Robert Stone (rugby league)
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Robert Henry Stone | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 27 February 1956 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 1 August 2005 (aged 49) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 14 st 0 lb (89 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Second-row, Prop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Whiticker/Hudson | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Robert Henry Stone (27 February 1956
Playing history
Robert Stone played rugby union as a youngster and then switched to league as a teenager. He also completed training as a teacher.
Stone rose up through the grades at St. George, playing in the premiership winning Under-23s side in 1974, his first year as a graded player. He made his debut in first grade in 1975 NSWRFL season and played in the losing grand final to Eastern Suburbs in that year. Stone was also a member of the St. George side that won the Reserve Grade premiership in 1976.
Stone was a member of the 1977 St. George team that won the Premiership under coach Harry Bath. He played Second-row in the grand final which was drawn 9-all with Parramatta - the first draw in the history of Sydney rugby league. Stone scored the first try in the replay a week later which St. George won 22–0. In 1977, Stone won representative honours for the first time playing for City in City v Country.
St George won another premiership in 1979 defeating
In 1984, Stone was captain of the St. George side for 15 out of the 24 matches played by the team. However, Stone was dropped to reserve grade for the 1985 grand final when St. George had teams playing in all three grades. Coach
Stone did not play first grade in 1986 which was a disappointing year for the Dragons in their new home at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He was extremely disappointed at the decision by the St. George board to not offer him a new contract as he had reached 281 games for the club, making him third in the list of longest serving Dragons players behind Billy Smith and Norm Provan.
He was awarded Life Membership of the St. George Dragons in 1984.[3]
Later career
Stone was so upset at the failure to renew his contract and the move to the SCG that he stood against St. George President Danny Robinson, losing by one vote. He played for Picton Rugby League Club in Country League as captain-coach and coached the Western Suburbs Magpies reserve grade side.
He was a primary school teacher for many years at Bald Face Public School in the Sydney suburb of Blakehurst, New South Wales and at Engadine Primary School in Engadine, New South Wales.
In 2000, the St. George Committee including Robinson asked him to return to St. George as the Chief Executive to protect the proud history of the club in the joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers. Stone played a critical role in organising the return of St. George Illawarra to OKI Jubilee Oval in Kogarah in 2003 including organising the rejuvenation of the ground. The area where former great players of the Dragons congregate to watch the match is known as "Stoney's slab" as recognition of his role in redeveloping the ground.
Robert Stone was also involved in the decision by the Australian Labor Party to select Mark Latham as its new leader in 2003. Robert McClelland was a crucial vote in the battle between Latham and Kim Beazley. On 3 December, Latham suggested that McClelland call Stone who was his childhood friend and who Latham knew casually as a St. George fan. McClelland called Stone who advised him to vote for Latham as "Putting Beazley back in again would be like putting me into a first-grade team again. I'd be massacred.You have to move on and try something different."[4] Robert McClelland voted for Latham with Stone's advice being one of the critical factors in his decision which led to Latham being elected voter by one vote.
Death
Robert Stone was diagnosed with a brain tumor and fell into a coma in late July 2005. He died from the tumor on 1 August aged 49.
His funeral was held at St. John Bosco Church in
Club legend, Johnny Raper quoted in the media that "Only Clive Churchill's funeral was bigger than Stoney's".[5] He was survived by his wife and three children.[6]
Career highlights
- Games: 281 games 170 first grade (3rd in list of St. George games played)
- Premierships: 1977 (first grade) 1976 (reserve grade) 1974 (under-23s)
- Representative Honours: 1980 (NSW) 1977 (City)
- Tries: 26
References
- ISBN 0-909558-29-9.
- Roy Mastersclaims that Stone played in 1979 although Masters was the coach of Western Suburbs at the time. The majority of sources claim that he did not play in the 1979 grand final.
- ^ Dragoins- Our Proud History (website)
- ^ Dodson, Louise (5 December 2003). "How the numbers fell Mark Latham's way". The Age. Retrieved 19 September 2007.
- ^ St.George & Sutheralnd Shire Leader.Aug 2005
- ^ "Robert Stone - St George Dragons". Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
Sources
- Australian Associated Press (1 August 2005). "Dragons legend passes away". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2007.
- Masters, Roy (2 August 2005). "Dragons in depths of grief as Robert Stone - very reluctantly - loses cancer fight". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 September 2007.
- Masters, Roy (6 August 2005). "Worth remembering: when an ethos of love over money was set in stone". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 September 2007.
- "Dragons Mourn Loss of Club Legend Robert Stone" (Press release). St. George Dragons. 8 August 2005. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2007.