Norm Provan
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Norman Douglas Somerville Provan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Urana, New South Wales, Australia | 18 December 1932|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 13 October 2021 Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia | (aged 88)|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 99 kg (15 st 8 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Second-row | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Coaching information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Norman Douglas Somerville Provan (18 December 1932 – 13 October 2021) was an Australian professional
Club career and player-coach
Provan's first junior football was played for Willoughby Roos in the North Sydney District and attending high school at Crows Nest. After his family relocated to the St George-Sutherland region, he played with the Sutherland Woronora Juniors[5] and the Sutherland Gravediggers.[6] He was graded by St George in 1950 after being turned down by Easts the prior year. Having won the premiership in 1949, St George slipped to a fifth-place finish in 1950 but things were falling into place that year with the move to Jubilee Oval, Frank Facer's move from player to club selector and committeeman and Provan's arrival.
Provan featured in their 1951 campaign – a loss in the final against
Provan's strength at second row in attack and in defence, in partnership with
A fitness fanatic himself, Provan continued Kearney's punishing and successful training routine giving Dragon sides of the period confidence that they could edge out their fatiguing opposition in the final twenty minutes of each encounter.[6] Provan set high standards for himself and his players directing a training mix that included sandhill running at Cronulla; lap running at Kogarah and touch-football. He was content to maintain a certain distance from the team and saw the captain-coach role as a tough, solitary role requiring him to stand slightly apart from his players. A teetotaler later in life, Provan occasionally shared a drink in the shed after a match but he would rarely finish the first beer.[6]
I was never one of the boys, I never went to the pub or places like that. But this aloofness did give me a bit of an edge – and I never had to make any apologies for any of the decisions I made or feel bad about dropping a close mate.
— Apter, p35
Provan holds the club record of 284 games for St George achieved between 1951 and 1965.
Representative career
In 1954 Provan first represented for
Provan was selected for the 1956
He continued his Test pairing with Kel O'Shea in all three games of the domestic 1958 series against Great Britain and in 1959 featured in all three Tests against the visiting Kiwis. Also in 1959 Provan played in the New South Wales loss to Queensland that attracted 35,261 spectators, smashing Brisbane's previous record for an interstate match of 22,817.[8]
Family priorities and business commitments caused him to cut short his representative career starting with the 1959
Provan is listed on the Australian Players Register as Kangaroo No. 310.[9]
Non-playing coach
After retiring from playing he went on to coach. He was a non-playing coach for St George for a season in 1968 and with Parramatta for a single season in 1975. Under his stewardship the club won the Pre-Season Cup (Wills Cup), the club's maiden first-grade title, and fell one game short of making their first Grand Final appearance.
He had two seasons coaching Cronulla-Sutherland in 1978 and 1979 taking them to a grand final in 1978 which they lost to Manly.
Records
He played in finals football for fifteen consecutive seasons from 1951 to 1965. Along with
His brother
Accolades
Provan was awarded Life Membership of the
The Gladiators – Provan is the subject of one of the most memorable sporting photographic images ever captured in Australia. The 1963 NSW Rugby League Premiership grand final between long term rivals Western Suburbs and St George was played in a torrential downpour on Saturday, 24 August. This, combined with the fact that the centre cricket pitch area of Sydney Cricket Ground was notoriously muddy in such conditions, ensured that the players were not only saturated but also caked in mud from head to toe. At the conclusion of the hard-fought match, which was won by St George, the captains of the two teams, the very tall Norm Provan and more diminutive Arthur Summons, embraced in appreciation of each other's stoic efforts. The moment was captured by a newspaper photographer, John O'Gready, and published in the following day's Sun Herald. Subsequently, the image won several awards, becoming known as The Gladiators. This image was the inspiration for the current premiership trophy's bronze statue.
In 2004 Provan was admitted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame.[10] In 2007 he was selected by a panel of experts at second-row in an Australian 'Team of the 50s'.[11]
In February 2008, Provan was named in the list of Australia's
In October 2015, Provan was inducted into the
In 2018 Provan was inducted as a Rugby League Immortal along with Mal Meninga and pre-WWII greats Dave Brown, Frank Burge and Dally Messenger.[18][19] On 20 July 2022, Provan was named in the St. George Dragons District Rugby League Clubs team of the century.[20]
Reflections
Provan wrote the introduction to the Haddan book The Finals – 100 Years and reflected upon the dressing room mood before the momentous 1965 Grand Final:
It's 1965, St George and Souths in the grand final at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It's five minutes before we walk out. The boys are sitting around, very quiet now, just thinking about their own games. I have finished my last 10-minute talk to the team, just a summary of our general plan – no shouting or yelling or 'geeing' up. These players just don't need that. I have this terrible sick feeling in my gut. We have to lose a grand final sooner or later. The law of averages demands it. This one would make it 10. A nice round figure and I can retire happy. The linesman comes to the door, looks at me and nods. I nod back. We all stand up. The sick feeling is gone. 'Let's give it another go!'.
— Haddan, Introduction px
References
- Writer, Larry (1995) Never Before, Never Again, Pan MacMillan, Sydney
- Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players, Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney
- Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
- Haddan, Steve (2007) The Finals – 100 Years of National Rugby League Finals, Steve Haddan Publishing, Brisbane
- Apter, Jeff The Coaches : The Men Who Changed Rugby League (2014), The Five Mile Press Scoresby, Victoria
Footnotes
- ^ "NRL Stats". Archived from the original on 27 July 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
- ^ RLP
- ^ Yesterday's Hero
- ISBN 9781864033618.
- ^ a b Haddan p X
- ^ ISBN 9781743465660
- ^ Fitting Farewells, The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 January 2007.
- ^ Goodman, Tom (28 May 1959). "Queensland beats N.S.W. in league by 17–15". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
- ^ ARL Annual Report 2005, page 54
- ^ Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame Archived 18 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- News Limited. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
- ^ 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.
- ARL. 23 February 2008. Archived from the originalon 26 February 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
- ^ Todd Balym (17 April 2008). "Johns, Meninga among Immortals". Fox Sports Australia. 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.
- ^ "Once a winner, always a winner for Hall of Fame Inductee Norm Provan". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
- ^ Newton, Alicia (1 August 2018). "Messenger, Brown, Burge, Provan, Meninga announced as Immortals". National Rugby League. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- ^ "Five rugby league greats named as Immortals, including three pre-WWII players". ABC News. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- ^ "Gasnier joins Immortals in St George Dragons 'Team of the Century'". www.nrl.com. 20 July 2022.
External links
- Norm Provan at eraofthebiff.com
- "Immortal designate: Raper pushes for Provan ahead of Andrew Johns" BY BRAD FORREST 12 February 2008 (Fairfax Digital)