John Brass (born 7 October 1946) is an Australian former rugby union and rugby league footballer – a dual-code international. He made twelve international representative rugby union appearances with the Wallabies from 1966 to 1968 and six representative rugby league appearances for the Kangaroos in 1970 and 1975, as national captain on one occasion.
His junior football was with the South Coogee juniors. He was educated at Sydney Boys High School, graduating in 1963[1] and went on to play first grade rugby with the Randwick rugby club in their premiership winning sides of 1965 to 1967. Brass credits watching Randwick scrumhalf prodigy Ken Catchpole in action at the Sydney Sports Ground in 1959 as the early inspiration for his wanting to play rugby.[2]
He made his debut for New South Wales against Queensland in 1966 at the age of 19, and nine days later played for New South Wales against the touring British Lions. Injured for the first Test against the Lions, he then debuted for Australia in the infamous 2nd Test in Brisbane, which saw an injury-hit Australia defeated 31-nil.[3] He then won national selection with the Wallabies for the coveted 1966–67 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France, playing in all five Tests and in 32 of the 36 tour matches. Partnering with veteran centre Dick Marks through all the internationals, Brass scored his first Test try for Australia against Scotland at Murrayfield.[4] He played with in the historic Wallaby victories over Wales and England, and scored his second Test try at Twickenham against the English.[5]
In the 1968 season, he played alongside Randwick centre Phil Smith in the 1st Bledisloe Cup Test 11–27 loss to New Zealand and the 11–10 victory over France in Sydney and was selected for the 1968 short tour of Scotland and Ireland, playing in the 3–10 defeat to Ireland and the 3–9 loss to Scotland.[6]
After a disappointing 1968 season for Australian rugby Union, Brass announced he was switching codes, after being offered a record contract to play Rugby League with Eastern Suburbs.[7] Brass would later reflect fondly on his amateur rugby touring days, telling film maker Theo Clark in 2016: "Overall, the encompassing thing was just what a wonderful experience it was – a dollar-a-day stuff but, you know, some people would say a dollar-a-day and we were probably overpaid."[8]
Rugby league careeredit
Switching to rugby league in 1969 he joined the Eastern Suburbs ("Roosters") club on a then record contract of A$30,000 pa.[9]
In 1970, he was made captain of the Roosters' first grade side and was selected for New South Wales in the interstate series against Queensland.
He represented Australia in rugby league in all three Tests against Great Britain in 1970. His international rugby league debut against Great Britain in Brisbane on 6 June 1970 alongside Phil Hawthorne saw them together become Australia's 32nd and 33rd dual code rugby internationals.
For family reasons, he made himself unavailable for the 1972 Rugby League World Cup and the 1973 Kangaroo Tour but he was selected for the 1975 World Cup series and captained Australia to victory in a game against New Zealand in that campaign. He is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No.440.[10]
He was part of the Roosters' premiership winning sides of 1974 and 1975, kicking two goals in the 1974 Grand Final and scoring two tries in the 1975 decider. During the 1976 NSWRFL season, Brass played as a centre for Eastern Suburbs in their unofficial 1976 World Club Challenge match against British champions St. Helens in Sydney.
Post playingedit
Brass coached the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Group 18 competition in 1977–78. He had a long career in shopping centre management. In 1995 he was asked to join the board of Super League and remained on the Board when the truce between the warring factions was called in 1997 and the National Rugby League was formed. He remained on the board until 2005, when he was replaced by Gorden Tallis.[11]
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For other people named John Brass see John Brass disambiguation John Brass born 7 October 1946 is an Australian former rugby union and rugby league footballer a dual code international He made twelve international representative rugby union appearances with the Wallabies from 1966 to 1968 and six representative rugby league appearances for the Kangaroos in 1970 and 1975 as national captain on one occasion John BrassBirth nameJohn BrassDate of birth 1946 10 07 7 October 1946 age 77 Place of birthSydney New South Wales AustraliaSchoolSydney Boys High SchoolRugby union careerPosition s Five eighthAmateur team s YearsTeamApps Points 1965 1988Randwick DRUFC International careerYearsTeamApps Points 1966 68Australia12Rugby league careerPlaying informationPositionCentre Five eighthClub Years Team Pld T G FG P 1969 Eastern Suburbs 142 722 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1970 New South Wales 2 6 1970 1975 Australia 6 0 Contents 1 Background 2 Rugby union career 3 Rugby league career 4 Post playing 5 References 6 External links 7 SourcesBackground editJohn Brass was born in Sydney New South Wales AustraliaRugby union career editHis junior football was with the South Coogee juniors He was educated at Sydney Boys High School graduating in 1963 1 and went on to play first grade rugby with the Randwick rugby club in their premiership winning sides of 1965 to 1967 Brass credits watching Randwick scrumhalf prodigy Ken Catchpole in action at the Sydney Sports Ground in 1959 as the early inspiration for his wanting to play rugby 2 He made his debut for New South Wales against Queensland in 1966 at the age of 19 and nine days later played for New South Wales against the touring British Lions Injured for the first Test against the Lions he then debuted for Australia in the infamous 2nd Test in Brisbane which saw an injury hit Australia defeated 31 nil 3 He then won national selection with the Wallabies for the coveted 1966 67 Australia rugby union tour of Britain Ireland and France playing in all five Tests and in 32 of the 36 tour matches Partnering with veteran centre Dick Marks through all the internationals Brass scored his first Test try for Australia against Scotland at Murrayfield 4 He played with in the historic Wallaby victories over Wales and England and scored his second Test try at Twickenham against the English 5 In the 1968 season he played alongside Randwick centre Phil Smith in the 1st Bledisloe Cup Test 11 27 loss to New Zealand and the 11 10 victory over France in Sydney and was selected for the 1968 short tour of Scotland and Ireland playing in the 3 10 defeat to Ireland and the 3 9 loss to Scotland 6 After a disappointing 1968 season for Australian rugby Union Brass announced he was switching codes after being offered a record contract to play Rugby League with Eastern Suburbs 7 Brass would later reflect fondly on his amateur rugby touring days telling film maker Theo Clark in 2016 Overall the encompassing thing was just what a wonderful experience it was a dollar a day stuff but you know some people would say a dollar a day and we were probably overpaid 8 Rugby league career editSwitching to rugby league in 1969 he joined the Eastern Suburbs Roosters club on a then record contract of A 30 000 pa 9 In 1970 he was made captain of the Roosters first grade side and was selected for New South Wales in the interstate series against Queensland He represented Australia in rugby league in all three Tests against Great Britain in 1970 His international rugby league debut against Great Britain in Brisbane on 6 June 1970 alongside Phil Hawthorne saw them together become Australia s 32nd and 33rd dual code rugby internationals For family reasons he made himself unavailable for the 1972 Rugby League World Cup and the 1973 Kangaroo Tour but he was selected for the 1975 World Cup series and captained Australia to victory in a game against New Zealand in that campaign He is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No 440 10 He was part of the Roosters premiership winning sides of 1974 and 1975 kicking two goals in the 1974 Grand Final and scoring two tries in the 1975 decider During the 1976 NSWRFL season Brass played as a centre for Eastern Suburbs in their unofficial 1976 World Club Challenge match against British champions St Helens in Sydney Post playing editBrass coached the Tweed Heads Seagulls in the Group 18 competition in 1977 78 He had a long career in shopping centre management In 1995 he was asked to join the board of Super League and remained on the Board when the truce between the warring factions was called in 1997 and the National Rugby League was formed He remained on the board until 2005 when he was replaced by Gorden Tallis 11 References edit http www shsobu org au wp content uploads sport pdf Archived 23 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine bare URL PDF Randwick and the 1966 7 Wallaby Tour Theo Clark Media published online 2019 YouTube John Ellis Brass Biography www classicwallabies com au John Ellis Brass Biography www classicwallabies com au Sometimes the Best Ever The Story of the 1966 7 Wallabies documentary by Theo Clark Media 2017 John Ellis Brass Biography www classicwallabies com au John Ellis Brass Biography www classicwallabies com au Sometimes the Best Ever The Story of the 1966 7 Wallabies Part 1 Theo Clark Media published online 2021 YouTube John Ellis Brass Biography www classicwallabies com au ARL Annual Report 2005 page 54 Masters Roy 20 January 2005 Woman on board as NRL turns a new page The Sydney Morning Herald Retrieved 6 October 2009 External links editSometimes the Best Ever The Story of the 1966 7 Wallabies Part 1 documentary by Theo Clark Media 2017 YouTube Randwick and the 1966 7 Wallaby Tour documentary by Theo Clark Media 2017 YouTube Sources editWhiticker Alan 2004 Captaining the Kangaroos New Holland Sydney Preceded byArthur Beetson Australian national rugby league captain1975 Succeeded byGreg Veivers Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title John Brass amp oldid 1220933954, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
