Playing Career
Vital Statistics
- Nickname(s)
- Bolo
- Born
- Monday, 1st April, 1935
- Current Age
- 90 years and 363 days
- Place Of Birth
- Balmain, New South Wales, Australia
Honours & Awards
Based only on data available in the RLP database. This information should be used as a guide only.
- Preseason Cup
- 1967, 1968
Biography
One of the most durable, and underrated, forwards of the late 1950s and 1960s, the Balmain junior appeared in the club’s grand final losses to St George in 1964 and 1966. In the first of these games, Boland’s misdirected kick for touch resulted in the only try of the match to champion St George winger John King while in the latter, he played as stand-in hooker. Boland captained Balmain in the 9-8 win over Great Britain in 1966, the first time a Sydney club defeated a touring Lions team, but representative honours eluded him during a long career. In 1968 he was lured to Penrith by club secretary Merv Cartwright as the Panthers’ captain-coach and brought immediate success with a win in the final of the pre-season competition. Injury forced Boland into retirement in 1970 but he battled on as coach with limited resources until he was sacked during the early stages of the 1973 season.
- ALAN WHITICKER
Playing Career Statistics
All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.
To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.
| Tour Matches | Balmain Tigers | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
| Representative Career - Australia | Comp Wins | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country Carnival | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| Club Career - Australia | Comp Wins | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) | - | 201 | 13 | - | 8 | 55 | 103 | 92 | 6 | 51.24% | List | ||||
| NSWRFL Finals | - | 9 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 44.44% | List | ||||
| Preseason Cup | 2 | 40 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 20 | 15 | 5 | 50.00% | List | ||||
| Overall | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||||
| First Class | 242 | 15 | - | 8 | 61 | 128 | 112 | 11 | 52.89% | List | |||||
Australia - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Sydney Firsts | 1963 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| NSW City Seconds | 1967 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| Overall | 1963-1967 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.00% | List | ||||
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Year | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1957 | 14 | - | - | - | - | 8 | 6 | 0 | 57.14% | List | ||||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1958 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.00% | List | ||||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1960 | 11 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 54.55% | List | ||||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1961 | 18 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 55.56% | List | ||||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1962 | 18 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 27.78% | List | ||||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1963 | 19 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 63.16% | List | ||||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1964 | 20 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 65.00% | List | ||||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1965 | 18 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 55.56% | List | ||||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1966 | 20 | - | - | - | - | 13 | 7 | 0 | 65.00% | List | ||||
| Balmain | NSWRFL 1967 | 17 | - | - | 1 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 58.82% | List | ||||
| Penrith | NSWRFL 1968 | 19 | 1 | - | 4 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 47.37% | List | ||||
| Penrith | NSWRFL 1969 | 20 | 1 | - | 3 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 30.00% | List | ||||
| Penrith | NSWRFL 1970 | 5 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Balmain | 1957-58, 1960-67 | 157 | 10 | - | 1 | 32 | 88 | 64 | 5 | 56.05% | List | ||||
| Penrith | 1968-70 | 44 | 3 | - | 7 | 23 | 15 | 28 | 1 | 34.09% | List | ||||
| Overall | 1957-1970 | 201 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 55 | 103 | 92 | 6 | 51.24% | List | ||||
Contributions:
Greg Fiveash, Rugby League Tables, Shawn Dollin, Tony McCarron, Max Turner, Alan Katzmann, Andrew Ferguson, Paul Carter, Tim Costello
Your Say
16 Nov 2013 9:17am
THE BEST FORWARD TO EVER NOT GAIN REPRESENTATIVE HONOURS.A REAL BALMAIN LEGEND.THEY THREW AWAY THE MOULD WHEN BOLO RETIRED.
19 Jun 2017 5:18pm
A fair dinkum Tiger. How I wish the game was being played the same way as it was when Bob was running around. How many of todays "Stars" would have lasted the distance back then?
17 Jul 2020 6:24pm
I was a young Panthers fan back in their early years. We had Laurie Fagan, Bobby Mara and Bob Boland, all ex Balmain players. There was a great relationship between players and fans when both teams met in those days. One of the greatest games was in 1968 with a see-sawing game with Bobby Mara kicking his one and only career field goal to win the game. Bob Boland, an absolute legend for the Tigers and the Panthers.
7 Jun 2023 4:14am
I was in my last year at school in 1968. I was At Penrith park that Sunday
Penrith turned out with Bolo. George piper Ron clothier in the forward s. Laurie Fagan and Bobby Mara all ex tigers a great game and Bobby Mara kicked the winning field goal
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