Farewell to the great Dick Poole

The Newtown Rugby League Football Club regrets to advise of the passing of one of the greatest names in this old club’s long history – Dick Poole – who has died recently at the age of 94.

Dick was an outstanding identity in Newtown’s history in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as being a most significant figure in the histories of the NSW and Australian Rugby Leagues.

He played with the Newtown RLFC from 1949 through to 1958, as well as spending the 1959 and 1960 seasons with Western Suburbs. In total, he played 115 games with Newtown and 31 with Wests for an aggregate of 146 NSWRL first grade matches.

As the Newtown club historian Terry Williams has observed, “Dick Poole had few peers at club level. Playing in the centres, he had pace, top class handling skills, physical toughness and first-rate defence.”

He represented NSW on 15 occasions and first gained Australian representation against the touring Frenchmen in 1955 (he had been a Test reserve back against Great Britain in 1954.)

Dick then played Test matches against New Zealand in 1956, and won representation in the 1956-57 Kangaroos touring team, playing in all 6 Tests against Great Britain and France.

In 1957 he attained the highest honour of his playing career – he was appointed captain-coach of the 1957 Australian Rugby League World Cup team, whom he led to an undefeated victory in this tournament.

His representative career was curtailed after 1957 because of a serious Achilles heel injury and a recurring asthmatic condition.

Dick’s first grade career with Newtown from 1950 through to 1958 saw him play for the club in the 1954 First Grade Grand Final, and then captain-coach Newtown from 1955 to 1958, leading the Bluebags into the 1955 Grand Final against South Sydney and a heartbreakingly close 12-11 defeat. He also played in two Preliminary Finals in 1959 and 1960 with Western Suburbs.

Following his playing days, he coached Sydney University in the NSWRL Second Division first grade competition, before taking up a first grade coaching appointment with Newtown in 1966, steering the Bluebags into the semi-finals of that year. He coached the Newtown first grade side for three seasons, from 1966 to 1968.

He followed Newtown’s fortunes closely in subsequent years, taking great pride in the club’s remarkable NSWRL Club Championship victory in 1973 and the inspired surge into the First Grade Grand Final in 1981.

After the club’s enforced hiatus and ultimate return to rugby league in 1991, he followed the club’s successes in the 1990s, and then the three premierships achieved in the NSW Cup between 2000 and the present day.

The club honoured him at Newtown’s 2007 Season Launch when a special presentation was made to him, marking the 50th anniversary of his exceptional achievement in captain-coaching Australia to an undefeated victory in the 1957 World Cup.

In 2008 Dick Poole received the singular honour of being named as a centre in the Newtown RLFC Team of the Century.

The Newtown RLFC extends sincere condolences to his family members as we say farewell to one of Newtown’s most significant identities in the club’s 117-year history.