John Gleeson (rugby league)

John Gleeson
Personal information
Nickname Dookie
Born (1938-12-28) 28 December 1938
Playing information
Height 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Position Half
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1953–58 Chinchilla
1959–62 All Whites 54
1963–64 Wynnum-Manly
1965 Souths (Toowoomba)
1966–68 Brothers (Brisbane)
Total 54 0 0 0 0
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1961–67 Queensland 25 2 0 0 6
1964–67 Australia 10 2 0 0 6

John Gleeson (born 28 December 1938) is an Australian former rugby league footballer of the 1950s and 1960s. An Australian international and Queensland interstate representative half, he played club football in the country for Chinchilla's team, in the Toowoomba Rugby League for the All Whites club, and in the Brisbane Rugby League for the Wynnum-Manly and Brothers clubs, winning the 1967 BRL premiership with the latter.

Playing career

Gleeson was first selected to represent Queensland in 1961 against New South Wales.[1] In 1963 Brisbane Rugby League club Wynnum signed a host of big name players including Gleeson. At the end of the season he was selected on the 1963-64 Kangaroo tour[2] of Britain and France, making him the first Wynnum-Manly player to achieve Kangaroo tour honours. He was part of the first Kangaroos squad to win the Ashes in England. The following year Gleeson became the club's second international after Lionel Morgan, playing in two Test matches against France.[3]

Gleeson spent 1965 playin in Toowomba[4] for the Souths club.[5] He also went on the 1965 tour of New Zealand. After helping Brothers to the 1967 Brisbane Rugby League premiership,[6] he went on the 1967-68 Kangaroo tour. Filling in for the injured Billy Smith, at halfback, fellow Queenslander Peter Gallagher led a depleted Australian team to an upset victory.[7]

Post playing

In 2008, rugby league in Australia's centenary year, Gleeson was named on the bench of the Toowoomba and South West Team of the Century.[8]

In 2013 Gleeson was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Representative Players". qrl.com.au. Queensland Rugby League.
  2. ↑ nla.gov.au. "Rugby League player,John Gleeson, running with the ball". Picture Australia. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  3. ↑ "Club History". wynnumseagulls.com. Wynnum Manly Seagulls RLFC Ltd.
  4. ↑ "Team of the Century" (PDF). brothers.org.au. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  5. ↑ "Honour Boards". southstigers.com.au. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "1967 Brisbane Rugby League Grand Final". queensland.rleague.com. World of Rugby League. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  7. ↑ qsport.org.au. "John Gleeson". Queensland Sport Hall of Fame. QSport. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  8. ↑ Leslie, Cameron (21 August 2008). "Rugby League Team of the Century named". The Chronicle. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  9. ↑ Malone, Paul (3 December 2013). "Adam Scott becomes first golfer to claim the top prize in Queensland sport after stellar 2013". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 19 January 2014.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.