Ian 'Abdul' Walsh

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Full Name
Ian John Walsh
Nickname(s)
Abdul
Born
Monday, 20th March, 1933
Died
Thursday, 4th April, 2013 (Aged 80 years and 15 days)
Place Of Birth
Bogan Gate, New South Wales, Australia

Awards & Accolades

Clive Churchill Medal
1962
National Rugby League Hall Of Fame
2008

Biography

The last of St George captain-coaches who took the club to a world-record 11 premierships, Ian Walsh's career can also be viewed separately from that achievement. While playing for Eugowra in north-western NSW in 1951 the 17-year-old represented Western Division against the visiting Frenchmen and later captained the district against Great Britain in 1958. Walsh represented Country, NSW and Australia in 1959 - making his Test debut on the 1959-60 Kangaroo Tour and playing in all six Tests. A kidney complaint forced him to stand down from the World Cup competition in 1960 but after originally intending to miss Australia’s tour of NZ the following year, he was talked into going by St George Secretary Frank Facer and joined St George for 1962. Walsh had to prove himself with the premiers at first, starting the season in reserve grade after coming back from injury, but he quickly hit his straps and represented Australia in three Tests against Great Britain. Walsh took over as Australian Test captain on the 1963-64 Kangaroo tour after an injury to Arthur Summons and his leadership was paramount to Australia’s winning of the Ashes. Walsh also captained Australia against France at home in 1964 (he broke his arm for the second time against France in the First Test of the series) before assuming the mantle of Australian captain-coach on the tour of NZ in 1965. Under enormous pressure as Australian captain-coach in 1966 Australia successfully defended the Ashes against Great Britain. Walsh, who played in four grand final wins with St George (1962-63 & 1965-66), took over as captain-coach of the Dragons in 1966 and had the unenviable task of leading the champion club when its dominance finally came to an end with the loss to C’bury in the 1967 final. One of the great captains in Australia's rich league history Walsh took the defeat in sportsmanlike manner before announcing his retirement. He later coached P’matta to the semi-finals in 1971 and was a successful columnist in the Sydney press for two decades. In 1994 Walsh joined the NSW selection panel for a brief period. Autobiography, Inside Rugby League (1968).
- 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 %  
Tour Matches Western Division 2 - -   - - 0 1 1 0.00% List
Country Carnival 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Tour Matches Western New South Wales 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
City vs Country Firsts 8 - -   - - 4 4 0 50.00% List
Tour Matches NSW Colts 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Interstate Matches 17 1 -   - 3 13 3 1 76.47% List
Tour Matches New South Wales Firsts 7 1 -   - 3 3 4 0 42.86% List
Tour Matches Australia 34 3 1   - 11 23 11 0 67.65% List
Test Series 25 - 0   - - 15 10 0 60.00% List
The Ashes 12 - -   - - 6 6 0 50.00% List
Craven Mild Cup 22 - -   - - 15 7 0 68.18% List
NRL 94 4 -   - 12 73 19 2 77.66% List
Tour Matches Sydney Firsts 4 - -   - - 2 2 0 50.00% List
Tour Matches St George Dragons 2 - -   - - 1 1 0 50.00% List
NRL Finals 11 - -   - - 8 3 0 72.73% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1959-66 27 2 1   - 8 17 10 0 62.96% List

International Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1959-1961 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Western Division 1951-52, 1958 3 - -   - - 0 2 1 0.00% List
Western NSW 1955 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
NSW Country Seconds 1957 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
NSW Colts 1958 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Riverina/Western 1958 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
NSW Country Firsts 1958-61 5 - -   - - 1 4 0 20.00% List
NSW Firsts 1959-66 24 2 -   - 6 16 7 1 66.67% List
Sydney Firsts 1962-64, 1966 4 - -   - - 2 2 0 50.00% List
NSW City Firsts 1962-63, 1965-66 4 - -   - - 3 1 0 75.00% List
Overall1951-1966 44 2 0   0 6 22 20 2 50.00% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
St George NSWRFL 1962 16 - -   - - 13 3 0 81.25% List
St George NSWRFL 1963 18 1 -   - 3 16 2 0 88.89% List
St George NSWRFL 1964 3 - -   - - 1 2 0 33.33% List
St George NSWRFL 1965 17 3 -   - 9 15 2 0 88.24% List
St George NSWRFL 1966 18 - -   - - 13 4 1 72.22% List
St George NSWRFL 1967 22 - -   - - 15 6 1 68.18% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
St George 1962-67 94 4 -   - 12 73 19 2 77.66% List

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