Terry Fearnley

Coaching Career

Vital Statistics

Full Name
Terrence Colin Fearnley
Born
Friday, 21st July, 1933
Died
Wednesday, 4th March, 2015 (Aged 81 years and 226 days)
Place Of Birth
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Biography

Easts prop forward and captain represented NSW in 1960 but missed a place in the club's grand final loss to St George that year because of injury. Fearnley's subsequent career as a coach was successful, checkered and controversial. Understudy to former teammate Jack Gibson at Easts in the mid 1970s, he succeeded Norm Provan as P’matta coach in 1976. The Eels made their first grand final under Fearnley's coaching, losing narrowly to Manly 13-10. He drew criticism for P’matta's tactics in the face of open aggression from St George in the grand final draw and replay in 1977. (In turn, he was openly critical of the refereeing in the two matches and has stated that the Eels were under no instructions to ‘turn the other cheek’). He was fated never to win a Sydney premiership and stints with Wests (1982), Cronulla (1983-4) and I’warra (1988) brought only mixed success. In 1985 Fearnley was the first NSW coach to win a State of Origin series but as Australian coach, he battled Queensland factions on the troubled tour of NZ, and he was replaced by Don Furner in 1986.
- 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 %  
NRL 209 117 86 6 55.98% List
NRL Finals 14 5 7 2 35.71% List
City vs Country Firsts 2 2 0 0 100.00% List
Interstate Matches 2 2 0 0 100.00% List
World Cup 5 4 1 0 80.00% List
State of Origin 3 2 1 0 66.67% List
Test Series 3 2 1 0 66.67% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years Games W L D Win %  
Australia 1977, 1985 7 6 1 0 85.71% List

World Cup Matches - By Team

Team Years Games W L D Win %  
Australia 1977, 1985 5 4 1 0 80.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years Games W L D Win %  
NSW Firsts 1977 2 2 0 0 100.00% List
NSW City Firsts 1977, 1985 2 2 0 0 100.00% List
NSW 1985 3 2 1 0 66.67% List
Overall1977-1985 7 6 1 0 85.71% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season Games W L D Win %  
Eastern Suburbs NSWRFL 1961 10 6 4 0 60.00% List
Parramatta NSWRFL 1976 24 15 7 2 62.50% List
Parramatta NSWRFL 1977 26 20 5 1 76.92% List
Parramatta NSWRFL 1978 25 15 9 1 60.00% List
Parramatta NSWRFL 1979 25 17 8 0 68.00% List
Western Suburbs NSWRFL 1982 27 16 11 0 59.26% List
Cronulla NSWRFL 1983 26 12 14 0 46.15% List
Cronulla NSWRL 1984 24 10 13 1 41.67% List
Illawarra NSWRL 1988 22 6 15 1 27.27% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years Games W L D Win %  
Eastern Suburbs 1961 10 6 4 0 60.00% List
Parramatta 1976-79 100 67 29 4 67.00% List
Western Suburbs 1982 27 16 11 0 59.26% List
Cronulla 1983-84 50 22 27 1 44.00% List
Illawarra 1988 22 6 15 1 27.27% List
Overall1961-1988 209 117 86 6 55.98% List

Your Say

Matt says: Jack Gibson has always been credited with bringing American style coaching and training methods to Rugby League in Australia however it is a little known fact that it was Terry Fearnley who made Gibson aware of American methods- most notably the teachings of Vince Lombardi. While Gibson brought Parra their first ever premiership, it was Fearnley who laid the foundation for future greatness at the Parramatta club. (02/01/2018)

Want to have your say about this player? Add a comment.

Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Greg Fiveash, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, Alan Katzmann

Sources: Newspapers