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HallOfFame

Harry Bath

Second row, Prop

Player Bio

Inducted:
2008
Date of Birth:
28 November 1924
Birthplace:
Brisbane, QLD
Nickname:
-
Debut Team:
Southern Suburbs
Date:
13 June 1942
Opposition:
Past Brothers
Venue:
Oxenham Park, Nundah
Representative:
Brisbane, City, Queensland, New South Wales, Other Nationalities
Clubs:
Brisbane Souths, Balmain, Barrow, Warrington, St George

Career

Milestones

  • Premierships: 1945-47, 1957-59
  • Challenge Cups: 1950, 1954
  • Championship Titles: 1948, 1954-55
  • Rated No. 30 in Rugby League Week’s Top 100 players: 1992

Playing

First Class Games
541
Points
2617
Tries
137

Biography

If a list was compiled of the best players never to wear the green and gold jersey, Harry Bath's name would invariably feature at or very near the top. Bath spent the best years of his career in England, most of them with the Warrington club in Lancashire, where he enjoyed resounding success.

He played almost 350 games in the top flight, won Challenge Cup titles, Championships and countless other honours.

More significantly, Bath developed into one of the game's most skilled ball-playing second-rowers. He was also a goalkicker of outstanding repute and earned international recognition with Other Nationalities.

Bath left Brisbane for Sydney in 1946, to join Balmain and featured in premiership-winning teams in successive seasons. He played 10 years in England before returning to Australia at the age of 33.

With Bath sharing the knowledge he'd acquired in a decade of British football, St George won the second, third and fourth premierships in their 11-year run.

And his brilliant goalkicking contributed more than 200 points in both 1958 and 1959. He thus had a perfect record of five premierships in five seasons in Sydney football.

Bath turned to coaching after his career wound up in 1959 and he spent the next 20 years inspiring success at both club and representative level. He took St George to premierships in 1977 and 1979 and steered Australia to a World Cup victory at home in 1968.

Club landmarks: Won Brisbane premiership with Souths 1945; Won premierships with Balmain 1946–47; Won Challenge Cup with Warrington 1950; Captained Warrington to Challenge Cup win 1954; Won premierships with St George 1957–59; Holds St George record for most points in a season, 225.

"The greatest forward never to play for Australia”.

Ian Heads A Centenary of Rugby League

40. Harry Bath - Hall of Fame

Career Stats

Club Career

Club
Team Name Competition Year Start Year End Played Tries Goals Field Goals Points
Southern Suburbs Brisbane Brisbane Club Competition 1942 1945 39 11 22 - 77
Southern Suburbs Brisbane Official Pre-Season 1943 1945 8 2 3 - 12
Southern Suburbs Brisbane One-round Competition 1943 1944 9 3 3 - 15
Balmain Premiership 1946 1947 30 11 - - 33
Barrow England First Class Games 1947 1948 18 3 3 - 15
Warrington England First Class Games 1948 1957 346 90 812 - 1,894
St George Dragons Premiership 1957 1959 60 10 240 - 510

Representative Career

City - Country

City - Country
Team Name Opponent Year Start Year End Played Tries Goals Field Goals Points
City Firsts Country Firsts
1946
1957
1946
1957
2 1 - - 3
City Seconds Country Seconds 1947 1947 1 - - - -

Intercity

Intercity
Team Name Competition Opponent Year Start Year End Played Tries Goals Field Goals Points
Brisbane 1944 1945 8 - 1 - 2

State

State
Team Name Competition Opponent Year Start Year End Played Tries Goals Field Goals Points
Queensland Interstate Series New South Wales 1945 1945 2 1 - - 3
Queensland The Rest 1945 1945 1 - - - -
New South Wales Interstate Series Queensland 1946 1947 3 3 - - 9
New South Wales Touring Teams 1946 1946 1 - - - -

Other Representative

Other Representative
Team Name Opponent Year Start Year End Played Tries Goals Field Goals Points
Other Nationalities 1949 1955 12 2 16 - 38
South Queensland Combined Forces 1944 1944 1 - 3 - 6

Hall of Fame Members

Acknowledgement of Country

National Rugby League respects and honours the Traditional Custodians of the land and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the lands we meet, gather and play on.

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