Ian 'Abdul' Walsh

The last of St George captain-coaches who took the club to a world-record 11 premierships, Ian Walsh's career can also be viewed separately from that achievement. While playing for Eugowra in north-western NSW in 1951 the 17-year-old represented Western Division against the visiting Frenchmen and later captained the district against Great Britain in 1958. Walsh represented Country, NSW and Australia in 1959 - making his Test debut on the 1959-60 Kangaroo Tour and playing in all six Tests. A kidney complaint forced him to stand down from the World Cup competition in 1960 but after originally intending to miss Australia’s tour of NZ the following year, he was talked into going by St George Secretary Frank Facer and joined St George for 1962. Walsh had to prove himself with the premiers at first, starting the season in reserve grade after coming back from injury, but he quickly hit his straps and represented Australia in three Tests against Great Britain. Walsh took over as Australian Test captain on the 1963-64 Kangaroo tour after an injury to Arthur Summons and his leadership was paramount to Australia’s winning of the Ashes. Walsh also captained Australia against France at home in 1964 (he broke his arm for the second time against France in the First Test of the series) before assuming the mantle of Australian captain-coach on the tour of NZ in 1965. Under enormous pressure as Australian captain-coach in 1966 Australia successfully defended the Ashes against Great Britain. Walsh, who played in four grand final wins with St George (1962-63 & 1965-66), took over as captain-coach of the Dragons in 1966 and had the unenviable task of leading the champion club when its dominance finally came to an end with the loss to C’bury in the 1967 final. One of the great captains in Australia's rich league history Walsh took the defeat in sportsmanlike manner before announcing his retirement. He later coached P’matta to the semi-finals in 1971 and was a successful columnist in the Sydney press for two decades. In 1994 Walsh joined the NSW selection panel for a brief period. Autobiography, Inside Rugby League (1968).