Ken Irvine
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Full name | Kenneth John Irvine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Cremorne, New South Wales, Australia | 5 March 1940||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 22 December 1990 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | (aged 50)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 12 st 4 lb (78 kg)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Wing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kenneth John Irvine (5 March 1940 – 22 December 1990),
Irvine played his club football for the
Early life
Born in
Playing career
North Sydney Bears
Making his debut for the club on the wing in
In 1961, Irvine showcased his speed at a specially-arranged event specifically in an attempt to break professional world record over 100 yards. Irvine won the event and equaled the record of 9.3 seconds. During the same event he would also win the 120-yard Dubbo Gift after starting a yard behind scratch, again displaying his much-publicised speed. [citation needed]
Irvine's speed was such that he is still considered by many to be the fastest player ever to lace on a boot, and is favorably compared against other noted rugby league speedsters such as Johnny Bliss, Michael Cleary (a 1962 Commonwealth Games 100 yards Bronze Medallist who beat Irvine in a A£2,000 match race at Sydney's Wentworth Park in 1964), Martin Offiah and Darren Albert.
In total, Ken Irvine was selected for three
Ken Irvine was involved in one of the most talked about and controversial passages of play in rugby league test match history in 1962. In the third Ashes test against Great Britain at the Sydney Cricket Ground, referee Darcy Lawler awarded a try to Irvine late in the game, ignoring a forward pass from Bill Carson amid howls of protest from Lions players. Australian captain Arthur Summons then gave him the goal kicking duties leaving him with a sideline conversion. As he lined the ball up for the kick, Lawler allegedly gave Irvine some 'advice' about how the ball was placed, telling him that he would miss the kick if he didn't line the ball correctly (Irvine denied this in his memoirs, though Lawler maintained until his death in 2004 that it was true). Irvine then moved in and re-adjusted the ball, walked back to his mark and kicked the goal. The goal gave Australia a 17–16 win and in doing so saw to it that they avoided losing the series 3–0 to the tourists after the Lions had won the first test 31–12 in Sydney and the second 17–10 at Lang Park in Brisbane.[10]
Irvine's Test career ended in 1968 when he suffered a broken leg against in the first test against France on the 1967-68 Kangaroo tour at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, ruling him out for much of the 1969 NSWRFL season.
Irvine had the honour of captaining the Bears on occasions, although he infamously threatened to lead his team off in protest of referee Keith Page during a 1970 match against Canterbury-Bankstown at Belmore Sports Ground (Norths won the game 9–8). He would go on to make 176 appearances for the side, scoring 171 tries. His stint with the Bears ended at the end of 1970 after disagreements with head coach Roy Francis. Ken Arthurson who was the club secretary at Manly spoke to the media in 2016 and talked about Irvine's defection to The Northern Beaches club saying "I asked Ken if he had given careful thought about the reprecussions if he left Norths, I said you are a legend there and you are sacrificing so much, I won't be happy until you have given it a lot of deep thought and talked it over with your family". Irvine reportedly replied that he had burnt his bridges at Norths and there was no going back.[11]
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Irvine was quickly signed by Manly club secretary
Ken Irvine retired after the 1973 Grand Final win over Cronulla, becoming the first player to score 200 tries in NSWRFL Premiership history. As of January 2024 Irvine holds the record for tries scored in the premiership (212) in front of Billy Slater (190), Alex Johnston (187), Steve Menzies (180), Brett Morris (176)
Records and statistics
Irvine's 212 career tries is the standing NSWRL/NRL career record for the most first grade tries. This tally was achieved in only 236 first grade games and is 22 tries clear of his nearest rival in the rankings:
Irvine's 33 tries for Australia was eclipsed by Darren Lockyer during the
Point scoring summary
Games | Tries | Goals | F/G | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
236 | 212 | 70 | 1 | 778 |
(Note – the above total represents points the total for points at the value they were during Irvine's playing days. Since his retirement, field goals have been reduced from two points to one while tries have increased from three points to four. Adjusted for 2016 figures, Ken Irvine would have scored 989 points in club football)
Career statistics
Team | Matches | Tries | Goals | Field Goals |
Points | Years |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
North Sydney | 176 | 171 | 59 | 1 | 633 | 1958–1970 |
New South Wales | 24 | 30 | 4 | – | 98 | 1959–1967 |
Australia |
31 | 33 | 11 | – | 121 | 1959–1967 |
NSW City | 8 | 7 | – | – | 21 | 1960–1967 |
Manly-Warringah |
60 | 41 | 11 | – | 145 | 1971–1973 |
Total | 299 | 282 | 85 | 1 | 1,018 | 1958–1973 |
Post-playing
Irvine was diagnosed with
Accolades
Irvine was inducted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2004.[12] In August, 2006 he was named at winger in the North Sydney Bears' Team of the Century.
In 2006 Ken Irvine was named on the wing for the Manly Sea Eagles Dream Team to celebrate the club's 60th anniversary. The team, selected by a panel of selectors which featured former Manly-Warringah administrator Ken Arthurson, respected rugby league writer Ian Heads, the club Chairman Kerry Sibraa and journalist Phil Rothfield, included six of Irvine's teammates from the 1972 and 1973 premiership teams.
In 2007 Irvine was selected by a panel of experts as a winger in an Australian 'Team of the 50s'.[13]
In February 2008, Irvine was named in the list of Australia's
Irvine set the world professional sprint record for 100 yards in 1963, running 100 yards (91 m) in 9.3 seconds at Dubbo. He is the only rugby league player to hold a world professional sprint record.[4]
In 2018, the award for the NRL's top tryscorer for the season was named the
References
- ^ a b "1960 World Cup Match". i.ebayimg.com. ebay. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ Rugby League Project
- ^ Yesterday's Hero
- ^ a b c d
Moore, Andrew. "Irvine, Kenneth John (Ken) (1940–1990)". ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
- ^ "Ken Irvine". Hall of Fame. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
- ^ Century's Top 100 Players Archived 25 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ France vs Australia 1959
- ^ 1963 Ashes series 2nd Test
- ^ 1963 2nd Test Highlights
- ^ Ken Irvine Tribute
- ^ "How 'The Godfather' Ken Arthurson built a Manly dynasty". 24 March 2016.
- ^ Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame Archived 18 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ AAP (1 August 2007). "Team of the 50s named". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
- ARL. 23 February 2008. Archived from the originalon 26 February 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
- ^ Peter Cassidy (23 February 2008). "Controversy reigns as NRL releases top 100 players". Macquarie National News. Archived from the original on 25 February 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
- ^ Todd Balym (17 April 2008). "Johns, Meninga among Immortals". Australia: Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2008.
- ARL. 17 April 2008. Archived from the originalon 21 May 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2008.
- ^ ARL (2008). "Australian Rugby Football League 2008 Annual Report" (PDF). Australian Rugby Football League Limited. p. 30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
- ^ "LIVE: Dally M Awards 2018".