Aussie forward great Harry Bath dies

Harry Bath, rated one of the greatest rugby league players never to have played for Australia, has died aged 83 after a long illness, the Australian Rugby League said Sunday. Bath, who masterminded premierships for St George as a player and a coach, died on the eve of Sunday’s Centenary Grand Final.

He was a second-rower who revolutionised forward play in Australia and during a club career in England. He won two premierships with Balmain in Sydney in 1946 and 1947, but a knee injury put him out of contention for the 1946 Australian team and with no Tests in 1947, Bath headed to the big money of the English competition.

There, he learned the ball-playing skills of English forwards, first at Barrow and then Warrington, where he would win Challenge Cup Finals in 1950 and 1954. In 1957 he returned to Australia and to a St George club on their way to a record-breaking 11 consecutive championships.

Bath played a key role in the second, third and fourth premierships of the Dragons’ historic era before going to coach Balmain from 1961-66 with the Tigers reaching Grand Finals against St George in 1964 and 1966. He coached Australia in 1962 and from 1968-1972, during which time he claimed the 1968 and 1970 World Cups.

SYDNEY, Sunday, AFP