Frank Stanmore

Wests five-eighth formed a unique partnership with champion halfback Keith Holman at club and Test level (interestingly, both men grew up as orphans – Holman in Surrey Hills and Stanmore in Cessnock). After coming to Wests juniors from Cessnock as a teenager, Frank Stanmore represented NSW in 1948 and played in the club's grand final win over Balmain. He toured NZ the following year but it was not until Australia's Ashes win over Great Britain in 1950 that he played in Tests alongside Holman. The champion halfback pairing were involved in the most historic Test win in Anglo-Australian Test history when Australia won the Third Test at the SCG, 5-2, to win the Ashes for the first time on home soil for thirty years. Stanmore played in Wests’ grand final loss to Souths that year and represented Australia against France in 1951. Stanmore and Holman both toured with the 1952-53 Kangaroos (Wests won the grand final without them that year because the Kangaroos had already sailed for England) with Stanmore making four Test appearances and captaining Australia in seven minor matches in England and France without loss. Wests finished with the wooden spoon in 1953 – the year after winning the premiership – and Stanmore took on a captain-coach role in Maitland. He went to Smithtown for five years, representing Newcastle against France in 1955, and retired after another five seasons with Port Macquarie (1960-64).