Playing Career
Vital Statistics
- Born
- Thursday, 3rd September, 1953
- Current Age
- 70 years and 229 days
- Place Of Birth
- Tripoli, Peloponnese, Greece
Biography
The first C’bury junior to represent Australia – and captain his country - while still playing for the club George Peponis (born in Tripolis, Greece) was graded in 1973 after coming through the juniors from C’bury Boys High. In 1974 he was the hooker in the young team that lost to Easts in the grand final and, after passing his medical exams in 1976, gained celebrity as being a 'footballing doctor'. Peponis played for NSW in 1978 before making his Test debut against NZ in the First Test in Sydney and scoring a clever try from dummy half (a trademark of his game). Selected on the 1978 Kangaroo Tour he shared the hooking honours with Max Krilich and played in the deciding Third Test of the Ashes series and all three Tests in France. In 1979 Peponis succeeded Bob Fulton as Test captain and led Australia in the first 3-nil Test Ashes win over Great Britain. That year C’bury was beaten in the grand final by St George but in 1980 Peponis led the club to its first premiership in 38 years when the Bulldogs defeated Easts, 18-4. He also captained Australia in two successful Tests in NZ but a worrying neck injury led to his eventual retirement in July 1982. Twenty years later he was called back to the Bulldogs to take over as Chairman of the football club at a critical time in the club’s history. In 2004 he was the public face of the club as it battled allegations of player misconduct and he also had to oversee the sacking of former clubmates, football club manager Garry Hughes and Chief Executive Steve Mortimer.
- 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 % | ||||
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Craven Mild Cup | 14 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 42.86% | List | ||||
NRL | 132 | 27 | - | - | 81 | 79 | 44 | 9 | 59.85% | List | ||||
NRL Finals | 14 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 71.43% | List | ||||
National Panasonic Cup | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
Interstate Matches | 8 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
City vs Country Firsts | 3 | - | - | - | - | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
Tour Matches | Australia | 10 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 90.00% | List | |||
Test Series | 8 | 2 | - | - | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 87.50% | List | ||||
The Ashes | 4 | 1 | - | - | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
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Test Matches - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Australia | 1978-80 | 9 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 88.89% | List | |||
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Australia - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
NSW City Seconds | 1976 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
NSW Firsts | 1976-80 | 8 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
NSW City Firsts | 1977, 1979-80 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
Overall | 1976-1980 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
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NRL/NSWRL - By Year | ||||||||||||||
Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Canterbury | NSWRFL 1974 | 9 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 66.67% | List | |||
Canterbury | NSWRFL 1975 | 15 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 60.00% | List | |||
Canterbury | NSWRFL 1976 | 23 | 6 | - | - | 18 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 52.17% | List | |||
Canterbury | NSWRFL 1977 | 13 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 46.15% | List | |||
Canterbury | NSWRFL 1978 | 15 | 9 | - | - | 27 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 53.33% | List | |||
Canterbury | NSWRFL 1979 | 21 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 66.67% | List | |||
Canterbury | NSWRFL 1980 | 23 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 17 | 6 | 0 | 73.91% | List | |||
Canterbury | NSWRFL 1981 | 5 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 40.00% | List | |||
Canterbury | NSWRFL 1982 | 8 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 62.50% | List | |||
NRL/NSWRL - By Team | ||||||||||||||
Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||
Canterbury | 1974-82 | 132 | 27 | - | - | 81 | 79 | 44 | 9 | 59.85% | List |
Contributions:
Greg Fiveash, Andrew Ferguson, Rugby League Tables, Paul Carter, Alan Katzmann, Shawn Dollin, Bill Bates, AJ Lucantonio
Your Say
02/05/2014
One greatest Hooker I ever seen was Dr George
04/11/2017
A real team player with a high tackle rate, always backed up the ball carrier. Ended his career prematurely due to injury. One of the great players of our game NRL.
16/07/2019
The most intelligent player in the competition, the Cameron Smith of his day, in an era when scrums were contested and hooking was a real skill, in an era when rugby league was the most physically violent ball sport. Premiership winning captain, Australian captain, universally respected as a player by teammates and opponents. Well played George.
09/01/2021
Gentleman off and on the field.
Still my doctor today.
24/03/2022
27 tries from 132 games … huge return for that era
13/01/2024
He also had a stint in the Souths juniors with Alexandria Rovers.
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