Peter Tunks

Referee Career

Vital Statistics

Born
Saturday, 30th August, 1958
Current Age
65 years and 213 days
Place Of Birth
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Biography

Easts junior trialed with both Easts and Manly before being graded by Souths in the late 1970s. A tough, no-nonsense prop Peter Tunks toiled for seven seasons with the Rabbitohs, (overcoming bouts of hepatitis and glandular fever in 1979), before achieving success with C’bury. A member of the Bulldogs’ teams that won premierships in 1984-85 Tunks played in 6 Tests for Australia (each against NZ) but declined to tour with the 1986 Kangaroos due to business commitments. Tunks captained Leeds in 1987-88 and was Phil Gould's choice as captain following the standing down of Steve Mortimer in 1988. After leading the club to a grand final win over Balmain that year, Tunks later followed Gould to Penrith in 1990. Injuries relegated him to reserve grade with the Panthers and he decided to see out his career in English club football. Tunks played with Salford and Sheffield Eagles (both 1990) before taking on a captain-coach role with Oldham. Tunks' brief in England was clear - avoid relegation at all costs - but with the club languishing at the bottom of the league table he resigned in February 1994 and was replaced by Bob Lindner.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Referee 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.

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Your Say

  • Graeme Hobbs
    23/05/2011

    My question is not ruby league related. I remember Peter Tunks had a wine bar in Randwick. I would like to know the name of that wine bar to settle a bet please.

  • Anonymous
    29/06/2012

    Tunks had a bar in Randwick in the 1980s named Baxters.

  • Costa
    26/10/2017

    One of the best prop forwards of the 80s. Always remembered for his powerhouse performances in the great Bulldogs side who had the best forward pack of the 80s.

  • Paul Carter
    14/05/2020

    You can hear him on Talkinsport on 2SM between 3:00 and 6:00 pm from Monday to Wednesday.

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Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Paul Carter, Greg Fiveash, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, AJ Lucantonio, Alan Katzmann, Steven Russo, Max Turner, Bill Bates

Sources: NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1989-90, Match Video, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1987-88, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1988-89, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1990-91, Irvin Saxton's Record Keepers' Club, Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1988-89, Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-92, Newspapers