Jim 'Big Jim' Armstrong

  • Playing Career

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Full Name
James Michael Armstrong
Nickname(s)
Big Jim
Born
Saturday, 14th July, 1917
Died
Wednesday, 8th July, 1981 (Aged 63 years and 359 days)
Place Of Birth
Albury, New South Wales, Australia

Biography

Souths prop Jim Armstrong, originally from the Riverina area, was also a champion heavyweight wrestler. Armstrong came to Sydney to join the police force in 1938 and learned to wrestle as a cadet. Playing for Souths from 1939 he did not make his rep debut until after World War II. Armstrong played for NSW in 1946 and his sole Test appearance came in the third and deciding Test against Great Britain in the 1946 Ashes series. Australia lost the match 20-7, with Armstrong retaining his amateur status to continue his wrestling career. Armstrong retired as a player at the end of 1947 to train for the 1948 Olympics. He won the broNZe medal in London and the gold medal at the 1950 Empire Games in Auckland. ‘Big Jim’ Armstrong was seven times Australian champion and was undefeated NSW champion for 23 years. He was also a silver medalist in the 1962 Commonwealth Games -14 years after his first Olympics.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Additional Notes

Was also an Amateur Wrester who won bronze at the 1948 London Olympics and Gold at the 1950 Empire Games. He was the Undefeated Australian Amateur Wrestling Champion for 23 years. He won a silver medal at the 1962 Commonwealth games, 14 years after his Olympic Bronze medal!

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 %  
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) 83 28 4   - 92 30 51 2 36.14% List
City Cup 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
City vs Country Firsts 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
NSWRFL Finals 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Interstate Matches 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
Tour Matches Australia 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Test Series 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
The Ashes 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1946 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NSW City Seconds 1939 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
Police 1942 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
Metropolis 1944 1 1 -   - 3 1 0 0 100.00% List
Rest of NSW Firsts 1944 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
NSW City Firsts 1944, 1946 2 - -   - - 2 0 0 100.00% List
Sydney Firsts 1945 1 - 1   - 2 0 1 0 0.00% List
NSW Firsts 1946 2 - -   - - 2 0 0 100.00% List
Overall1939-1946 9 1 1   0 5 8 1 0 88.89% List


Club Career

NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
South Sydney NSWRFL 1939 9 1 1   - 5 5 4 0 55.56% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1940 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1941 2 - -   - - 0 2 0 0.00% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1942 14 3 -   - 9 7 6 1 50.00% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1943 14 6 1   - 20 8 6 0 57.14% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1944 15 10 2   - 34 7 7 1 46.67% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1945 11 3 -   - 9 0 11 0 0.00% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1946 10 4 -   - 12 0 10 0 0.00% List
South Sydney NSWRFL 1947 7 1 -   - 3 3 4 0 42.86% List

NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
South Sydney 1939-47 83 28 4   - 92 30 51 2 36.14% List

Your Say

  • Cav
    13/11/2015

    Jim threw a drunken Bumper Farrell out of the Newtown Police Boys Club in the fifties.

  • Ian Baloglow
    29/08/2020

    Jim Armstrong was a gentleman, big and strong. I am proud to say that Jim was in my corner when I fought for the middleweight in 1975 Australian Championships and the Aust. trials for the 1976 Olympic games in Wrestling. I won gold in both years and having Jim in my corner was great! (Injury and politics prevented me from competing in the Olympics.) RIP Jim.

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

Sources: 2006 Official Rugby League Annual