Bears logo 2023 80 height

North Sydney vs. Newtown
Sunday 11th June, 3.00 pm
North Sydney Oval

Jets
Jets coach Warren Ryan presents Bill Noonan with a special award prior to his final appearance with Newtown at Henson Park on Sunday, 31st August 1980. (NSWRL photo).
Jets coach Warren Ryan presents Bill Noonan with a special award prior to his final appearance with Newtown at Henson Park on Sunday, 31st August 1980. (NSWRL photo).

Farewell to the great Bill Noonan

The Newtown RLFC regrets to announce the recent passing of the former stalwart front-rower Bill Noonan, who played two first-rate seasons with the Jets in 1979 and 1980.

Bill had been dogged by ill-health in recent years.

He was a product of the Linwood Keas RLFC in the Christchurch (NZ) rugby league competition. The hard-working young front-rower represented the Canterbury Province against the touring Australians in 1965, and in 1967 he was a member of the New Zealand Kiwis team that toured Australia that year.

Bill represented New Zealand again in 1969 against the touring Australians and he scored a decisive try in the Kiwis’ famous Second Test victory that squared the two-Test series.

The wily Peter “Bullfrog” Moore recruited Bill Noonan to the Canterbury-Bankstown club in 1969 and he played for Canterbury for nine productive seasons between 1970 and 1978. Bill became the first New Zealander to play in a NSWRL first grade grand final when he played for Canterbury against Eastern Suburbs in the 1974 premiership decider.

Bill became an important component of the recruitment campaign conducted by John Singleton, Warren Ryan and Frank Farrington that brought badly-needed new talent to the Newtown Jets ranks leading into the 1979 season. Noonan’s front-row experience drawn from international experience with New Zealand and nine seasons with Canterbury-Bankstown fitted the bill exactly at Henson Park.

He turned in two top-class seasons with Newtown in 1979 and 1980 and was widely regarded as being one of the best front-rowers in the entire NSWRL first grade competition. Bill could play at hooker as well as being a world-class front-rower, and it’s no surprise that the coaching maestro Warren Ryan described Bill Noonan as being “the most professional rugby league footballer I ever coached”.

A great many Newtown Jets supporters maintain to this day that Bill Noonan might have retired one year too early. Who knows what could have happened had he played for one more season in 1981?

The Newtown RLFC extends sincere sympathy to Bill’s wife Julie and her family.


Bill Noonan looks to get his pass away in this match between Newtown and Manly-Warringah, played at Henson Park on Saturday, 31st May 1980. (Big League magazine).
May 28, 2023 - Glebe, New South Wales, Australia, Samuel Stonestreet of the Newtown Jets streaks away to score during Round 13 of the 2023 NSWRL The Knock On Effect NSW Cup at Wentworth Park in Glebe, New South Wales. (Mario Facchini/mafphotography)

Newtown Jets Run Down by Determined Sydney Roosters.

Image: mafphotography

Newtown Jets Team List v Roosters Sun 28th May, 2023

Jets five-eighth Braydon Trindall topped off a marvellous performance with a brilliant individual try just prior to fulltime. Photo: Mario Facchini/mafphotography

Virtuoso performance by Braydon Trindall keynote of Newtown’s big win over the Newcastle Knights

Image: Mario Facchini/mafphotography

Newtown Jets Team List v Newcastle Knights Sat 20th May, 2023

Jets halfback Niwhai Puru takes on a powerfully-built Sea Eagles opponent. (NSWRL Facebook)

Jets drop a valuable point after opening up a big lead

Image: MAF Photography

Newtown Jets Team List v Sea Eagles Sun 14th May, 2023

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Newtown Jets respect and honour the Traditional Custodians of the Land and pay our respects to their Elders past and present. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the lands we meet, gather and play on and that the land area encompassing Henson Park traditionally belonged to the Gadigal people of the Eora nation.