain Tigers Professional playing career Edit1970s Edit Peponis started the 1974 season in reserve grade and that year debuted in first grade against South Sydney when Barry Phillis was injured He stayed in first grade for that year s finals series including Canterbury s Grand Final 1974 loss to the Eastern Suburbs After a 1975 season interrupted by a broken leg injury for the next five seasons from 1976 he was Canterbury s regular first grade hooker The Canterbury club maintained a scholarship scheme for its juniors at the time which supported him financially while he conducted his medical studies Peponis made his state debut for the New South Wales Blues in 1976 and would go on to play seven games for his state up till 1980 In 1978 Peponis was appointed Canterbury s first grade captain and played in the Preliminary Semi Final against the Parramatta Eels He would go on to captain Canterbury on 71 occasions between 1978 and 1982 As a hooker he was a consistent winner of possession in those days of contested scrums and was known for his trademark ability to burrow over for tries from the dummy half position He made his Test debut for Australia in 1978 in the first Test against New Zealand He was vying for the Australian hooker position with Max Krilich and Queensland s Johnny Lang and would in his career regularly compete against Krilich for representative honours He was selected for the 1978 Kangaroo tour on which he played two Tests four minor tour matches and scored six tries In 1979 after the playing retirement of Bob Fulton he took over as state captain of New South Wales and that same year was selected as Kangaroo captain for the domestic Ashes series against Great Britain Australia s fitness and skill dominance over Great Britain began to show in this series which was a three nil drubbing to the locals He led Canterbury to the 1979 Grand Final loss against St George 2 1980s Edit After leading Australia to victory in two Tests in the 1980 tour of New Zealand Peponis attained the career record of captaining Australia on five successive occasions to a clean record of five wins Peponis was captain of Canterbury in their 18 4 1980 premiership victory over Eastern Suburbs 3 Persistent neck injuries hampered the remainder of Peponis career and he retired midway through the 1982 season Post playing EditA medical practitioner Peponis remained involved with the game through FootyTAB promotions and being on the NRL Drugs Tribunal He was elected Chairman of the Bulldogs Football Club following the club s salary cap scandal in 2002 when they were penalised 37 competition points and fined 500 000 for systematically breaching the cap As of 2007 Peponis is still the Chairman and was in charge when personally difficult decisions were made which saw his former 1980 Grand Final teammates Garry Hughes and Steve Mortimer forced out of their positions with the club Peponis was named at hooker in the Berries to Bulldogs 70 Year Team of Champions in 2004 He is a Life Member of the Football Club and in 2007 was inducted into the Bulldogs Ring of Champions Dr Peponis was Chairman of the NSW Rugby League from 2012 to 2022 4 He was elected as a Director of ClubsNSW in 2017 and was appointed to the position of Deputy Chair in 2018 He was elected as Chairman of the ClubsNSW Board after Peter Newell resigned his position in June 2019 5 References Edit George Peponis Career Stats amp Summary Rugby League Project www rugbyleagueproject org Retrieved 24 October 2019 BULLDOGS RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB OFFICIAL WEBSITE thebulldogs com au Top 5 grand final moments for Canterbury Bulldogs Daily Telegraph Chammas Michael 25 February 2022 Politis Peponis quit NSWRL board over election dispute The Sydney Morning Herald Nine Publishing Retrieved 25 January 2023 Dr George Peponis OAM MBBS ClubsNSW Retrieved 25 January 2023 External links EditWhiticker Alan 2004 Captaining the Kangaroos New Holland Sydney Andrews Malcolm 2006 The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn Sydney https web archive org web 20070817154435 http www bulldogs com au main php Bulldogs Player Histories Official Site When a Greek captained the KangaroosSporting positionsPreceded byBob Fulton Captain Australia1979 80 Succeeded bySteve Rogers Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title George Peponis amp oldid 1135532092, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
