Harry Bath (born 1924) was an Australian rugby league player, a state and international representative who played 12 matches for Other Nationalities in the International Championship from 1949-1955. His position of choice was as a Second-row forward. He has been referred to as the best Australian rugby league player never to be picked for the Australian national team [1].
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Club career
Bath, to be known later in his career as 'the Old Fox', was graded as a sixteen year old to play for the Brisbane club Southern Suburbs in 1940. After six years with the club he moved to Sydney to the Balmain Tigers in 1946. In his first season for Balmain, he helped his side reach the Grand Final in which they defeated St. George 13-12. A year later he again helped Balmain reach their second Grand Final appearance and a victory over the Canterbury Bulldogs 13-9. Harry Bath then accepted an offer to play in England for Barrow. The forward only stayed at Barrow for six months before being signed by Warrington. He spent a total of nine seasons for Warrington, playing in over 500 games for the club. In the 1954 Challenge Cup replay he captained Warrington to victory in front of a record crowd 102,569 people. Bath's reputation as a skilful ball-player and a great goal kicker grew while playing in England. He scored over 700 goals in his career, including 173 goals in 1952-53 when he was the season's leading goal kicker. He returned to Australia in 1957 and joined St. George after his former club Balmain decided against a signing due to his age of 33. In 1957 St. George were premiers, winning the Grand Final against Manly 31-9. He was the leading point scorer in the competition in 1957 scoring a season club record of 225 points (3 tries, 108 goals). His 16 point tally in the Grand Final has never been equalled. In 1958 St. George again made it to the Grand Final this time defeating Western Suburbs 20-9. Bath again topped the season point scoring table, totalling 211 points. The following season St. George again won the premiership with a 20-0 Grand Final defeat of Manly. Bath was sent off in the Grand Final for fighting with Manly's Rex Mossop. He decided to hang up his boots at the end of 1959 at the age of 35.
Representative career
He represented for Queensland in 1945 and for New South Wales Blues in 1946 after one Sydney season. In the 1946 fixture for NSW against the touring Great Britain side he badly injured his leg and so was unavailable for Australian Test selection a week later. It has been suggested that Bath was punished by the Australian selectors for the ten years he spent in the English league. However he was 33 years old when he returned to Australia for his final three seasons and he was then competing for a representative position against star players Norm Provan and Rex Mossop.
Coaching career
Bath then took up a career in rugby league coaching and joined the inaugural NSWRL coaching panel in 1961. He was selected manager, coach and as the sole selector for the Australian national team's 1962 Ashes series. Bath's greatest achievement in coaching the national side was leading the Kangaroos to World Cup glory in the 1968 Rugby League World Cup and 1970 Rugby League World Cup. He also coached the team on tours of New Zealand in 1969 and 1971. He coached the national side in the 1972 Rugby League World Cup in which they lost to Great Britain in controversial circumstances. The World Cup final was tied at 10-10 after full time and was still locked after extra time. Great Britain were awarded the victory due to a higher points table placing after the pool rounds of the competition. Harry Bath also took the coaching helm at his former club Balmain. He guided them to Grand Final appearances in 1964 and 1966 both lost against St. George 6-11 and 4-23 respectively. He also coached Newtown between 1969 and 1972. He came out of retirement to coach his other former club St. George to premiership success in 1977. The Grand Final against Parramatta was drawn 9-9 but St. George won the replay 22-0. He again coached the Dragons to premiership success in 1979 after their 17-13 Grand Final victory over Canterbury. His side was nicknamed 'Bath's Babes'. He retired from Rugby League coaching in 1981.
Hall of Fame
Bath is the only player to have won a premiership in every season of his Sydney first-grade career (1946 and 1947 with Balmain and 1957-1959 with St. George). His eight goals from eight attempts in the 1957 Grand Final is the standing record for the most goals in a grand final and the most number of points scored in a grand final (16). Harry Bath was recognised in 2004 for his outstanding achievements in playing and coaching Rugby League when was inducted into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame.
Sources and Footnotes
- Andrews, Malcolm (2006) The ABC of Rugby League Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
- ^ p65 ABC of Rugby League
