Ken Thornett
| Personal information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Mayor of Parramatta | |||||
| Born | 27 November 1937 | |||||
| Height | Waverley, New South Wales | |||||
| Playing information | ||||||
| Position | Fullback | |||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 1962–1971 | Parramatta Eels | 129 | 17 | 0 | 6 | 63 |
| 1961–62 | Leeds | ? | ? | |||
| Total | 17 | 0 | 6 | |||
| Representative | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 1963–1967 | New South Wales | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1963–64 | Australia | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Coaching information | ||||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Gms | W | D | L | W% |
| 1965–66 | Parramatta Eels | |||||
| Source: RLP Yesterday's Hero | ||||||
Ken Thornett (born 27 November 1937) is an Australian former rugby league footballer. He represented the Kangaroos in 12 Tests in 1963–64 and on the 1963–64 Kangaroo Tour.
Contents |
[edit] Club and representative career
He began his career playing first grade rugby union with Randwick, and was the youngest player ever to be selected to play in a first grade union side. Switching to rugby league, he was a fullback with the Parramatta Eels in the 1960s. He played 136 games for the club. Thornett was the leading[citation needed] Australian rugby league fullback in the early '60s after Keith Barnes and before Les Johns and Graeme Langlands.
Ken played in all six Tests of the 1963 Kangaroo tour and in 10 minor tour games. He made a further six Test appearances and by the end of his representative career in 1964 had played three Tests each against Great Britain and New Zealand, five against France and one against South Africa.
[edit] Sporting family
Ken and both his brothers were all exemplary sportsmen. John Thornett was a Wallabies captain who played 37 rugby union Tests for Australia over a distinguished[peacock term] 13-year career from 1955. Dick Thornett represented Australia at water polo, rugby league and rugby union. Much of Dick and Ken's club football career was played together at Parramatta and they have the very rare distinction of having played three international rugby league Tests together on the 1963–64 Kangaroo Tour.
[edit] Accolades
In 1965 he was named NSW Player of the Year. The western grandstand of Parramatta Stadium was named the Ken Thornett Stand in his honour.
In February 2008, Thornett was named in the list of Australia's 100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.[1][2]
[edit] External links
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Peter Cassidy (2008-02-23). "Controversy reigns as NRL releases top 100 players". Macquarie National News. http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/02/22/Controversy_reigns_as_NRL_releases_top_100_players. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
- ^ "Centenary of Rugby League - The Players". NRL & ARL. 2008-02-23. http://www.centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au/site/the-players.aspx?cat=3&list=true. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ken Kearney 1962–64 |
Coach Parramatta Eels 1965–66 |
Succeeded by Brian Hambly 1967 |
