Playing Career
Vital Statistics
- Nickname(s)
- Thirsty
- Born
- Thursday, 14th September, 1939
- Died
- Sunday, 12th May, 2024 (Aged 84 years and 240 days)
Honours & Awards
Based only on data available in the RLP database. This information should be used as a guide only.
- The Ashes
- 1966, 1967/1968
- Test Series
- Australia vs New Zealand 1967
- Interstate Series
- 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967
- City vs Country Firsts
- 1963, 1967
Biography
Ron ‘Thirsty' Lynch was a rock-solid lock who came to P’matta from Forbes where he had first represented NSW in 1960. Lynch made his Test debut against NZ in 1961 and while his rep career was kept in check by champion lock John Raper, this did not prevent him from playing in 12 Test matches, (the last being 1970's 'Battle of Brisbane' against Great Britain). A shoulder dislocation ruled him out of the 1963-64 Kangaroo tour but he was duly selected on the 1967-68 tour (14 matches including three Tests). Lynch is best remembered scoring a freakish try after the ball rebounded off the cross bar in the 1963 semi-final against Balmain The same year, he captained P’matta to victory over a visiting South African national side. While the Eels were infrequent semi-finalists during his captaincy, Lynch was consistently one of the club's best players. He was captain-coach in of the club in 1970 but moved to Penrith, captaining the struggling club in every match for two seasons before retiring in 1973.
- 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.
| Representative Career - International | Comp Wins | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests (Senior International Matches) | - | 12 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 58.33% | List | ||||
| Other International Matches | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| The Ashes | 2 | 6 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 66.67% | List | ||||
| Tour Matches | Western Division | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | |||
| Tour Matches | New South Wales Firsts | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.67% | List | |||
| Tour Matches | Australia | - | 27 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 17 | 9 | 1 | 62.96% | List | |||
| Tour Matches | Sydney Firsts | - | 2 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.00% | List | |||
| Tour Matches | Parramatta Eels | - | 1 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
| Test Series | 3 | 12 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 58.33% | List | ||||
| Representative Career - Australia | Comp Wins | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Interstate Series | 6 | 15 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 66.67% | List | ||||
| City vs Country Firsts | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 50.00% | List | ||||
| Country Carnival | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| Club Career - Australia | Comp Wins | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) | - | 238 | 38 | - | - | 114 | 100 | 131 | 7 | 42.02% | List | ||||
| NSWRFL Finals | - | 7 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 14.29% | List | ||||
| Preseason Cup | - | 46 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 16 | 29 | 1 | 34.78% | List | ||||
| Overall | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||||
| First Class | 337 | 53 | - | - | 159 | 164 | 192 | 12 | 48.66% | List | |||||
Test Matches - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Australia | 1961-62, 1966-67, 1970 | 12 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 58.33% | List | ||||
International Matches - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Australia | 1961 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
Australia - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Western Division | 1959 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| Probables (AU) | 1959 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| NSW Country Seconds | 1959 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| NSW Country Firsts | 1959-60 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| NSW Firsts | 1960-64, 1966-67 | 18 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 66.67% | List | ||||
| NSW City Seconds | 1961, 1964, 1966, 1968 | 4 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 50.00% | List | ||||
| Sydney Firsts | 1962-64 | 3 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.67% | List | ||||
| NSW City Firsts | 1962-63, 1967 | 3 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.67% | List | ||||
| Overall | 1959-1968 | 35 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 19 | 14 | 2 | 54.29% | List | ||||
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Year | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1961 | 14 | - | - | - | - | 3 | 11 | 0 | 21.43% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1962 | 19 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 47.37% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1963 | 19 | 5 | - | - | 15 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 63.16% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1964 | 19 | 7 | - | - | 21 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 68.42% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1965 | 19 | 4 | - | - | 12 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 57.89% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1966 | 16 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 37.50% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1967 | 19 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 31.58% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1968 | 17 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 41.18% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1969 | 21 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 52.38% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1970 | 12 | - | - | - | - | 2 | 10 | 0 | 16.67% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1971 | 19 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 52.63% | List | ||||
| Penrith | NSWRFL 1972 | 22 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 22.73% | List | ||||
| Penrith | NSWRFL 1973 | 22 | 7 | - | - | 21 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 22.73% | List | ||||
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Parramatta | 1961-71 | 194 | 28 | - | - | 84 | 90 | 98 | 6 | 46.39% | List | ||||
| Penrith | 1972-73 | 44 | 10 | - | - | 30 | 10 | 33 | 1 | 22.73% | List | ||||
| Overall | 1961-1973 | 238 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 114 | 100 | 131 | 7 | 42.02% | List | ||||
Contributions:
Greg Fiveash, Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson, Paul Carter, Max Turner, Rugby League Tables, Alan Katzmann, Tony McCarron, Wests Archives, Michael Borg, Derek Farrar, AJ Lucantonio, Bill Bates, Tim Costello
Your Say
8 May 2012 5:56pm
An ironman of a player, Lynch played 7 and a half seasons straight in the Sydney comp without missing a game, in an era devoid of substitutions
and 'bloodbins', he just kept backing up for 80 minutes, game in, game out, season in, season out.
1 Sep 2013 4:03pm
I am sure he also played Centre for Australia in a district game in New Zealand during a New Zealand tour (possably because of injuries to the normal centres). One of the best whose international selections were only reduced by the presence of the great John Raper. They even selected him in second row to keep both of them in the team on occasions.
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