Dick Thornett

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Dick Thornett
Player information
Full name Richard Norman Thornett
birthday September 23, 1940
place of birth Sydney , New South Wales , Australia
date of death October 12, 2011
Place of death Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Nickname "Thick"
society
society Career ended
position Second row striker , second row striker
Clubs as active
Years society Games (points)
1961-62 Randwick DRUFC ()
1963-71 Parramatta Eels 160 (173)
1972 Sydney Roosters 9 (3)
Provinces as active
Years province Games (points)
1963-69 New South Wales 13 (21)
Coaching stations
Years Association / Province / Franchise
1961-62 Australia (rugby union) 11 (6)
1963-68 Australia (rugby league) 11 (3)

Richard Norman "Dick" Thornett (born September 23, 1940 in Sydney ; † October 12, 2011 ibid) was an Australian water polo , rugby league and rugby union player.

For Australia, Thornett was part of the water polo selection at the 1960 Olympic tournament , was forward of the Wallabies , the rugby union selection and the Kangaroos , the rugby league selection . He is one of only five Australians to have become national players in their home country in three sports . As a rugby player with a weight of just over 100 kg he was a feared player in the jerk and despite the same a fast and clever ball carrier.

Water polo

Thornett played for the water polo club of the Sydney suburb of Bronte and 1959/60 for the selection of New South Wales . He was so successful that he was appointed to the squad of the Australian national team in 1960. At the Olympic water polo tournament in 1960 he was used in two preliminary round matches, against South Africa and Yugoslavia . However, both games were lost. Because of the great expense for the Olympic Games, his rugby career suffered in 1960. After the Olympic tournament, he only played water polo for two more years, because he concentrated on rugby and this did not leave enough time for water sports.

Rugby union

Thornett began at school with rugby, in 1958 he played for the first time at the age of 17 in the men's team of the Randwick DRUFC . He started as a back rower , later and in the national team but more often as a lock . For the Wallabies he made his debut on June 10, 1961 against Fiji . In total he played in eleven games in 1961/62, in which he was able to achieve two attempts.

Rugby league

Because of his performances in rugby union, some rugby league clubs became aware of Thornett. At an offer from his brother Ken's club, the Parramatta Eels from Sydney, he became a rugby professional in early 1963 and switched to the league code. For the Eels he played 168 times in nine seasons. He also quickly made a name for himself as a league second row player and was used for the Kangaroos in two games against South Africa in the summer of the same year . By 1968 he was used in a total of 14 tests for his home country, including three times at the Rugby League World Cup in 1968 , where he became world champion.

His two older brothers Ken and John were also successful national rugby players; Ken in rugby league, John in rugby union. Dick Thornett played some international matches with both of them.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sporting legend Thornett dies ( Memento of the original from April 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.theleader.com.au
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Dick Thornett. In: http://www.menofleague.com/ . Men of League Foundation, archived from the original on July 24, 2008 ; Retrieved September 3, 2009 .
  3. ↑ Toby Creswell, Samantha Trenoweth: 1001 Australians You Should Know. , Pluto Press 2006, ISBN 1864033614 , p. 715.
  4. ^ A b c d e Dick Thornett - Rugby Union, Rugby League, Water Polo. The Sport Australia Hall of Fame, 2007, accessed September 3, 2009 .
  5. ↑ a b scrum database: Entry on Dick Thornett. ESPN , accessed September 3, 2009 .
personal data
SURNAME Thornett, Dick
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thornett, Richard Norman
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian rugby union, rugby league and water polo player
DATE OF BIRTH September 23, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Sydney
DATE OF DEATH October 12, 2011
Place of death Sydney