Playing Career
Vital Statistics
- Born
- Monday, 19th July, 1948
- Current Age
- 77 years and 254 days
- Place Of Birth
- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Honours & Awards
Based only on data available in the RLP database. This information should be used as a guide only.
- The Ashes
- 1978/1979
- Test Series
- Australia vs New Zealand 1978
- Interstate Series
- 1977, 1978
- NSWRFL Premiership (NRL)
- 1974
- Preseason Cup
- 1974, 1975
- Midweek Cup
- 1980
Biography
Tough prop, a P’matta junior who won a Second Division premiership with Wentworthville in 1971, spent three seasons with Easts before his career took off in the mid 1970s. Moving to P’matta Olling played in the club’s maiden grand final appearance in 1976 and was selected for NSW the following year. In 1977 he represented Australia in the World Cup competition and took part in the historic grand final draw and replay against St George. Olling admitted to taking steroids during his career but this was when the code was still naive about the value of performance-enhancing drugs and his disclosure caused only a minor ripple of controversy. He was certainly a good enough prop on his own merits, appearing in four Tests during 1978. After playing in two Tests against NZ, Olling toured with the 1978 Kangaroos and was selected in the first two Tests against Great Britain. A knee injury signalled the end of his Sydney career although he later captain-coached Temora in 1981.
- 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) | - | 6 | - | - | - | - | 4 | 2 | 0 | 66.67% | List | ||||
| The Ashes | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.00% | List | ||||
| Tour Matches | Australia | - | 15 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 73.33% | List | |||
| Tour Matches | New South Wales Firsts | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | |||
| Test Series | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | 3 | 2 | 0 | 60.00% | List | ||||
| Representative Career - Australia | Comp Wins | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Interstate Series | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| City vs Country Firsts | - | 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) | 1 | 102 | 14 | - | - | 42 | 69 | 29 | 4 | 67.65% | List | ||||
| NSWRFL Finals | - | 10 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 40.00% | List | ||||
| Preseason Cup | 2 | 20 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 60.00% | List | ||||
| Midweek Cup | 1 | 10 | 2 | - | - | 6 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 80.00% | List | ||||
| Overall | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | |||||
| First Class | 152 | 22 | - | - | 66 | 115 | 52 | 6 | 75.66% | List | |||||
Test Matches - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Australia | 1978 | 6 | - | - | - | - | 4 | 2 | 0 | 66.67% | List | ||||
Australia - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| NSW City Seconds | 1977, 1979 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| NSW Firsts | 1977-78 | 4 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| NSW Country Firsts | 1981 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| Overall | 1977-1981 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 85.71% | List | ||||
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Year | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1972 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.00% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1973 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1974 | 10 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 90.00% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1975 | 14 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 57.14% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1976 | 22 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 59.09% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1977 | 20 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 75.00% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1978 | 18 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 66.67% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1979 | 12 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 66.67% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | NSWRFL 1980 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.00% | List | ||||
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | 1972-74 | 14 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 85.71% | List | ||||
| Parramatta | 1975-80 | 88 | 11 | - | - | 33 | 57 | 27 | 4 | 64.77% | List | ||||
| Overall | 1972-1980 | 102 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 69 | 29 | 4 | 67.65% | List | ||||
Contributions:
Shawn Dollin, Alan Katzmann, Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Greg Fiveash, Max Turner, Paul Carter, Wests Archives, AJ Lucantonio, Tim Costello
Your Say
11 Mar 2010 9:59am
Graham Olling - "Shovels" from Wenty - was there ever a tougher Parra player? Who can forget the blood he spilt in the Grand Final of 1977 (Mk 1). A true Parramatta man and a legend of the game!
28 Apr 2019 11:59am
Graeme was an honest hard working player and also one of the games gentlemen
20 Apr 2020 11:22am
A hard man bounceR and boxing background family
2 Mar 2023 9:14pm
A very reserved and quiet man off the field but tough as nails on the field and gave his all. Good man "shovells"
19 Aug 2024 5:07pm
grew up knocked around and played footy with graham.while worklng at moss vale abattoirs ln 1970,meals were 30 cents each and graham would have double ,i said you eat like a shovel.it stuck with him even nicknamed hls brother spade.great mate while growing up together ln our teens and 20s.
11 Mar 2025 9:17am
ONE OF PARRAS BEST
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