Playing Career
Vital Statistics
- Full Name
- Terrence Colin Fearnley
- Born
- Friday, 21st July, 1933
- Died
- Wednesday, 4th March, 2015 (Aged 81 years and 227 days)
- Place Of Birth
- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Biography
Easts prop forward and captain represented NSW in 1960 but missed a place in the club's grand final loss to St George that year because of injury. Fearnley's subsequent career as a coach was successful, checkered and controversial. Understudy to former teammate Jack Gibson at Easts in the mid 1970s, he succeeded Norm Provan as P’matta coach in 1976. The Eels made their first grand final under Fearnley's coaching, losing narrowly to Manly 13-10. He drew criticism for P’matta's tactics in the face of open aggression from St George in the grand final draw and replay in 1977. (In turn, he was openly critical of the refereeing in the two matches and has stated that the Eels were under no instructions to ‘turn the other cheek’). He was fated never to win a Sydney premiership and stints with Wests (1982), Cronulla (1983-4) and I’warra (1988) brought only mixed success. In 1985 Fearnley was the first NSW coach to win a State of Origin series but as Australian coach, he battled Queensland factions on the troubled tour of NZ, and he was replaced by Don Furner in 1986.
- 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.
Competitions | |||||||||||||||
| Competition | Comp Wins | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tour Matches | Sydney Colts | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | |||
| Interstate Series | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| Country Carnival | - | 3 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | List | ||||
| NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) | - | 140 | 7 | 2 | - | 25 | 56 | 81 | 3 | 40.00% | List | ||||
| Preseason Cup | - | 13 | - | - | - | - | 5 | 8 | 0 | 38.46% | List | ||||
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Australia - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Sydney Colts | 1955 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| NSW Firsts | 1960 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| Overall | 1955-1960 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
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NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Year | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Season | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1954 | 5 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0.00% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1955 | 16 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 43.75% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1957 | 10 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 50.00% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1958 | 18 | - | - | - | - | 8 | 10 | 0 | 44.44% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1959 | 16 | - | - | - | - | 5 | 11 | 0 | 31.25% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1960 | 15 | 3 | - | - | 9 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 66.67% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1961 | 18 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 50.00% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1962 | 18 | - | - | - | - | 9 | 8 | 1 | 50.00% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1963 | 16 | - | 2 | - | 4 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 12.50% | List | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | NSWRFL 1964 | 8 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 12.50% | List | ||||
NSWRFL Premiership (NRL) - By Team | |||||||||||||||
| Team | Years | App | T | G | GK % | FG | Pts | W | L | D | Win % | ||||
| Eastern Suburbs | 1954-55, 1957-64 | 140 | 7 | 2 | - | 25 | 56 | 81 | 3 | 40.00% | List | ||||
Contributions:
Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Greg Fiveash, Shawn Dollin, Paul Carter, Tony McCarron, Max Turner, Alan Katzmann
Sources:
Newspapers
Your Say
02/01/2018
Jack Gibson has always been credited with bringing American style coaching and training methods to Rugby League in Australia however it is a little known fact that it was Terry Fearnley who made Gibson aware of American methods- most notably the teachings of Vince Lombardi. While Gibson brought Parra their first ever premiership, it was Fearnley who laid the foundation for future greatness at the Parramatta club.
11/09/2023
You are very correct Matt. From a trip to the US my father also brought back to Australia the power of positive thinking. I was by his side during his coaching years at games and trainings sessions from a young age. I have fond memories of training sessions catching kicks (bombs) from John Peard, picking up Peter Sterling from Sydney Central Station, driving down the coast with my father to encourage Mick Cronin to play for Parramatta, getting to know many players from many clubs, Gibo and Massy etc. Also watching old VHS videos of Wally Lewis game plans resulting in the first State of Origin win for NSW in the new era. My father created a huge feud with QLD and NSW by dropping from memory 4 QLD's in the last test against NZ which changed the game forever. Recently I have written a letter to Wally stating in my belief he was correct to be upset with the decision. My father was not only Controversial in League but in Person as well.
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