Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | 30 September 1930[1][failed verification] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | (aged 85) Greymouth, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Position | Stand-off | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [2] |
George Menzies (30 September 1930 – 16 March 2016) was a New Zealand rugby league player and coach who represented New Zealand at three World Cups and coached New Zealand at another World Cup.[2] In 2007 he was named the greatest stand-off New Zealand had ever produced.
Playing career
[edit]Menzies was a New Zealand schoolboys representative in 1946.[3]
A Runanga club player, Menzies was a West Coast and South Island representative. Menzies played in 69 games, including twenty-nine test matches for the New Zealand national rugby league team, participating in three World Cups.[4]
Menzies was selected to go on the 1955–56 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain and France.[citation needed]
He captained the Kiwis in a test during the 1956 tour to Australia before retiring from international football in 1961 after withdrawing from the 1961 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France.[3]
Coaching career
[edit]At the end of his test career, in 1963, Menzies became a player-coach for Harden-Murrumburrah, a New South Wales country team.[5] Before returning to New Zealand to coach the West Coast.[3]
In 1974 and 1975 he was the coach of the Kiwis, taking the team to the 1975 World Cup.
Legacy
[edit]His son, Chris, played for the Junior Kiwis and also represented the West Coast.[3]
In 1989 Menzies was named as the West Coast Rugby League's best ever stand-off half.[6]
Menzies was named one of New Zealand Rugby League's "Legends of League" in 1995.[7]
In 2009 Menzies was named in the NZRL's team of the century.[8]
Menzies died in Greymouth on 16 March 2016, aged 85.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ "General". www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz.
- ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ a b c d RIP George Menzies Kiwi 326[permanent dead link] nzrl.co.nz, 17 March 2016
- ^ Top Players Archived 17 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine West Coast Rugby Football League
- ^ Goodman, Tom (9 June 1963). "Hands off the Kiwis". The Sun-Herald. Australia. p. 44. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
- ^ Top Players Archived 17 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, sportingpulse.com
- ^ Legends of League NZRL
- ^ "Graham is best in 100 years". The Sunday Star-Times. 17 February 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ^ "George Menzies death notice". The Press. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.