Bob 'Bolo' Boland

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Nickname(s)
Bolo
Born
Friday, 7th January, 1938
Current Age
86 years and 80 days
Place Of Birth
Balmain, New South Wales, Australia

Biography

One of the most durable, and underrated, forwards of the late 1950s and 1960s, the Balmain junior appeared in the club’s grand final losses to St George in 1964 and 1966. In the first of these games, Boland’s misdirected kick for touch resulted in the only try of the match to champion St George winger John King while in the latter, he played as stand-in hooker. Boland captained Balmain in the 9-8 win over Great Britain in 1966, the first time a Sydney club defeated a touring Lions team, but representative honours eluded him during a long career. In 1968 he was lured to Penrith by club secretary Merv Cartwright as the Panthers’ captain-coach and brought immediate success with a win in the final of the pre-season competition. Injury forced Boland into retirement in 1970 but he battled on as coach with limited resources until he was sacked during the early stages of the 1973 season.
- 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 201 13 -   10 59 103 92 6 51.24% List
NRL Finals 9 1 -   - 3 4 5 0 44.44% List
Craven Mild Cup 40 2 -   - 6 20 15 5 50.00% List
Tour Matches Balmain Tigers 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Sydney Firsts 1963 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
NSW City Seconds 1967 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Overall1963-1967 2 0 0   0 - 1 1 0 50.00% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Balmain NSWRFL 1957 14 - -   - - 8 6 0 57.14% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1958 2 - -   - - 1 1 0 50.00% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1960 11 3 -   - 9 6 5 0 54.55% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1961 18 1 -   - 3 10 8 0 55.56% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1962 18 3 -   - 9 5 11 2 27.78% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1963 19 1 -   - 3 12 7 0 63.16% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1964 20 1 -   - 3 13 7 0 65.00% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1965 18 1 -   - 3 10 7 1 55.56% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1966 20 - -   - - 13 7 0 65.00% List
Balmain NSWRFL 1967 17 - -   3 6 10 5 2 58.82% List
Penrith NSWRFL 1968 19 1 -   4 11 9 10 0 47.37% List
Penrith NSWRFL 1969 20 1 -   3 9 6 13 1 30.00% List
Penrith NSWRFL 1970 5 1 -   - 3 0 5 0 0.00% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Balmain 1957-58, 1960-67 157 10 -   3 36 88 64 5 56.05% List
Penrith 1968-70 44 3 -   7 23 15 28 1 34.09% List
Overall1957-1970 201 13 0   10 59 103 92 6 51.24% List

Your Say

  • LEO TUMETH
    16/11/2013

    THE BEST FORWARD TO EVER NOT GAIN REPRESENTATIVE HONOURS.A REAL BALMAIN LEGEND.THEY THREW AWAY THE MOULD WHEN BOLO RETIRED.

  • Cec Quinnell
    19/06/2017

    A fair dinkum Tiger. How I wish the game was being played the same way as it was when Bob was running around. How many of todays "Stars" would have lasted the distance back then?

  • Anonymous
    17/07/2020

    I was a young Panthers fan back in their early years. We had Laurie Fagan, Bobby Mara and Bob Boland, all ex Balmain players. There was a great relationship between players and fans when both teams met in those days. One of the greatest games was in 1968 with a see-sawing game with Bobby Mara kicking his one and only career field goal to win the game. Bob Boland, an absolute legend for the Tigers and the Panthers.

  • Greg Horne
    07/06/2023

    I was in my last year at school in 1968. I was At Penrith park that Sunday
    Penrith turned out with Bolo. George piper Ron clothier in the forward s. Laurie Fagan and Bobby Mara all ex tigers a great game and Bobby Mara kicked the winning field goal

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Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Greg Fiveash, Shawn Dollin, Alan Katzmann, Andrew Ferguson, Paul Carter, Max Turner