Robert 'Sparrow' Finch

  • Playing Career

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Nickname(s)
Sparrow
Born
Sunday, 8th July, 1956
Current Age
67 years and 265 days
Place Of Birth
Maitland, New South Wales, Australia

Known Family Links

Son
Brett Finch

Biography

1972 Australian Schoolboy rep was playing first grade with Maitland at age 16. Robert Finch was signed by St George in 1974 and was a reserve in the club’s grand final team thrashed 38-0 by Easts in 1975. He formed a solid, reliable partnership with Graham Quinn in the centres during the late 1970s and played in both the grand final draw and replay against P’matta in 1977. Two years later he won his second premiership when St George defeated C’bury in the 1979 grand final. Finch returned to the Newcastle competition in 1981 where he represented Country. His time as a lower grade coach with the Newcastle Knights produced two reserve grade grand final appearances (1993-94) without success. Finch later joined Super League and was associated with the short-lived Hunter Mariners and Adelaide Rams before moving to Canberra as football manager. When News Ltd sold its stake in the club Finch joined the NRL as Referees Co-ordinator.
- 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 %  
Craven Mild Cup 2 - -   - - 1 1 0 50.00% List
National Panasonic Cup 2 2 -   - 6 1 1 0 50.00% List
NRL 127 26 -   - 78 78 44 5 61.42% List
NRL Finals 13 2 -   - 6 8 4 1 61.54% List
Tooheys Challenge Cup 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
City vs Country Firsts 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Tour Matches Newcastle Firsts (AU) 1 1 -   - 3 1 0 0 100.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Newcastle (AU) 1981 1 1 -   - 3 1 0 0 100.00% List
NSW Country Firsts 1981 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Overall1981 2 1 0   0 3 1 1 0 50.00% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
St George NSWRFL 1974 8 1 -   - 3 3 5 0 37.50% List
St George NSWRFL 1975 14 1 -   - 3 8 4 2 57.14% List
St George NSWRFL 1976 24 8 -   - 24 14 10 0 58.33% List
St George NSWRFL 1977 25 5 -   - 15 19 5 1 76.00% List
St George NSWRFL 1978 12 2 -   - 6 4 8 0 33.33% List
St George NSWRFL 1979 23 3 -   - 9 18 5 0 78.26% List
St George NSWRFL 1980 21 6 -   - 18 12 7 2 57.14% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
St George 1974-80 127 26 -   - 78 78 44 5 61.42% List

Your Say

  • Brett
    23/06/2014

    I remember Robert just entering First Grade at St George, and Saints were playing Balmain in the mid-week comp. What impressed me was his reading of the game and the timing of passes to create space.

    As a side I also had a few beers in the Tudor Hotel in Tamworth which was owned by his in-laws.

  • Ken Hutchings
    19/09/2023

    I remember playing against Robert in the High School competition. He was far above every one else. I broke my thumb tackling him.

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

Sources: Newspapers