Brian Clay

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.

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 icon.

International
Test Matches - By Team
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
Australia	1957, 1959-60	8	1	-				-	3	6	2	0	75.00%
Overall	1957-1960	8	1	0				0	3	6	2	0	75.00%
International Matches - By Team
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
Australia	1957, 1960	2	-	1				-	2	2	0	0	100.00%
Overall	1957-1960	2	0	1				0	2	2	0	0	100.00%
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%
Overall	1957	3	1	0				0	3	3	0	0	100.00%
Representative
Australia - By Team
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
NSW Country Firsts	1956	1	-	-				-	-	0	1	0	0.00%
NSW Firsts	1957, 1959	7	3	-				-	9	5	2	0	71.43%
NSW City Firsts	1957-59, 1961	4	2	-				-	6	3	1	0	75.00%
Overall	1956-1961	12	5	0				0	15	8	4	0	66.67%
Club Career
Australian League Matches - By Year
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
Newtown	NSWRFL 1953	?	-	-				-	-
Newtown	NSWRFL 1954	?	5	-				-	15
Newtown	NSWRFL 1955	?	5	-				-	15
St George	NSWRFL 1957	?	4	-				-	12
St George	NSWRFL 1958	?	7	-				-	21
St George	NSWRFL 1959	?	4	-				-	12
St George	NSWRFL 1960	?	4	-				-	12
St George	NSWRFL 1961	?	1	-				-	3
St George	NSWRFL 1962	?	-	-				-	-
St George	NSWRFL 1963	?	3	-				-	9
St George	NSWRFL 1964	?	2	-				-	6
St George	NSWRFL 1965	?	4	-				-	12
St George	NSWRFL 1966	?	2	-				-	6
St George	NSWRFL 1967	?	2	-				-	6
Overall	1953-1967	?	43	0				0	129	?	?	?	?
Australian League Matches - By Team
Team	Years	App	T	G			GK %	FG	Pts	W	L	D	Win %
Newtown	1953-55	?	10	-				-	30	?	?	?	?
St George	1957-67	?	33	-				-	99	?	?	?	?
Overall	1953-1967	?	43	0				0	129	?	?	?	?

Last modified: Mon, 13 May 2013 01:07:30 +1000 (Sydney time)