John Lang (rugby league)

John Lang (born on the 7th of November, 1950) is a former Australian Rugby league test player and a former coach of the Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League. Lang also coached the Cronulla Sharks between 1994 and 2001, and took the club to the Super League grand final in 1997. Lang also coached the Australian Super League test team in 1997, and although these matches are considered tests by the rest of the world's governing bodies, they are not given full test status by Australian Rugby League historians. In 2000 he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia's international standing in rugby league. After leaving the Sharks in 2001, he signed as the coach of the Penrith Panthers, who had just won the wooden spoon. Despite losing the first eight games of the 2002 season, Lang was able to develop a side capable of contending for the finals. In his finest coaching achievement, Penrith defeated the Sydney Roosters in the 2003 Grand Final by 18-6, thereby answering his detractors at Cronulla who argued that the Sharks could never win a premiership under Lang. The Panthers finished fourth after the 2004 National Rugby League season, and were eliminated by the Canterbury Bulldogs one game short of the grand final. Penrith narrowly missed the finals in 2005. On February 19 2006 it was announced that Matthew Elliott would take over from Lang as coach of the Panthers at the end of the 2006 season. The Panthers subsequently missed the finals and finished in tenth position. Lang's son, Martin Lang, also played for the Sharks, Panthers, Queensland and Australia, and uniquely played his entire first grade career with his father as coach.

External links

• John Lang at the State of Origin official website.