Harry Bath

Coaching Career

Vital Statistics

Nickname(s)
Old Fox
Born
Friday, 28th November, 1924
Died
Saturday, 4th October, 2008 (Aged 83 years and 310 days)
Place Of Birth
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Awards & Accolades

International Hall Of Fame
2004
National Rugby League Hall Of Fame
2004

Biography

The career achievements of the 'Old Fox' Harry Bath rate him as the finest forward never to have played for Australia but this label is far too narrow for a man who achieved so much in the game. The son of former Carltons player ‘Dixie’ Bath, Harry Bath graded as a 16-year-old with Brisbane Souths and went on to play for both Queensland and NSW before his 21st birthday. He came to Balmain in 1946 and was unlucky not to play against Great Britain that year. Bath was injured playing for NSW when Test selection looked a formality. He played in both of Balmain's grand final wins in 1946-47 but joined a growing exodus of Australian talent when he accepted an offer to play for Barrow in England. The burly forward shifted to Warrington within six months of arriving in England and during the next nine seasons played in over 500 games for the club. A highlight of this time was his captaining the club to victory in the replay of the 1954 Challenge Cup in front of a record crowd of 102,569 fans. Bath's reputation as a talented ball-player and brilliant goal-kicker grew in England. He landed over 700 goals in his career, including 173 in the 1952-53 season, but decided to return to Australia in 1957. Joining St George after Balmain had baulked at signing him because of his age, Bath kept his perfect Sydney premiership record intact with three consecutive grand final wins (1957-59). He was the season's leading point-scorer in 1957 with 225pts (3t, 108g), while his 16pts in the club’s grand final win over Manly has not been equalled. In 1958, Bath again topped the point-scoring list, setting a club record 225pts (3t, 108g) for the season. Bath was sent off in the 1959 grand final against Manly and after being overlooked for Kangaroo selection, retired at age 35 to pursue a coaching career. After joining the inaugural NSWRL Coaching Panel in 1961, he was made manager/coach (and sole selector) of Australia's 1962 Ashes teams. Bath’s greatest success as national coach came with victories in the 1968 and 1970 World Cups. He also took Australia on two tours of NZ (1969 & 1971) with mixed success and was also at the helm when Australia lost the 1972 World Cup in controversial circumstances. Bath coached Balmain to grand final appearances in 1964 and 1966 and was also manager-coach of Newtown (1969-72). He came out of retirement to take a young St George side, dubbed 'Bath's Babes', to premiership success in 1977 after an historic drawn grand final. He repeated the dose in 1979 before retiring in 1981 - his legacy being his reintroduction of bright, aggressive forward play into the Sydney premiership. In 2004 Bath was inducted into the ARL Hall of Fame.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Coaching Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions

Competition   Games W L D Win %  
NRL 321 168 142 11 52.34% List
NRL Finals 17 10 6 1 58.82% List
Craven Mild Cup 44 22 21 1 50.00% List
City vs Country Firsts 6 5 1 0 83.33% List
Tour Matches New South Wales Firsts 2 0 1 1 0.00% List
Tour Matches Australia 24 15 7 2 62.50% List
Test Series 7 4 3 0 57.14% List
The Ashes 3 1 2 0 33.33% List
Tour Matches Balmain Tigers 1 1 0 0 100.00% List
Interstate Matches 15 14 1 0 93.33% List
World Cup 12 8 3 1 66.67% List
Tour Matches Sydney Colts 1 0 1 0 0.00% List
Endeavour Cup 3 2 1 0 66.67% List
National Panasonic Cup 1 0 1 0 0.00% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years Games W L D Win %  
Australia 1962, 1968-72 20 12 7 1 60.00% List

World Cup Matches - By Team

Team Years Games W L D Win %  
Australia 1962-1972 12 8 3 1 66.67% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years Games W L D Win %  
NSW Firsts 1962, 1968-72 17 14 2 1 82.35% List
NSW City Firsts 1962, 1968-72 6 5 1 0 83.33% List
NSW City Seconds 1968-72 5 4 1 0 80.00% List
Sydney Firsts 1970 1 1 0 0 100.00% List
Sydney Colts 1970 1 0 1 0 0.00% List
Overall1962-1972 30 24 5 1 80.00% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season Games W L D Win %  
Balmain NSWRFL 1961 20 11 9 0 55.00% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1962 18 5 11 2 27.78% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1963 19 12 7 0 63.16% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1964 21 14 7 0 66.67% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1965 18 10 7 1 55.56% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1966 21 13 8 0 61.90% List
Newtown NSWRFL 1969 20 5 15 0 25.00% List
Newtown NSWRFL 1970 22 9 13 0 40.91% List
Newtown NSWRFL 1971 22 7 14 1 31.82% List
Newtown NSWRFL 1972 22 11 9 2 50.00% List
St George NSWRFL 1977 26 20 5 1 76.92% List
St George NSWRFL 1978 22 10 11 1 45.45% List
St George NSWRFL 1979 24 19 5 0 79.17% List
St George NSWRFL 1980 24 14 8 2 58.33% List
St George NSWRFL 1981 22 8 13 1 36.36% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years Games W L D Win %  
Balmain 1961-66 117 65 49 3 55.56% List
Newtown 1969-72 86 32 51 3 37.21% List
St George 1977-81 118 71 42 5 60.17% List
Overall1961-1981 321 168 142 11 52.34% List

Your Say

  • Polyhistor
    07/05/2012

    A perfect record: 5 seasons in Sydney First grade, 5 premierships (B '46, '47, StG '57, '58, '59).

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Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Alan Katzmann, Shawn Dollin, Greg Fiveash, Paul Carter, Max Turner, AJ Lucantonio