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Rugby league history: The all-time great alphabet teams – Letter P

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Roar Guru
13th June, 2019
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Continuing our search for the ultimate alphabet team, we turn now to the P Team.

This team has fully five hall of fame back rowers and a number of positions where great players missed out.

For the first time since I drafted these articles a player in 2019 has pushed his way into the team, and that man is Kalyn Ponga. There is only one other player who has pushed his way into a team in 2019, he is coming up much later and should be fairly easy to guess.

1. Kayln Ponga

Years active: 2016 – present
Clubs: North QLD, Newcastle
Representative career: QLD: 2

The No. 1 jersey was originally given to legendary Valleys and Queensland fullback Norm Pope. At the time I wrote that I expect at some point Kalyn Ponga would take this spot but couldn’t yet have it yet on the strength of one State of Origin.

Well, that didn’t take long. After a relatively slow start to 2019, once Ponga returned to his familiar fullback position and the magic started again. At the time of writing Ponga has seven tries and 116 points from only 11 games as Newcastle surge into the top four after a slow start. He also starred for Queensland in their win in State of Origin 1.

Ponga was earmarked as a superstar early on. After being eased into first grade by conservative Cowboys coach Paul Green (being given nine appearances in two years), the Cowboys did a ‘reverse Johnathan Thurston’, this time letting a superstar slip through their fingers. And Newcastle have a player to build a club around.

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With a beautiful swerve, dazzling footwork and a brilliant passing game, it appears Queensland may have stumbled on Darren Lockyer reborn.

So apologies to Norm Pope, but this kid is something else again. But given I already wrote the piece, here are a couple of facts on Norm Pope:

Pope was actually a Balmain junior in New South Wales but signed with Valleys in 1950 as an 18-year-old. He was the top pointscorer in the Brisbane competition six times. Pope captained the Diehards to premierships in 1955 and 1957 and they were runners-up a further four times.

Pope finished his career as the all-time top pointscorer in Brisbane rugby league history, a position he still holds. Other records to still stand are 330 points in a single season – including rep games – and 41 points in a single game.

In 1972 Pope actually made a brief playing comeback for Wests as a second-half replacement at 41 years old. At that time Pope was coaching the Panthers and apparently his decision to play was made in the heat of the moment as retribution for a back play incident on a Wests player in the first half. The opposing player did not finish that match.

From Greg Mallory’s book Voices of Brisbane Rugby League: “When you come to Norm Pope, be prepared to duck”.

Kalyn Ponga

Kalyn Ponga in State of Origin (Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

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2. Noel Pidding (goalkicker)

Years active: 1947-57
Clubs: St George, Maitland (NSW), Eastern Suburbs, Marton (NZ)
Club games (NSWRL): 127 (43 tries, 312 goals)
Representative career: Tests: 19. NSW: 20
Nickname: Rugby league’s Bradman

Noel Pidding was a pointscoring machine for St George and a member of their 1949 premiership side, scoring two tries each in the final and the grand final.

Pidding joined St George in 1947 as a fullback and by 1948 had made his state and national debut. Unfortunately his career coincided with Clive Churchill, so after missing out on the 1948 Kangaroo tour Pidding moved to the wing. It was in that position that he won the 1949 title, and by 1950 he was back in the national side against New Zealand and then France.

Pidding was a star of the 1952 Kangaroo tour, playing all five Tests and scoring 228 points on tour. In 1954 he set the record for points in a Test for Australia with 19 against Great Britain.

Other pointscoring feats in his career included being the first player from St George to score 200 points in a season and scoring a record 27 points for City against Country in 1950. He scored over 1500 across all career matches. Norm Provan described Pidding as the best winger he played with or against.

Pidding left St George to captain-coach his home town Maitland in 1954. After a year he returned to play two seasons for Easts before signing off with a season in NZ.

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3. Dick Poole

Honours: Newtown Team of the Century
Years active: 1950-60
Clubs: Newtown, Western Suburbs
Club games: 164 (59 tries)
Representative career: Tests: 13. NSW: 10

Dick Poole was a great centre and captain for Newton in the 1950s, leading them to a grand final in 1955, where they lost to South Sydney by a single point. Poole was also a member of the 1954 side that lost the grand final to Souths. He was captain-coach of the Bluebags for four seasons and also filled the same role for New South Wales in 1957.

For Australia Poole toured with the 1956 Kangaroos, playing six Tests, and he was captain-coach of Australia’s victorious 1957 World Cup squad. Poole had a perfect record of three wins from three games as captain. An Achilles injury in 1958 effectively ended his representative career.

Poole moved from Newton to Western Suburbs in 1959 and played two seasons with the Magpies.

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4. Cliff Pearce

Honours: West Magpies Team of the Century
Years active: 1929-40
Clubs: Tamworth (NSW), Western Suburbs, North Sydney
Club games (NSWRL): 84 (26 tries, 12 goals)
Representative career: Tests: 7, NSW: 28

Pearce was a talented centre who played in a strong Wests era when they won two premierships and were runners-up another time during the early 1930s. Wests made the finals in every year bar one from 1929 to 1935. Pearce was a member of the 1930 premiership-winning side, but a broken leg suffered on the 1933 Kangaroo tour ruled him out of the Magpies 1934 premiership.

That 1934 premiership was remarkable in that the Magpies had finished with the wooden spoon in 1933 and went from bottom to premiers in a single season. To be fair, the spoon was won while all Wests representative stars were unavailable and on a slow boat to England as part of the Kangaroo tour that year.

Pearce first represented New South Wales from Tamworth in 1928 before moving to Sydney, and he was a regular for his state until 1936. He played seven Tests, all against Great Britain, as a centre or wing, including three Tests on the 1933 Kangaroo tour. After the broken leg suffered on that tour Pearce never played for New South Wales or Australia again. In 1938 h3 left the Magpies and finished his career with North Sydney.

5. Bill Paten

Years active: 1918-28
Clubs: West End Starlights (Ipswich, QLD), Central QLD
Rep games: 53 (31 tries, 38 goals)
Representative career: Tests: 2, QLD: 42

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Bill Paten was a winger for Queensland and Australia during the sunshine state’s dominant period in interstate rugby league in the 1920s, and h3 was part of the first Queensland side to beat New South Wales, in 1922. He was the third player from Ipswich to represent Australia.

Paten played two Tests five years apart in 1919 against New Zealand and in 1924 in the home Ashes. His 42 matches for Queensland over 11 straight years included 21 against New South Wales for 14 wins, including eight in a row between 1922 and 1925. Paten was vital to Queensland’s first-ever win over the Blues in 1922, scoring a try and kicking five goals from six attempts. In all Paten won his first five series against NSW from 1922 to 1926 and six from seven over his career.

Paten once scored one hat-trick of tries against New South Wales as well as four in a match against a New Zealand XIII. Other notable matches included a draw between Queensland and South Sydney (the 1919 NSWRL premiers) in 1919 and a 25-10 defeat of Great Britain in 1924 in which Patten scored a try. Queensland repeated the dose in 1928, Paten’s last year representing his state.

Paten was also part of the 1925 Ipswich side that defeated both New Zealand and New South Wales in the same season. With Cecil Aynsley on one wing and Paten on the other and with Jim Craig directing traffic, Ipswich were a strong side in that era. During the 1920s Ipswich and Toowoomba were stronger than Brisbane, winning the first five Bulimba Cups – annual tournaments between the three representative sides – between them.

Paten was reportedly a great tackler, rated as one of the best by the noted journalist EE Christensen. He was nominated for the Queensland team of the century, although he didn’t make the final cut, and Mackay and District Rugby League’s best and fairest player award is named after him.

Patten also had staying power, living to 104 years old.

Steeden Rugby League Generic

(Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

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6. Tim Pickup

Honours: Order of Australia Medal, North Sydney Team of the Century.
Years active: 1970-79
Clubs: Blackpool Borough (UK), North Sydney, Canterbury
Club games (Australia): 99 (13 tries 2 goals)
Representative career: Tests: 11. NSW: 6

Tim Pickup was a rugby union player for Manly when he played some rugby league while in England on holiday. He also went to Woodstock, probably one of few rugby league players to be there, I would guess. He was Blackpool’s player of the season for two years and on his return to Australia was picked up by North Sydney.

Pickup was picked for both New South Wales and Australia in his debut year at the Bears and was Australia’s five-eighth for much of the next four years, including the 1973 Kangaroo tour. In a tougher international era Australia lost only one Test with Pickup in the side. Apart from one Test off the bench, he played all his matches at five-eighth. Pickup turned out for New South Wales six times and was pivot in 1975 when Queensland won their last interstate match before the State of Origin era.

North Sydney improved to mid-table but never made the finals while Pickup was there; however, he made such an impact he was their player of the year in 1973 and 1974 and was named in the club’s team of the century. Pickup then moved to Canterbury but suffered a serious knee injury in 1975 and missed the entire 1976 season. The club made the finals twice during his time but he retired in 1979 just as the young Bulldogs side was about to come of age.

Pickup was also the manager of Jeff ‘Hit Man’ Harding when he claimed the WBC world light-heavyweight title in 1989.

7. Scott Prince

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Honours: Dally M Halfback of the Year 2010, Clive Churchill Medal and Dally M Captain of the Year 2005.
Years active: 1998-2013
Clubs: North QLD, Brisbane, Wests Tigers, Gold Coast
Club games: 300 (67 tries, 389 goals, 8 field goals)
Representative career: Tests: 4. QLD: 5

Scott Prince captained Wests Tigers to their maiden premiership in 2005, winning man of the match in the grand final. Prior to that the Mt Isa junior – his uncle is local league legend Vern Daisy – had announced himself as a talented half in a struggling North Queensland side before enduring a troubled three-year stint in Brisbane blighted by injury where he played only 28 first grade games.

Prince left the Tigers in 2007 to become the inaugural captain of the Gold Coast Titans and played a large part in making the team competitive – reaching the finals in 2009 and 2010 – before finishing off with a final season at Brisbane. All up Prince played exactly 300 club games and scored over 1000 points. He still holds the pointscoring record for the Gold Coast.

On the representative front Prince had the misfortune to have a career overlapping Johnathan Thurston; however, he did manage a full State of Origin series in 2004 and two further appearances in 2008, replacing the injured Darren Lockyer and winning both games.

Prince also represented Australia four times, firstly in the 2005 Four Nations after his successful season with the Tigers and again in the 2008 World Cup. Prince scored three tries and kicked 14 goals in his Test appearances, including eight goals in a match against Great Britain.

Prince has written the Deadly D and Justice Jones book series for teenagers, in which the main character is a boy during the week and football legend for the Broncos on the weekend. It is obviously about the great man himself, Scott Minto.

Scott Prince celebrates

(Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

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8. Steven Price

Honours: 2007 All Golds Selection, Dally M Prop of the Year 2007, Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to rugby league
Years active: 1994-2009
Clubs: Canterbury, Auckland Warriors
Club games: 313 (35 tries)
Representative career: Tests: 16, QLD: 28
Roy and HG nicknames: Price Attack, The Keel

Steven Price was one of the most respected players of his era. One example of this was a young Johnathan Thurston giving his 2004 Bulldogs premiership ring to Price when the captain was ruled out of the grand final due to injury. A second was Price being invited by the New Zealand rugby league to follow in the footsteps of Dally Messenger and play for the All Golds against the Northern Union in their 2007 match to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the first rugby league tour.

Commitment and respect were the cornerstones of Price’s play for over 300 NRL games on both sides of the Tasman, whether it was taking the first hit up or his trademark efforts to charge down opposition kicks.

Apart from 2004, Price was involved in three other grand finals for the Bulldogs, winning in 1995. He was named as a reserve in the Bulldogs 70-year team of champions.

Playing for Queensland from 1998 to 2009, he saw his share of victory and heartbreak, including being one of many players dropped after Queensland’s infamously allowed 50 points through them in 2000, before becoming one of the cornerstones of a pack that gave the ‘future immortals’ space to create a State of Origin juggernaut.

On the international stage Price’s 16 Tests included touring with the 1998 Kangaroos, the 2005 Tri-Nations and being part of the 2008 World Cup squad.

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After ten years with the Bulldogs Price joined the New Zealand Warriors as captain and continued to give great service, including breaking the NRL record for most run metres in a season in 2007.

As a mark of his leadership qualities, Price was named Dally M captain of the year three times, twice at the Bulldogs and again at the Warriors.

9. Sid Pearce

Honours: ARL Hall of Fame, NSWRL Team of the Century, NSW Sports Hall of Fame
Years active: 1908-22
Clubs: Eastern Suburbs
All games: 286 (8 tries)
Representative career: Tests: 16, NSW: 32
Nicknames: Sandy, The Prince of Hookers

Sandy Pearce was Australia’s first great hooker and the grand old man of early rugby league.

Pearce played the first ever rugby league match in Australia – against the touring All Golds – and was part of the first great Easts team, winning a hat-trick of premierships from 1911 to 1913. He played 14 consecutive seasons with the club and was the first player in the competition to play 150 first-grade games. Pearce was named in Easts team of the century.

Pearce toured with the first Kangaroos in 1908-09, being one of only five players to play all three Tests. He declined to tour in 1911-12 for business reasons but toured again a decade later with the 1921-22 side – the only ‘original’ Kangaroo to do so – and played his last Test match at 38 years old. Pearce represented Australia in a home Ashes series on either side of World War I and was also involved in most of the other early representative games, including the Kangaroos versus Wallabies series and tours to and from New Zealand and New Zealand Maori. On retirement he was Australia’s most capped player.

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From Frank Burge: “Football has never had a gamer, rougher, tougher nor more loyal team player. Old Sandy, at hooker, was easily the best I have ever seen in the position…

“In the scrums Sandy would have those English hookers eating out of his hand. He would pack in with one arm loose, and as the ball came in he would whack the opposing hooker on the ear, then he would give them a twist, always getting the ball as it came in each time. Pearce had the strength of ten men…

“As part of his training he would spar two or three rounds with six or seven of us in succession, finishing each spar by allowing us to whale into his body with punches he made no attempt to block.”

10. Norm Potter

Years active: 1915-32
Clubs: Wests Brisbane (QLD), Ipswich (QLD), Maryborough (QLD), Rockhampton (QLD).
Representative career: Tests: 6, QLD: 44.

Norm Potter was an imposing prop forward or second rower during the successful Queensland era of the 1920s. Playing all his football in Queensland, Potter represented alongside hall of famers such as Duncan Thompson, Jim Craig, Tom Gorman, Vic Armbruster and Herb Steinohrt.

He was captain of the first Queensland side to ever win the interstate series against New South Wales and played and captained Queensland continuously between 1918 and 1927. In all Queensland won five from eight series with Potter in the team, including eight wins in a row at one point. Including various tour games Potter played as many as 53 games for his state.

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Potter played in two home Ashes series in 1920 and 1924 and toured New Zealand in 1919 and again with the 1921 Kangaroos.

Potter was also part of the strong Wests Brisbane side that won the premiership in 1916 and in 1920 went through the season undefeated to take the Brisbane flag (with Potter as captain). That year the club had four representatives in the Australian side. They went on to win another title undefeated in 1922 when Potter as a second rower topped the try-scoring table and scored doubles in the semi-final and grand final.

The club had also been heading towards a minor premiership in 1918 when it was docked two competition points for fielding an ineligible player – ex-Balmain star Albert ‘Ricketty’ Johnson, who was later to captain Australia. After losing an appeal and having their officials called street-corner cacklers by the QRL chairman, Wests quit the premiership in protest.

Potter went to Rockhampton in 1923 but by the mid-1920s he was captaining a strong Ipswich representative side that defeated New Zealand in 1925, won the Bulimba Cup in 1926 and defeated NSW in 1927. As late as 1932 Potter was still playing in Maryborough and captaining Wide Bay against the touring British Lions.

11. Norm Provan (captain)

Honours: rugby league Immortal, ARL Hall of Fame, ARL Team of the Century, NSWRL Team of the Century, Australia Sports Hall of Fame, NSW Sports Hall of Fame, NSWRL Player of the Year 1958, grand final man of the match 1957, 1958 and 1963.
Years active: 1951-65
Clubs: St George
All games: 351 (93 tries, 281 points)
Representative career: Tests: 18, NSW: 20
Nickname: Sticks

A ten-time premiership winner and Immortal. There is not a lot else to say really. The most successful player in New South Wales club rugby league history is captain of this side.

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The lanky second rower was a giant of the game for 15 years who as a leader captain-coached the Dragons in his last four grand final appearances. On top of the ten grand final victories Provan played in 15 consecutive finals series and holds the record for most appearances for St George.

At representative level Provan formed a formidable second-row partnership with Queenslander Kel O’Shea, who said of Provan: “One of the worst to play against, one of the best to play alongside”.

Provan toured with the 1956 Kangaroos and the following year was part of Australia’s winning World Cup side. Provan would have played many more Tests but business and personal commitments limited his appearances after declining to tour with the 1959 Kangaroos.

Norm’s brother Peter was also a fair player and they are the only brothers to each captain a premiership winning team – Peter captained Balmain to an upset victory over Souths in 1969.

Norm Provan

Norm Provan (Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

12. Sid ‘Joe’ Pearce

Honours: ARL Hall of Fame, Easts Team of the Century.
Years active: 1929-42
Clubs: Eastern Suburbs
All games: 241 (59 tries, 247 points)
Representative career: Tests: 13, NSW: 38.

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Sandy and Joe Pearce are one of only a few father-and-son combinations in this series. They were the first father-and-son combination to represent Australia.

Joe Pearce was a great ball playing second-rower for the Tri-colours during an era when they won four premierships in six years, including a hat-trick between 1935 and 1937. His huge hands and sure handling allowed him to palm off defenders while carrying the ball one-handed.

Pearce made two Kangaroo tours in 1933 and 1937, although the later trip was ruined by a broken leg suffered in a match in New Zealand on the way. His 13 Tests included a stint at five-eighth in the 1930 ‘Battle of Brisbane’, replacing the injured Eric Weissel.

Pearce played in every interstate series between 1930 and 1941.

13. Wally Prigg

Honours: Immortal nominee 2018, ARL Hall of Fame, NSWRL Team of the Century, NSW Country Team of the Century, NSW Sports Hall of Fame.
Years active: 1927-40
Clubs: Newcastle Wests, Central Charleston (Newcastle)
All games: 148 (51 tries)
Representative career: Tests: 19, NSW 34.

Was Wally Prigg the greatest country footballer of all time? A terrific defender, quick and a clever ball-player, Prigg was, before the arrival of John Raper, widely considered to be Australia’s greatest ever lock forward and he was the first player from Country New South Wales to captain Australia. He revolutionised lock forward play with his passing game, becoming the first of the ball playing style of lock forward.

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Prigg was the first player to tour three times with the Kangaroos, all by boat. He toured as a youngster in 1929, a superstar in 1933, where he scored the first rugby league try ever on French soil, and as the veteran captain in 1937. On that tour he captained Australia in their first ever Test against France. I bet this would have been an eye-opener for a Newcastle boy. From Australian Associated Press in 1938: “Australian captain, Wally Prigg was presented with a bouquet of flowers by rival captain, Camatan before kick-off, with Camatan kissing Prigg on each cheek.”

Prigg also toured New Zealand twice and in total spent over two years away from home with the Australian Team.

At state level Prigg represented New South Wales every year from 1929 to 1939, a highlight being 1935, when he scored a try in each of the five interstate games for the year, including a hat-trick in a losing cause in the fourth match. At the time of his retirement he held the record for most appearances for his country and his state.

At club level Prigg opted to spend his entire career in the Newcastle league, winning three premierships, and he held the record for most appearances for Combined Country. A highlight year was 1928 when a combined Newcastle team defeated both the St George and South Sydney, who were to be the minor premiers and premiers respectively that year. Such was his status in Newcastle that he was named Captain of the Newcastle team of the century ahead of Clive Churchill and Andrew Johns.

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14. Ray Price
Parramatta, Wakefield Trinity (UK); 1976–90; Tests: 22, NSW: 15; nickname: Mr Perpetual Motion
Lock. Order of Australia Medal, dual international, ARL hall of fame member, Australian sports hall of fame, two-time Kangaroo tourist, Dally M winner, Rothmans Medal winner, five-time Dally M lock of the year (all in a row), four-time premiership winner for the Eels and the weirdest set up for a penalty goal ever. The Eels made seven grand finals from his 11 years at the club.

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15. Wayne Pearce
Balmain; 1980–90; Tests: 19, NSW: 16; nickname: Junior
Lock. Order of Australia Medal, ARL hall of fame member, two-time Dally M lock of the year, Rothmans Medal winner, fitness fanatic, bringer of horse riding to New South Wales Origin camps and bringer of Mitchell Pearce to the world.

16. Corey Parker
Brisbane; 2001–16; Tests: 13. QLD: 19; nickname: Cozza
Another lock. Dally M lock of the year, Wally Lewis Medal 2015, over 340 matches for the Broncos, scoring over 1300 points.

17. Dean Pay
Canterbury, Parramatta; 1989-99; Tests: 10. NSW: 12
Front Row. Dally M prop of the year 1998, 1994 Kangaroo tourist and 1995 premiership winner.

Honourable mentions

There is almost another whole pack of great forwards who were unlucky to miss out, including Jim Paterson (second row; six Tests; North Queensland team of the century and captain when they beat New Zealand and Great Britain), Gary Parcell (prop; eight Tests), Greg Pierce (lock; eight Tests), Dr George Peponis (hooker; eight Tests) and Harry Pierce (second row; five Tests). In the backs you have John Peard (five-eighth; 8 Tests) and Dennis Pittard (five-eighth; five Tests).

And there you have the P Team. Amazing back row depth but maybe lacking some class in the backs. Next time we look at the Qs, and this one’s a challenge.

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