George Piggins

Tough hooker brought the same brand of resilience to the Souths club as coach, and later club president, that he did as a player. Piggins was understudy to international Test rake Elwyn Walters for several seasons but was called up into Souths' grand final team in 1971. Piggins produced a ‘blinder’ - turning defence into attack with his raking back of the ball in the rucks and stealing yard after yard with his determined bursts. While Souths lost a galaxy of stars to other clubs in the 1970s Piggins remained and proved to be a tenacious opponent in any match he played. His try against Wests in a club match in 1975 was characteristic of the courage with which he played; Piggins beat man after man with a determined, bullocking run and crashed over beside the posts. He represented NSW (against Queensland and Great Britain) in 1974 but received his highest honour with selection for Australia in a World Series match against NZ the following year. Piggins was under a fitness cloud before the match but he was not to be denied his ‘green and gold’ jersey. After his retirement Piggins led a Souths’ revival during the 1980s ('Dally M' Coach of the Year in 1986 and1989), culminating in the club’s minor premiership success in 1989. Unfortunately the club was ravaged by financial and internal problems in 1990 and finished last. Piggins resigned as coach, but as football club chairman during the embattled 1990s fought hard to keep the Rabbitohs in the premiership before the newly formed NRL excluded the club from the 2000 premiership. Piggins then led a two-year, public campaign to have the club reinstated in the premiership. Souths’ appeal victory in July 2001 was due largely to his efforts and perseverance - few men in the history of the game have shown such single-mindedness in pursuit of a principle. In 2002-03, Piggins fought internal politics that led to his sacking of Souths’ CEO Paul Dunn and coach Craig Coleman before surviving a move by rebel Board members to oust him from the club Board. However, the arrival of the Peter Holmes a Court-Russell Crowe consortium and the acceptance by members of their plan to revitalize the club, saw the end of Piggins’ involvement in the club. Autobiography, Never Say Die (2002).