Coaching Career
Vital Statistics
- Born
- Tuesday, 7th November, 1950
- Current Age
- 72 years and 323 days
Awards & Accolades
- Dally M Hooker Of The Year
- 1980
- Dally M Coach Of The Year
- 1995, 1999
Biography
Busy, constructive Brisbane Easts hooker was one of only two Queensland players selected on the 1973 Kangaroo tour. Lang played in the First Test against France, and in 7 other matches, and the following year was a tireless performer in three interstate matches played over a six-day period. Lang played in the Second Test against Great Britain in 1974 and continued to toil tirelessly for Queensland (he was a try-scorer in each of three interstate matches in 1976) and for Australia (1975 World Series competition and against NZ in 1978). He won three premierships with Brisbane Easts (1972 & 1977-78) before accepting an offer from former Kangaroo teammate Bob Fulton to play for Easts in 1980. A member of the Australian squad that toured NZ that year, Lang had been the star of NSW's win over Queensland that year but then had the satisfaction of returning 'home' to play for Queensland in the first ever State of Origin match. Following Easts' 19-4 loss to C’bury in the grand final, he turned his back on Sydney to coach Brisbane Easts in 1981-84 and 1990-93, capturing premierships in 1983 and 1991 (and runners-up to Brisbane Wests in 1992-93). Having achieved so much in Brisbane Lang accepted a new challenge in taking over from coach from Arthur Beetson as Cronulla coach in 1994. He had a great season in his first year, moulding the young talent in the club into a formidable force on their home ground, before signing with Super League in 1995. In 1997 he coached Super League Australia in all five Tests and took the Sharks to the Telstra Cup grand final against Brisbane. His sixth season as coach found the Sharks vying for premiership favouritism in 1999 but despite making qualifying finals in 1999 and 2001 Cronulla could not break through and win a maiden premiership title. In 2001 Lang announced his departure from the Sharks after eight seasons and was snapped up by Penrith for 2002. At the Panthers Lang took a club that had finished last in 2001 to premiership success in 2003 – a just reward for one of the hardest-working men in rugby league. After five seasons with the club his contract was not renewed when Penrith failed to make the play-offs in 2005-06.
- ALAN WHITICKER
Coaching 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 | Games | W | L | D | Win % | |||||||||
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NRL | 371 | 206 | 160 | 5 | 55.53% | List | ||||||||
NRL Finals | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 55.00% | List | ||||||||
Anzac Tests | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||||||
Test Series | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.67% | List | ||||||||
World Club Challenge | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||||||
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Test Matches - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | Games | W | L | D | Win % | ||||||||
Australia (SL) | 1997 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 60.00% | List | |||||||
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NRL/NSWRL - By Year | ||||||||||||||
Team | Season | Games | W | L | D | Win % | ||||||||
Cronulla | NSWRL 1994 | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 54.55% | List | |||||||
Cronulla | ARL 1995 | 24 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 66.67% | List | |||||||
Cronulla | ARL 1996 | 24 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 66.67% | List | |||||||
Cronulla | Super League 1997 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 63.64% | List | |||||||
Cronulla | NRL 1998 | 24 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 50.00% | List | |||||||
Sharks | NRL 1999 | 26 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 73.08% | List | |||||||
Sharks | NRL 2000 | 27 | 13 | 14 | 0 | 48.15% | List | |||||||
Sharks | NRL 2001 | 29 | 17 | 10 | 2 | 58.62% | List | |||||||
Penrith | NRL 2002 | 24 | 7 | 17 | 0 | 29.17% | List | |||||||
Penrith | NRL 2003 | 27 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 77.78% | List | |||||||
Penrith | NRL 2004 | 26 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 61.54% | List | |||||||
Penrith | NRL 2005 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 45.83% | List | |||||||
Penrith | NRL 2006 | 24 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 41.67% | List | |||||||
Souths | NRL 2010 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 45.83% | List | |||||||
Souths | NRL 2011 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 45.83% | List | |||||||
NRL/NSWRL - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | Games | W | L | D | Win % | ||||||||
Cronulla | 1994-01 | 198 | 119 | 74 | 5 | 60.10% | List | |||||||
Penrith | 2002-06 | 125 | 65 | 60 | 0 | 52.00% | List | |||||||
Souths | 2010-11 | 48 | 22 | 26 | 0 | 45.83% | List | |||||||
Overall | 1994-2011 | 371 | 206 | 160 | 5 | 55.53% | List |
Contributions:
Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson, Rugby League Tables, Alan Katzmann, Paul Carter
Sources:
Match video, Newspapers
Your Say
Len Conroy says: John played under 14 for easts in 1964 and I was his first coach and I said then this kid will play for Australia, He was great in the scrums and always won a lot ball for his team but he was wonderful running with the ball and he was a great defender I had the great pleasure of presenting John with an Easts Life membership in 2010. Len Conroy (12/01/2012)
john spackman says: Can anyone tell me if John Langs father was a policeman (23/03/2014)
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