Tunks finished in the top eight at the Rothmans Medal six times in his career, and was also voted the best prop in world rugby league twice in the 1980s.
Tunks is a product of Marcellin College Randwick. Regarded as one of the best rugby league players to come out of this school, Tunks also represented NSW at rugby union as a schoolboy in 1976.
Playing careerEdit
Graded with Souths in 1977, Tunks made his debut that year as a front row forward at eighteen years of age. Tunks narrowly missed selection for the 1978 Kangaroo tour when he was voted one of the top rookies of the year. In the off season Tunks contracted glandular fever, hepatitis and a kidney disease and missed part of the 1979 season.
Tunks made his State of Origin début in 1981, the same year he led South Sydney to victory in the Panasonic Cup, scoring the winning try. In 1982 Tunks was told he would be touring with the Kangaroos but was not taken due to off field indiscretions.
In 1984 Tunks left Souths and went to Canterbury-Bankstown where Warren Ryan built a team around Tunks and Peter Kelly as prop forwards to create a style of play known as "Wozzaball", with the team nicknamed "The Enforcers" due to the power of their defence, which at the end of the 1984 season conceded just a solitary penalty goal in almost four complete games. With both Souths and Canterbury, Tunks would frequently run wide of the ruck, so that his try tally was unusually large for a front row forward.
Tunks played in four grand finals in five seasons for the Bulldogs, winning three. He toured New Zealand in 1985 with the Kangaroos and was voted player of the tour ahead of Wally Lewis, Mal Meninga, Peter Sterling and others. In 1986, Tunks refused to tour with the Kangaroos and he also refused to make himself available for the 1988 World Cup Final against New Zealand the week after he captained Canterbury to the premiership.
Tunks played ten State of Origin games but was selected in sixteen – missing some games due to injury. Tunks played Origin in 1985 when NSW won it for the first time and then played all 3 games in 1986 when NSW won the series 3–nil for the first time in Origin history.
In 1990, Tunks followed Phil Gould to Penrith but caught glandular fever and retired halfway through the season. He went to England where he had a successful coaching stint for three seasons with Oldham was then appointed Chief Executive at Wakefield Trinity and then Managing Director at Hull FC.
Club listEdit
Australia 1985-87:10 games including 6 Tests (0pts)
peter, tunks, born, august, 1958, australian, former, professional, rugby, league, footballer, played, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, coached, 1990s, played, south, sydney, rabbitohs, canterbury, bankstown, bulldogs, penrith, panthers, south, wales, australian, national. Peter Tunks born 30 August 1958 is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s 1980s and 1990s and coached in the 1990s He played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs Penrith Panthers New South Wales and the Australian national side After that he played with a number of clubs in England Peter TunksPersonal informationBorn 1958 08 30 30 August 1958 age 65 Sydney New South Wales AustraliaPlaying informationHeight192 cm 6 ft 4 in Weight108 kg 17 st 0 lb PositionProp Second row LockClubYears Team Pld T G FG P1977 83 South Sydney 98 31 0 0 861984 89 Canterbury Bulldogs 125 17 0 0 561987 88 Leeds 24 7 0 0 281990 Penrith Panthers 12 0 0 0 01990 91 Salford 14 4 0 0 161991 Sheffield Eagles 16 4 0 0 16Total 289 63 0 0 202RepresentativeYears Team Pld T G FG P1984 87 New South Wales 10 1 0 0 31985 89 NSW City Origin 5 0 0 0 01985 87 Australia 10 0 0 0 0Coaching informationClubYears Team Gms W D L W 1993 OldhamSource 1 2 Tunks finished in the top eight at the Rothmans Medal six times in his career and was also voted the best prop in world rugby league twice in the 1980s Contents 1 Background 2 Playing career 3 Club list 4 References 5 Sources 6 External linksBackground EditTunks is a product of Marcellin College Randwick Regarded as one of the best rugby league players to come out of this school Tunks also represented NSW at rugby union as a schoolboy in 1976 Playing career EditGraded with Souths in 1977 Tunks made his debut that year as a front row forward at eighteen years of age Tunks narrowly missed selection for the 1978 Kangaroo tour when he was voted one of the top rookies of the year In the off season Tunks contracted glandular fever hepatitis and a kidney disease and missed part of the 1979 season Tunks made his State of Origin debut in 1981 the same year he led South Sydney to victory in the Panasonic Cup scoring the winning try In 1982 Tunks was told he would be touring with the Kangaroos but was not taken due to off field indiscretions In 1984 Tunks left Souths and went to Canterbury Bankstown where Warren Ryan built a team around Tunks and Peter Kelly as prop forwards to create a style of play known as Wozzaball with the team nicknamed The Enforcers due to the power of their defence which at the end of the 1984 season conceded just a solitary penalty goal in almost four complete games With both Souths and Canterbury Tunks would frequently run wide of the ruck so that his try tally was unusually large for a front row forward Tunks played in four grand finals in five seasons for the Bulldogs winning three He toured New Zealand in 1985 with the Kangaroos and was voted player of the tour ahead of Wally Lewis Mal Meninga Peter Sterling and others In 1986 Tunks refused to tour with the Kangaroos and he also refused to make himself available for the 1988 World Cup Final against New Zealand the week after he captained Canterbury to the premiership Tunks played ten State of Origin games but was selected in sixteen missing some games due to injury Tunks played Origin in 1985 when NSW won it for the first time and then played all 3 games in 1986 when NSW won the series 3 nil for the first time in Origin history Tunks played left prop i e number 8 in Leeds 14 15 defeat by St Helens in the 1987 88 John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1987 88 season at Central Park Wigan on Saturday 9 January 1988 In 1990 Tunks followed Phil Gould to Penrith but caught glandular fever and retired halfway through the season He went to England where he had a successful coaching stint for three seasons with Oldham was then appointed Chief Executive at Wakefield Trinity and then Managing Director at Hull FC Club list EditAustralia 1985 87 10 games including 6 Tests 0pts New South Wales 1981 87 10 games 1 try 3pts South Sydney 1977 83 98 games 31t 86pts Canterbury 1984 89 125 games 17t 56pts Penrith 1990 12 games 0pts Leeds RLFC 1987 88 24 games 7 tries Salford RLFC 1990 91 14 games 4 tries Sheffield Eagles RLFC 1991 16 games 4 triesReferences Edit Rugby League Project playing Rugby League Project coaching Sporting positionsPreceded byJohn Fieldhouse1991 Coach nbsp Oldham RLFC1993 Succeeded byBob Lindner1994Sources EditEncyclopedia of Rugby League Players Canterbury Bankstown edition by Alan Whiticker amp Glen HudsonExternal links EditCanterbury Bulldogs profile Peter Tunks at stateoforigin com au permanent dead link archived by web archive org Peter Tunks at eraofthebiff com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Peter Tunks amp oldid 1114237876, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
