Brian Clay

  • Playing Career

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Full Name
Brian Joseph Clay
Nickname(s)
Poppa
Born
Wednesday, 18th April, 1934
Died
Wednesday, 2nd September, 1987 (Aged 53 years and 137 days)
Place Of Birth
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Awards & Accolades

Clive Churchill Medal
1961
National Rugby League Hall Of Fame
2008

Biography

Newtown junior, a centre in the club's grand final losses to Souths in 1954-55, later became an institution at St George as a rock-solid five-eighth. Following a season as captain-coach of Griffith in 1956, Clay moved to St George as a lock and gained selection in Australia’s World Cup squad. Dragons’ coach Ken Kearney moved Clay to five-eighth when pivot Peter Carroll withdrew from the 1958 grand final against Wests. ‘Poppa’ Clay (so-called because of his baldness) remained at five-eighth when budding champion lock John Raper joined the club the following year. Clay toured with the 1959-60 Kangaroos, playing in all five Tests, but it was for his role in St George's incredible premiership run that he will be best remembered. He played in eight first grade grand final wins for the club (1957-61 & 1964-66), missing 1962 because of injury, and also played in the club’s 1963 reserve grade win after coming back from a broken arm injury. The much-loved clubman retired after St George's defeat in the 1967 final (his 200th grade match for the club), which brought to an end the club’s eleven-year reign as premiers. A veteran of ten first grade grand finals (a record he shares with Norm Provan), Clay passed away in 1987 after a long battle with heart disease.
- 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 %  
NRL 213 43 -   - 129 176 35 2 82.63% List
Country Carnival 4 1 -   - 3 3 1 0 75.00% List
NRL Finals 24 4 -   - 12 18 6 0 75.00% List
City vs Country Firsts 5 2 -   - 6 3 2 0 60.00% List
Tour Matches Southern NSW 1 1 -   - 3 1 0 0 100.00% List
Tour Matches Riverina 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Interstate Matches 7 3 -   - 9 5 2 0 71.43% List
World Cup 3 1 -   - 3 3 0 0 100.00% List
Tour Matches New South Wales Firsts 2 - -   - - 0 2 0 0.00% List
Tour Matches Australia 6 - 1   - 2 4 2 0 66.67% List
Test Series 5 - -   - - 3 2 0 60.00% List
The Ashes 3 - -   - - 1 2 0 33.33% List
Craven Mild Cup 27 1 -   - 3 18 6 3 66.67% List
Tour Matches St George Dragons 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1957, 1959-60 9 1 1   - 5 7 2 0 77.78% List

International Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1957 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List

World Cup Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1957 3 1 -   - 3 3 0 0 100.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Probables (AU) 1955 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Riverina 1956 2 - -   - - 0 2 0 0.00% List
Southern NSW 1956 1 1 -   - 3 1 0 0 100.00% List
Possibles (AU) 1956 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
NSW Country Firsts 1956 2 - -   - - 0 2 0 0.00% List
NSW Firsts 1957, 1959, 1962 9 3 -   - 9 5 4 0 55.56% List
NSW City Firsts 1957-59, 1961 4 2 -   - 6 3 1 0 75.00% List
NSW City Seconds 1960, 1962 2 - -   - - 2 0 0 100.00% List
Overall1955-1962 22 6 0   0 18 12 10 0 54.55% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Newtown NSWRFL 1953 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
Newtown NSWRFL 1954 11 5 -   - 15 8 3 0 72.73% List
Newtown NSWRFL 1955 18 5 -   - 15 14 4 0 77.78% List
St George NSWRFL 1957 19 4 -   - 12 17 2 0 89.47% List
St George NSWRFL 1958 17 7 -   - 21 15 2 0 88.24% List
St George NSWRFL 1959 19 4 -   - 12 19 0 0 100.00% List
St George NSWRFL 1960 18 4 -   - 12 15 3 0 83.33% List
St George NSWRFL 1961 16 1 -   - 3 14 2 0 87.50% List
St George NSWRFL 1962 14 - -   - - 11 3 0 78.57% List
St George NSWRFL 1963 14 3 -   - 9 11 2 1 78.57% List
St George NSWRFL 1964 13 2 -   - 6 11 2 0 84.62% List
St George NSWRFL 1965 19 4 -   - 12 16 3 0 84.21% List
St George NSWRFL 1966 20 2 -   - 6 15 4 1 75.00% List
St George NSWRFL 1967 14 2 -   - 6 9 5 0 64.29% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Newtown 1953-55 30 10 -   - 30 23 7 0 76.67% List
St George 1957-67 183 33 -   - 99 153 28 2 83.61% List
Overall1953-1967 213 43 0   0 129 176 35 2 82.63% List

Your Say

  • Peter Downes
    05/04/2018

    Unsung hero of the mighty St George team.Didnt get many accolades as did his more fancied team mates ,but an intergal part of their success .

  • Anonymous
    02/04/2020

    Renowned for his tough RSS, but was also a very skilful Player. Certainly key to the Dragons’ success.

  • Anonymous
    14/10/2021

    Born 1935. Not 1934.

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