George Piggins

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Full Name
George Leslie Piggins
Born
Saturday, 14th October, 1944
Current Age
80 years and 61 days

Honours & Awards

Based only on data available in the RLP database. This information should be used as a guide only.

World Cup
1975
Interstate Series
1974, 1976
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL)
1967, 1968, 1970, 1971
Preseason Cup
1978
Dally M Coach Of The Year
1986, 1989
National Rugby League Hall Of Fame
2023

Known Family Links

Nephew
Braith Anasta

Biography

Tough hooker brought the same brand of resilience to the Souths club as coach, and later club president, that he did as a player. Piggins was understudy to international Test rake Elwyn Walters for several seasons but was called up into Souths' grand final team in 1971. Piggins produced a ‘blinder’ - turning defence into attack with his raking back of the ball in the rucks and stealing yard after yard with his determined bursts. While Souths lost a galaxy of stars to other clubs in the 1970s Piggins remained and proved to be a tenacious opponent in any match he played. His try against Wests in a club match in 1975 was characteristic of the courage with which he played; Piggins beat man after man with a determined, bullocking run and crashed over beside the posts. He represented NSW (against Queensland and Great Britain) in 1974 but received his highest honour with selection for Australia in a World Series match against NZ the following year. Piggins was under a fitness cloud before the match but he was not to be denied his ‘green and gold’ jersey. After his retirement Piggins led a Souths’ revival during the 1980s ('Dally M' Coach of the Year in 1986 and1989), culminating in the club’s minor premiership success in 1989. Unfortunately the club was ravaged by financial and internal problems in 1990 and finished last. Piggins resigned as coach, but as football club chairman during the embattled 1990s fought hard to keep the Rabbitohs in the premiership before the newly formed NRL excluded the club from the 2000 premiership. Piggins then led a two-year, public campaign to have the club reinstated in the premiership. Souths’ appeal victory in July 2001 was due largely to his efforts and perseverance - few men in the history of the game have shown such single-mindedness in pursuit of a principle. In 2002-03, Piggins fought internal politics that led to his sacking of Souths’ CEO Paul Dunn and coach Craig Coleman before surviving a move by rebel Board members to oust him from the club Board. However, the arrival of the Peter Holmes a Court-Russell Crowe consortium and the acceptance by members of their plan to revitalize the club, saw the end of Piggins’ involvement in the club. Autobiography, Never Say Die (2002).
- 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   Comp Wins App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
World Cup 1 3 - -   - - 2 1 0 66.67% List
Tour Matches New South Wales Firsts - 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
Tour Matches Australia - 3 - -   - - 2 1 0 66.67% List
Interstate Series 2 2 - -   - - 2 0 0 100.00% List
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) 4 120 6 -   - 18 51 66 3 42.50% List
NSWRFL Finals - 3 - -   - - 2 1 0 66.67% List
Preseason Cup 1 11 - -   - - 7 4 0 63.64% List
Midweek Cup - 3 - -   - - 2 1 0 66.67% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1975   3 - -   - - 2 1 0 66.67% List

World Cup Matches - By Team

Team Years   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1975   3 - -   - - 2 1 0 66.67% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NSW City Seconds 1974-75   2 - -   - - 2 0 0 100.00% List
NSW Firsts 1974, 1976   3 - -   - - 3 0 0 100.00% List
Overall1974-1976   5 0 0   0 - 5 0 0 100.00% List


Club Career

NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Year

Team Season   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
South Sydney NSWRFL 1967   16 - -   - - 11 5 0 68.75% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1968   3 - -   - - 1 2 0 33.33% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1969   3 - -   - - 2 1 0 66.67% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1970   3 - -   - - 0 2 1 0.00% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1971   10 - -   - - 6 4 0 60.00% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1972   5 2 -   - 6 2 3 0 40.00% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1973   16 - -   - - 8 7 1 50.00% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1974   17 1 -   - 3 9 7 1 52.94% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1975   15 - -   - - 4 11 0 26.67% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1976   18 2 -   - 6 7 11 0 38.89% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1977   11 1 -   - 3 1 10 0 9.09% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1978   3 - -   - - 0 3 0 0.00% List

NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Team

Team Years   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
South Sydney 1967-78   120 6 -   - 18 51 66 3 42.50% List

Your Say

  • Andrew
    20/02/2022

    Barging try was v Wests in 1976

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Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Greg Fiveash, Paul Carter, Shawn Dollin, Alan Katzmann, Max Turner, Tony McCarron, Wests Archives, AJ Lucantonio