Playing Career
Vital Statistics
- Full Name
- John Joseph Muggleton
- Born
- Saturday, 16th January, 1960
- Current Age
- 64 years and 94 days
- Place Of Birth
- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Biography
P’matta Test forward started his career as a fullback with Balmain in the late 1970s. A Dundas Valley junior who had played union and then league with Ryde, Muggleton represented NSW U'18s before being graded by Balmain from the University Cup competition. After moving to P’matta, Muggleton was shifted to the forwards by coach Jack Gibson and went on to play in three grand final victories (1981-82 & 1986) and 1984’s loss to C’bury in the second row. In 1982 he played in two State of Origin matches and made his Test debut as a reserve forward against NZ in Brisbane. Muggleton scored the winning try in Australia's last-minute, 11-8 win against the Kiwis and was selected in Australia’s starting line-up in the Second Test in Sydney. Selected on the Kangaroo Tour and the end of the year, he played in 14 matches on tour (no Tests) and scored 9 tries - the most by any forward. Playing for Hull in England in 1984-85, he had his nose badly smashed in a spiteful incident in a club match. While his form wavered during the mid 1980s, a highlight of his later career was his six goals and booming 42m field goal after the bell to beat St George in a 1987 club match. The brother-in-law of Peter Sterling, Muggleton was coaching co-ordinator at P’matta in 1991 before joining Norths as a lower grade coach and assistant to Peter Louis. He later spent the best part of a decade with the Wallabies as a defensive coach.
- ALAN WHITICKER
Playing 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 | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRL | 114 | 13 | 48 | 2 | 142 | 73 | 40 | 1 | 64.04% | List | ||||
| NRL Finals | 14 | - | - | - | - | 10 | 4 | 0 | 71.43% | List | ||||
| City vs Country Firsts | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| State of Origin | 2 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.00% | List | ||||
| Tour Matches | Australia | 15 | 9 | - | - | 27 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
| Test Series | 2 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| English Championship | 26 | 21 | - | 1 | 85 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 61.54% | List | ||||
| Regal Trophy | 4 | 6 | - | - | 24 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75.00% | List | ||||
| Challenge Cup | 6 | 1 | - | - | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 50.00% | List | ||||
| Tour Matches | Hull FC | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | |||
| National Panasonic Cup | 7 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 71.43% | List | ||||
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Test Matches - By Team | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Australia | 1982 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
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Australia - By Team | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| NSW | 1982 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.00% | List | |||
| NSW City Firsts | 1982 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
| Overall | 1982 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.67% | List | |||
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NRL/NSWRL - By Year | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1979 | 6 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 33.33% | List | |||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1980 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1981 | 8 | - | - | - | - | 8 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1982 | 28 | 6 | - | - | 18 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 78.57% | List | |||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1983 | 15 | 1 | - | - | 4 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 66.67% | List | |||
| Parramatta | NSWRL 1984 | 13 | - | - | - | - | 9 | 4 | 0 | 69.23% | List | |||
| Parramatta | NSWRL 1985 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.00% | List | |||
| Parramatta | NSWRL 1986 | 14 | - | 3 | / | 5 | 60.00% | - | 6 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 71.43% | List |
| Parramatta | NSWRL 1987 | 20 | 4 | 45 | / | 67 | 67.16% | 2 | 108 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 45.00% | List |
| Parramatta | NSWRL 1988 | 4 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 3 | 0 | 25.00% | List | |||
| Parramatta | NSWRL 1989 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% | List | |||
NRL/NSWRL - By Team | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Balmain | 1979 | 6 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 33.33% | List | |||
| Parramatta | 1980-89 | 108 | 12 | 48 | 2 | 139 | 71 | 36 | 1 | 65.74% | List | |||
| Overall | 1979-1989 | 114 | 13 | 48 | 2 | 142 | 73 | 40 | 1 | 64.04% | List | |||
English Career - By Year | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Hull FC | 1984/85 | 24 | 19 | - | 1 | 77 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 70.83% | List | |||
| Hull FC | 1985/86 | 12 | 9 | - | - | 36 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 41.67% | List | |||
English Career - By Team | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Hull FC | 1984-85 | 36 | 28 | - | 1 | 113 | 22 | 10 | 4 | 61.11% | List | |||
Contributions:
Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson, Paul Carter, Rugby League Tables, AJ Lucantonio, Greg Fiveash, Alan Katzmann, 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, Irvin Saxton's Record Keepers' Club, Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1985-86, Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1986-87
Your Say
28/02/2010
In 1982 Muggleton missed out on his $200 prize as player of the week for his performance against Eastern Suburbs at the Sydney Sports Ground after he chose not to appear on Channel 9 Sports programme World of Sport. It came after Parramatta placed a ban on the show for an incident which lead to Greg Hartley apologising on the show.
13/04/2014
A great player who was never spoken of highly enough alongside his many parramatta teammates. He has gone on to become a successful man in all areas he has coached and assisted with
07/05/2018
1984/85
25 appearances
19 tries
1 FG
1985/86
26 A
9 T
07/05/2018
FYI
1984/85
25 appearances
19 tries
1 FG
1985/86
26 A
9 T
John
16/08/2020
Used to be my year 7 teacher
15/07/2023
Muggo experienced some significant physical challenges, as is so often the case with athletes, that ffected various stages of his career.
He sprained his ankle in a warm-up game on the first leg of the Invincibles tour. He was not fit enough to play in Test matches, but did play in several county games as his ankle began to recover.
Along with a number of other players, he suffered heat exhaustion at a Wests game played in 40 degree heat. Treatment for this showed that Muggo actually had glandular fever, and he battled sporadic episodes of fatigue from the disease for several years afterward.
Muggo had his cheekbone and eye socket badly broken in a game at Balmain when an opposing player came in late with a knee to the face after Muggo scored a try. The break resulted in surgery that saw Muggo wearing two metal prongs drilled into and protruding from his cheek and secured with a cross-bar, progressively tightened to bring the pieces together, for several months.
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