George Ambrum

Career Stats & Summary

Vital Statistics

Born
Wednesday, 10th February, 1943
Died
Wednesday, 10th December, 1986 (Aged 43 years and 303 days)
Place Of Birth
Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia

Known Family Links

Brother
John Ambrum

Biography

Nuggety Cairns (Queensland) centre was signed by Norths, along with older brother Johnny, after being recommended to the club by champion Aboriginal athlete and former Leeds footballer Wally McArthur in 1963. Ambrum spent several seasons in the lower grades before cementing a first grade spot as a winger in the late 1960s. The likeable Thursday Islander became a crowd favourite with Norths fans and spent a highly successful stint with Bradford Northern in 1967-68 (Ambrum captained the English club against the Kangaroos that winter). Despite not having played for City or NSW in 1972 Ambrum was selected for Australia as a winger in 1972’s Trans Tasman series. He earned the distinction of scoring a try with his first touch of the ball in international football – the first of a double in Australia’s 36-11 win in the First Test. Ambrum played in both Tests against NZ that year but a knee cartilage operation robbed him of the chance to play in the World Cup at year's end. After his Sydney career ended, Ambrum joined Cessnock in the Newcastle competition and won a premiership with the club in 1977. Sadly, he passed away while playing touch football at Cessnock in 1986 aged just 43.

- ALAN WHITICKER

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   FG Pts W L D Win %  
Tour Matches Australia 2 2 -   - 6 2 0 0 100.00% List
Test Series 2 2 -   - 6 2 0 0 100.00% List
NRL 7 54 -   1 164 3 3 1 42.86% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1972 2 2 -   - 6 2 0 0 100.00% List
Overall 1972 2 2 0   0 6 2 0 0 100.00% List


Club Career

Australian League Matches - By Year

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
North Sydney NSWRFL 1966 ? 6 -   - 18  
North Sydney NSWRFL 1967 ? 5 -   - 15  
North Sydney NSWRFL 1968 ? 3 -   1 11  
North Sydney NSWRFL 1969 ? 10 -   - 30  
North Sydney NSWRFL 1970 ? 6 -   - 18  
North Sydney NSWRFL 1971 ? 7 -   - 21  
North Sydney NSWRFL 1972 ? 14 -   - 42  
North Sydney NSWRFL 1973 ? 2 -   - 6  
North Sydney NSWRFL 1974 5 1 -   - 3 2 2 1 40.00% List
Overall 1966-1974 ? 54 0   1 164 ? ? ? ?  

Australian League Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
North Sydney 1966-74 ? 54 -   1 164 ? ? ? ?  
North Sydney 1974 5 1 -   - 3 2 2 1 40.00% List
Overall 1966-1974 ? 54 0   1 164 ? ? ? ?  

Your Say

Harry says: I had the privilege of meeting George when he came to Cessnock, a great person both on and off the field. (04/04/2012)

Kel Bendeich says: Gentleman George - Australian Legend (12/06/2012)

Trevor Delaney says: As you say George played for Bradford Northern in 1967/8 season and was a sensation on the left wing at Odsal appearing to run through opponents. I will try and get his records for that season from the club historian. I recently came across a photo of him leading the team out so it may be against the Australian tourists when he captained the side. I can send this as an attachment if you let me have your email. (16/09/2015)

Anonymous says: I meant George when he used to do the recycled paper run near my home when I was a kid he was such a nice person pity he went so quickly (02/08/2016)

Anonymous says: Tom Bain.....George was a great player and a great person. He was our hero and someone to look up to. He of course played for the North Sydney Bears (the team I still love). When I went to Mosman Highschool, North Sydney Bears supplied our football jumpers if changed from rugby union to rugby league for two seasons .We also got to see quite a few of the Norths players. They were good times. (13/06/2020)

Ron says: I was at SCG when George debuted for Australia- he actually scored tries with both his first two touches of ball. Don’t know how he scored his first try : I was standing as he received ball at pace and skirting touch line with three defenders coming across - I sat down figuring he was no chance yet his strength allowed him to stay within bounds yet still beat all defenders on the outside! (14/03/2021)

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