Norm Provan

Coaching Career

Vital Statistics

Full Name
Norman Douglas Somerville Provan
Nickname(s)
Sticks
Born
Sunday, 18th December, 1932
Died
Wednesday, 13th October, 2021 (Aged 88 years and 299 days)
Place Of Birth
Urana, New South Wales, Australia

Awards & Accolades

Clive Churchill Medal
1957, 1958, 1963
International Hall Of Fame
2004
National Rugby League Hall Of Fame
2004
NSWRL Hall Of Fame
2017
Immortal
2018

Known Family Links

Brother
Peter Provan

Biography

The career of Norm 'Sticks' Provan casts a giant shadow over the game of rugby league. The St George and Australian Test legend played in 10 winning grand finals from 1956-65, the last four as captain-coach, as well as 14 Tests. Provan came into the St George ranks from neighbouring Sutherland in 1950 after the lanky, raw-boned forward missed out on being graded by Easts. He played in St George's loss to Souths in the 1953 grand final but great years lay ahead. In 1954 he played for NSW and in all three Tests against Great Britain. With almost 100kg spread over his 1.93m frame Provan formed a great partnership with Kel O'Shea in Australia's back row. In 1956, the year St George started their record-breaking 11 consecutive premiership wins, Provan toured with the Kangaroos. Injury ruled him out of the Tests against Great Britain but he appeared in three Tests against France at the end of the tour. A member of Australia's victorious World Cup squad the following year Provan played in all three Tests against Great Britain in 1958 and against the Kiwis in 1959. Despite declaring his unavailability for the 1959 Kangaroo Tour, he took on the Frenchmen in 1960 in his final Test series. The retirement of Ken Kearney in 1962 led to Provan's appointment as captain-coach of St George and the club's dominance continued. (The only hiccup during this time was the thrashing St George received by a champion Great Britain team in 1962). In the 1963 grand final Provan's image was immortalised with Wests’ captain Arthur Summons in John O'Gready's famous photograph, 'The Gladiators'. No other photo has captured the sportsmanship and camaraderie in the code. In 1965 Provan announced his retirement and a record SCG crowd of 78,065 fans were on hand to farewell him after yet another grand final victory. Following a season as non-playing coach in 1968, in which he took St George to the preliminary final, Provan had two further stints as coach with P’matta (1975) and grand finalists Cronulla (1978-79) before retiring to Queensland. His legacy in the game is remembered in the striking of the Winfield Cup trophy (1982-95), the Provan-Summons Medal for Best and Fairest player and the current NRL premiership trophy.
- 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 %  
Craven Mild Cup 26 19 4 3 73.08% List
NRL 181 124 49 8 68.51% List
Tour Matches St George Dragons 2 1 1 0 50.00% List
NRL Finals 19 12 6 1 63.16% List
National Panasonic Cup 5 3 2 0 60.00% List
Tour Matches Illawarra Firsts 1 0 1 0 0.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years Games W L D Win %  
Illawarra Firsts 1974 2 0 2 0 0.00% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season Games W L D Win %  
St George NSWRFL 1962 20 15 4 1 75.00% List
St George NSWRFL 1963 21 17 3 1 80.95% List
St George NSWRFL 1964 20 17 3 0 85.00% List
St George NSWRFL 1965 20 17 3 0 85.00% List
St George NSWRFL 1968 24 14 7 3 58.33% List
Parramatta NSWRFL 1975 26 13 12 1 50.00% List
Cronulla NSWRFL 1978 26 17 8 1 65.38% List
Cronulla NSWRFL 1979 24 14 9 1 58.33% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years Games W L D Win %  
St George 1962-65, 1968 105 80 20 5 76.19% List
Parramatta 1975 26 13 12 1 50.00% List
Cronulla 1978-79 50 31 17 2 62.00% List
Overall1962-1979 181 124 49 8 68.51% List

Your Say

  • scott
    07/10/2013

    He definitely already should be a immortal

  • Ross jones
    11/07/2016

    I have lived in Orange for the past 50 years . When I lived in Sydney my mates and I watched saints nearly every weekend. we would go along and watch all three grades . Most of the time we would go to the cricket ground as the game of the day. The best footballer in the era to me was Reg gasnier Norm Sticks Provan was also one of the best of his era . They say when retired he was still God enough to play for Australia. Should have been immortal years ago

  • Dave Knyvett
    12/10/2016

    Norm Provan is to my mind the epitome of a sporting legend.
    The immortal badge is a farce contrived by the media who have bought and paid for a game that no longer belonges to those who love it .
    "Sticks " will always be the greatest rugby league player I have had the honour to have seen ( as a 12year old at the time )
    Shame on the greedy big noting channel nine who think they can buy and control .

  • GRH
    14/05/2019

    God came down to play for St George and called himself Norm Provan

  • Anonymous
    28/03/2020

    Norm should have been a immortal long time before andrew johns and wally lewis

  • Anonymous
    17/03/2023

    Norm Provan Played 256 Games Not 255.

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Contributions: Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson, Greg Fiveash, Rugby League Tables, Alan Katzmann, Paul Carter, Michael Borg, Max Turner, Bill Bates, Tim Costello