Playing Career
Vital Statistics
- Nickname(s)
- Thrower
- Born
- Tuesday, 25th October, 1949
- Current Age
- 74 years and 183 days
- Place Of Birth
- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Awards & Accolades
Biography
Champion hooker served a long apprenticeship with Manly before creating history as captain of the unbeaten 1982 Kangaroos. Krilich was reserve grade hooker under club captain Fred Jones for many seasons but his potential did not go unnoticed. Incredibly, after captaining the club to a reserve grade premiership in 1972, Krilich made the City Seconds team in 1973 while playing reserve grade. He assumed the mantle of top rake at the club the following year and was in the Manly side that won the 1976 grand final. Krilich's call-up to the Test side came against NZ in the Third Test in 1978. His leadership of Manly that year, as the club overcame replays and refereeing controversies to win the grand final, saw him join seven team-mates on the Kangaroo tour. Krilich played in the first two Tests against Great Britain but was replaced by George Peponis for the remainder of the tour and it was to be another four years before he would return to the Australian side. In that time, he continued his ultra-consistent displays while captaining his club, edging past the 300 grade game barrier in the early 1980s. Krilich just kept bouncing back, and following Peponis' retirement in 1982, the Manly rake was chosen to captain Australia against NZ and lead the 1982 Kangaroos. This tour, the first to return undefeated from England and France, will long be remembered as ‘The Invincibles'. Krilich's leadership and discipline were central to the team's success but his body was starting to show signs of wear and tear. Krilich had been a fresh reserve in Manly’s 1982 grand final loss to P’matta, and proved his fitness for the Kangaroo tour by coming on in the second half but, ten months later, he was forced to retire because of a chronic neck injury. Krilich played a record 334 grade games for Manly and following his retirement, took on a career in administration with the club. His coaching career ended with a severe jolt when his reserve grade side failed to win a match in 1991.
- ALAN WHITICKER
Playing 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 | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
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Craven Mild Cup | 23 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 17 | 6 | 0 | 73.91% | List | ||||
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) | 215 | 32 | 39 | 1 | 177 | 136 | 72 | 7 | 63.26% | List | ||||
National Panasonic Cup | 8 | 2 | 1 | - | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 50.00% | List | ||||
NSWRFL Finals | 19 | - | - | 1 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 42.11% | List | ||||
City vs Country Firsts | 3 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
Tour Matches | New South Wales Firsts | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
Interstate Matches | 2 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
Tour Matches | Australia | 16 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 93.75% | List | |||
Test Series | 12 | 1 | - | - | - | 10 | 2 | 0 | 83.33% | List | ||||
The Ashes | 5 | 1 | - | - | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 80.00% | List | ||||
State of Origin | 5 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 4 | 0 | 20.00% | List | ||||
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Test Matches - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Australia | 1978, 1982-83 | 13 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 84.62% | List | |||
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Australia - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
NSW City Seconds | 1973 | 1 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
NSW City Firsts | 1976, 1982-83 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
NSW Firsts | 1977-78 | 3 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
NSW | 1982-83 | 5 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 4 | 0 | 20.00% | List | |||
Overall | 1973-1983 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 66.67% | List | |||
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NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Year | ||||||||||||||
Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1970 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75.00% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1971 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1973 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1974 | 18 | 6 | 13 | - | 44 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 61.11% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1975 | 20 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 70.00% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1976 | 22 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 72.73% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1977 | 23 | 6 | 6 | - | 30 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 60.87% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1978 | 23 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 65.22% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1979 | 18 | - | - | - | - | 9 | 8 | 1 | 50.00% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1980 | 22 | - | - | - | - | 11 | 9 | 2 | 50.00% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1981 | 19 | 2 | 18 | 1 | 43 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 52.63% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1982 | 24 | 6 | - | - | 18 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 62.50% | List | |||
Manly | NSWRFL 1983 | 19 | 2 | 1 | - | 10 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 78.95% | List | |||
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Manly | 1970-71, 1973-83 | 215 | 32 | 39 | 1 | 177 | 136 | 72 | 7 | 63.26% | List |
Contributions:
Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson, Paul Carter, Greg Fiveash, Rugby League Tables, Alan Katzmann, AJ Lucantonio, Steven Russo, Bill Bates
Sources:
Match Video
Your Say
01/12/2009
Krilich played in over 100 reserve grade games till 1974 before he cemented the first grade hooker position. Krilich assumed the club captaincy in 1976.
He played 215 first grade games with the club and 119 reserve grade games up till his retirement in 1983. He scored 32 tries, 39 goals and 1 field goal with an overall tally of 177 points.
03/10/2014
hi max,been a few years,still remember ian martin and the great graham blades from school footy. dave.
08/07/2020
max came to our house to assist our plumber... Said he could have swum here... He was after exercise to keep fit... and he certainly did . Nice man to have around...years ago.. sad to say...
08/02/2021
Born 1950. Not 1949.
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