Harry Bath
Encyclopedia
Harry Bath was an Australian rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 footballer and coach who rose to prominence in the mid-Twentieth Century. A state and international representative who played 12 matches for Other Nationalities
Other Nationalities rugby league team
The Other Nationalities rugby league team regularly played international, and also county, rugby league football teams in Europe from 1904 to 1975. The team, created in 1904 to play England in the first ever rugby league international match, was at first made up of Welsh and Scottish players...

 in the International Championship from 1949–1955, he played at Second-row forward and has been referred to as the best Australian rugby league player never to be picked for the Australian national team. Following his retirement, Bath coached in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership for two decades, also achieving selection as the Australian national team coach.

Club career

Bath, to be known late in his career as 'the Old Fox', was graded as a sixteen year old to play for the Brisbane club Southern Suburbs in 1940. After six years with the club, including selection to represent Queensland, he moved to Sydney to play for the Balmain
Balmain Tigers
The Balmain Tigers are a rugby league football club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful in the history of the premiership, with eleven titles...

 club in New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1946
New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1946
The 1946 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the thirty-ninth season of Sydney's top-level rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season which culminated in the Balmain club's victory over St...

. In his first season for Balmain, Bath helped his side reach the Grand Final in which they defeated St. George
St. George Dragons
The St George Dragons was an Australian Rugby league football club in St George, Sydney, New South Wales that played in Australia's top-level Rugby league competition from New South Wales Rugby Football League in 1921 until 1998; in 1999 they formed a joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers,...

 13–12. He was also selected to play for Australia against a touring England side that year but injured his leg in a club match and was prevented from playing in any of the three tests. A year later he again helped Balmain reach their second Grand Final appearance and a 13–9 victory over the Canterbury-Bankstown club.

Harry Bath then accepted an offer to play in England for Barrow
Barrow Raiders
Barrow Raiders are an English professional rugby league team from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, who are coached by Dave Clark. Formed in 1875 as Barrow Football Club, the club is the oldest of the current professional sports teams in Cumbria....

. The forward only stayed at Barrow for six months before being signed by Warrington
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

. He spent a total of nine seasons with Warrington, playing 346 games for the club. In the legendary 1953–54 Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....

 final replay he captained Warrington to victory in front of a record crowd of over 102,569 people. Bath's reputation as a skillful ball-player and a great goal-kicker grew while playing in England. He scored over 700 goals in his career, including 173 goals in 1952–53 when he was the season's leading goal kicker.

Bath returned to Australia in 1957 and joined St. George
St. George Dragons
The St George Dragons was an Australian Rugby league football club in St George, Sydney, New South Wales that played in Australia's top-level Rugby league competition from New South Wales Rugby Football League in 1921 until 1998; in 1999 they formed a joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers,...

 after his former club Balmain decided against a signing due to his age of 33. In the 1957 NSWRFL season St. George were premiers, winning the Grand Final against Manly-Warringah
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia...

 31–9.

He was the leading point scorer in the competition in 1958 scoring a season club record of 225 points (3 tries, 108 goals). His 16 point tally in the Grand Final has never been equalled. In 1958 St. George again made it to the Grand Final this time defeating Western Suburbs
Western Suburbs Magpies
The Western Suburbs Magpies are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly referred to, were one of the nine foundation clubs of the first New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia...

 20–9. Bath again topped the season's point scoring table, totalling 211 points. The following season St. George again won the premiership with a 20–0 Grand Final defeat of Manly. Bath was sent off in the Grand Final for fighting with Manly's Rex Mossop
Rex Mossop
Rex Peers Mossop was an Australian rugby league and rugby union footballer—a dual-code international, and an Australian television personality from 1964 until 1991.-Rugby union career:...

. He decided to hang up his boots at the end of 1959 at the age of 35.

Representative career

He represented for Queensland
Queensland rugby league team
The Queensland rugby league team have represented the Australian state of Queensland in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1908...

 in 1945 and for New South Wales Blues
New South Wales Rugby League team
The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against arch-rivals, the...

 in 1946 after one Sydney season. In the 1946 fixture for NSW against the touring Great Britain
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....

 side he badly injured his leg and so was unavailable for Australian
Australian national rugby league team
The Australian national rugby league team have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League, the Kangaroos' are ranked number one in the RLIF World Rankings...

 Test selection a week later.

He played for the British Empire XIII
British Empire XIII rugby league team
The British Empire XIII rugby league team was a rugby league football team in Europe that represented the Empire of Britain at the time.-External sources:* Programme from game versus New Zealand 1952* British Pathe news footage...

 versus New Zealand
New Zealand national rugby league team
The New Zealand national rugby league team has represented New Zealand in rugby league football since intercontinental competition began for the sport in 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name...

 on Wednesday 23/1/1952 at Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...

.

It has been suggested that Bath was punished by the Australian selectors for the ten years he spent in the English league. However he was 33 years old when he returned to Australia for his final three seasons and he was then competing for a representative position against star players Norm Provan
Norm Provan
Norm "Sticks" Provan is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. A giant of a man, he was a second-row forward with the St. George Dragons during their 11-year consecutive premiership-winning run from 1956 to 1966...

 and Rex Mossop
Rex Mossop
Rex Peers Mossop was an Australian rugby league and rugby union footballer—a dual-code international, and an Australian television personality from 1964 until 1991.-Rugby union career:...

.

Coaching career

Bath then took up a career in rugby league coaching and joined the inaugural NSWRL
New South Wales Rugby League
The New South Wales Rugby League is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and is a member of the Australian Rugby League. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League until 1984 when forward thinking marketing managers decided...

 coaching panel in 1961. He was selected manager, coach and as the sole selector for the Australian national team's 1962 Ashes
Rugby League Ashes
The Ashes is the name given to the trophy awarded to the winner of a best-of-three series of rugby league football test series between Great Britain and Australia...

 series.

Bath's greatest achievement in coaching the national side was leading the Kangaroos to World Cup
Rugby League World Cup
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by members of the Rugby League International Federation . It has been held nearly once every 4 years on average since its inaugural tournament in France in 1954...

 glory in the 1968
1968 Rugby League World Cup
- Final standings :-Final:The final had been billed a 'debacle' following Great Britain's inexplicable loss to France in Auckland, leaving them to contest the final despite being beaten by Australia seven tries to none two days prior....

 and 1970
1970 Rugby League World Cup
The fifth Rugby League World Cup was held in Great Britain in 1970. Britain, fresh from defeating Australia in the Ashes, were hot favourites, and won all three of their group stage games. All the other nations lost two games each, and Australia qualified for the final largely on the back of an...

 World Cups. He also coached the team on tours of New Zealand in 1969 and 1971. He coached the national side in the 1972 World Cup
1972 Rugby League World Cup
The sixth Rugby League World Cup was held in France in October and November of 1972. Australia started as the favourites to retain the trophy they had won just two years previously. New Zealand had beaten all three of the other nations in 1971 and France were expected to be tough opponents on their...

 in which they lost to Great Britain in controversial circumstances. The World Cup final was tied at 10–10 after full time and was still locked after extra time. Great Britain were awarded the victory due to a higher points table placing after the pool rounds of the competition.

Harry Bath also took the coaching helm at his former club Balmain. He guided them to Grand Final appearances in 1964 and 1966 both lost against St. George 6–11 and 4–23 respectively. He also coached Newtown
Newtown Jets
The Newtown Jets are an Australian rugby league football club based in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west. They currently compete in the NSWRL Premier League competition, having left the top grade after the 1983 NSWRFL season...

 between 1969 and 1972.

He came out of retirement to coach his other former club St. George to premiership success in 1977. The Grand Final against Parramatta
Parramatta Eels
The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, with their First Grade side playing their first season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League...

 was drawn 9–9 but St. George won the replay 22–0. He again coached the Dragons to premiership success in 1979 after their 17–13 Grand Final victory over Canterbury. His side was nicknamed 'Bath's Babes'. He retired from Rugby League coaching in 1981.

Hall of Fame

Bath is the only player to have won a premiership in every season of his Sydney first-grade career (1946 and 1947 with Balmain and 1957–1959 with St. George). His eight goals from eight attempts in the 1957 Grand Final is the standing record for the most goals in a grand final and the most number of points scored in a grand final (16).

He holds two places in the record of top pointscorers in one season by position. His 205 points scored in 1959 are the most ever scored by a prop-forward in a season and the 225 points of 1958 stands as the most ever scored by a second-rower in a season.

Harry Bath was recognised in 2004 for his outstanding achievements in playing and coaching rugby league when was inducted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame
Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame
The Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame honors players who have shown exceptional skill at rugby league, all-time great coaches and referees, and other major contributors to the game who are Australian...

.

In February 2008, Bath was named in a list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...

 and ARL
Australian Rugby League
The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...

 to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.

Death

Bath died after a long illness on 4 October 2008 aged 83. "Harry's loss will be felt by many within the game", NRL boss David Gallop
David Gallop
David Gallop is an Australian sports administrator who has been the Chief Executive Officer of the National Rugby League since February 2002. He has also been the Secretary of the Rugby League International Federation since its inception in 1998.-Early life:...

 said. "He is one of the few people to have a distinguished career as both a player and a coach."

External links

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