Arthur Summons

Wests junior was graded by Gordon RU club in 1954. Summons played in 10 RU Tests as pivot (including those against five nations on the 1957-58 Wallaby and NZ tours) before changing codes to play for Wests. The Ryde teacher, who played most of his League career at halfback, made his debut for NSW and Australia in 1961 - the same year Wests lost the first of three consecutive grand finals to St George. In 1962 Summons played in all three Tests against Great Britain and captained Australia in the Third Test victory. In 1963-64 he was captain-coach of the Kangaroos that won the Ashes in England for the first time since 1911. Summons missed the Tests against Great Britain because of injury but returned to play in two Tests against France on the tour. (He holds the distinction of never being beaten in a Test in which he was captain.) In 1962-63, he employed tactics that almost led to the end of St George's reign as premiers. Based on Summons' plan to blot out the St George forwards with great defence and turn the backs around with a well-placed kicking game, Wests defeated the Dragons on three occasions in 1963. It almost worked again in the grand final but St George held out in the mud to win 8-3. As Summons embraced opposing captain Norm Provan after the match, the two were immortalised in John O'Gready's famous photo, 'The Gladiators'. Summons' part in that lasting image has been an encouragement to the underdog, the 'little big man', to strive to play his part in the game. In 1965 he took on the position of captain-coach of Wagga Magpies. A non-playing coach in Australia's losing Ashes series against Great Britain in 1970, he has spent the last thirty years in the Riverina district giving something back to the area that produced so many great players. Having been honoured along with Norm Provan in the original Winfield Cup Trophy, the two champions have again lent their image to the NRL premiership trophy and their names to the game’s best and fairest medal.