Fred Griffiths

South African-born RU player spent five seasons with Wigan (scoring over 1500pts in 161 games and winning the 1959 Challenge Cup) when Norths took the unprecedented step of relocating his entire family to Australia in 1963. Cool under pressure and a good defensive fullback, Griffiths was a thorough professional in his four seasons as captain-coach and a prolific point-scorer to boot. He played for Sth Africa in the Test series against Australia in 1963 and captained Other Nationalities v. NSW Colts in 1964. Griffiths was the season's leading point-scorer in three consecutive years - 1963 (136pts), 1964 (154pts) and 1965 (177pts) - the last haul setting a new club record. Under his leadership Norths made the preliminary final in 1965 (beaten by Souths) but Griffiths left the club in 1967 to captain-coach Griffith (what else?) in the Wagga competition. In 1970, Griffith won the Group 20 competition under his guidance before he moved on to Nowra. Griffiths passed away in Perth in 2000, aged 65.