 Frank Burge circa 1914 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1894-08-14)14 August 1894 Darlington, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 5 July 1958(1958-07-05) (aged 63) Marrickville, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 93 kg (14 st 9 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Lock, Second-row, Prop | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Coaching information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Relatives | Albert Burge (brother) Laidley Burge (brother) Peter Burge (brother) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frank Burge (14 August 1894 – 5 July 1958) was one of the greatestforwards in the history of rugby league in Australia.[4] Later Burge became one of the game's finest coaches. His club career was withGlebe and theSt. George Dragons. He representedNew South Wales on twenty-six occasions and played thirteen test matches for theKangaroos and played for Australia in a further twenty-three tour matches.
Born on 14 August 1894 inDarlington, New South Wales, Burge was playing first graderugby union at age 14, the youngest ever to play senior rugby in either code.
Upon switching to the professionalNew South Wales Rugby Football League, Burge was playing first grade forGlebe at age 16 and was selected for the state at age 18. After his attempt to enlist in theAustralian Imperial Force was rejected because of a speech impediment, Burge devoted his energies to rugby league.[5] At 93 kilograms or 14 stone 9 pounds and equally effective anywhere in the forwards from lock to prop, he had the speed of a back to complement his strength and an anticipation that made him a support player without peer. Burge was a teetotaller who was way ahead of his time in observing a strict diet, he used coaching concepts familiar in modern sports psychology and upheld an all-year training regime that continued right through the long Sydney summer off-season. He debuted forAustralia in the domestic1914 Ashes series against Great Britain appearing in all three Tests. He is listed on theAustralian Players Register as Kangaroo No. 88.[6] Burge was theNew South Wales Rugby Football League's top try-scorer in1915,1916 and1918 an extremely rare feat in even one year for a forward.
On the 1919 tour of New Zealand Burge played in all four tests. In the1920 season, he was theleague's top point scorer. Burge holds the NSWRFL/NSWRL/ARL/NRL record for most tries in a match, scoring eight in a club match for Glebe in 1920. Again in 1920 he appeared in all three Tests of the domesticAshes series and then was selected on the1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain where he played in all three tests and twenty representative tour matches scoring 33 tries in 23 matches, more than any touring forward before or since. Burge's representative record shows him appearing in every single Australian Test match played in the war-interrupted eight-year period between 1914 and 1922. He played 16 seasons and a record 148 first grade games for Glebe and was club captain for many years. His career tally of 146 first grade tries stood for eighty years as the highest by a forward untilManly-Warringah back rowerSteven Menzies broke it in 2004.
Burge moved toSt. George in 1927, retired as a player at the end of that season, and coached the club for a further three seasons. He maintained an average of a try a game for seventeen seasons scoring 218 tries in 213 senior matches with 146 coming from his 154 Sydney first grade matches. That try-scoring tally today stands at eleventh on an all-time list dominated by backs.
Burge's first coaching job was withSt. George between 1927 and 1930. Burge coached the club to the 1927 and 1930 grand finals where St. George were defeated on both occasions. Burge's next two coaching jobs saw him takeEastern Suburbs andNorth Sydney to the preliminary finals respectively. In 1936, he coachedCanterbury-Bankstown to their first finals series. He had similar success withNewtown in 1940 taking them to the finals after a second-placed finish. He returned to North Sydney in 1945 and once more guided them to the finals. In his final coaching role, Burge tookWestern Suburbs to the preliminary final in 1947. Following this match, Burge retired from coaching. He had a unique coaching career as he never once missed the finals with any team he was in charge of.[7]
Burge was awarded life membership of theNew South Wales Rugby League in 1935.[8]
On 5 July 1958, after watching a Newtown versus North Sydney match atHenson Park, Burge died suddenly after suffering a heart attack, 41 days short of his 64th birthday. A large funeral was held on 8 July at the Woronora Crematorium. He was survived by his wife Millie. Burge's formerUniversity rival Dick O'Brien said on Burge's death: "May I say, as Anthony did of Caesar: his life was gentle, the elements so mixed in him that nature might stand up and say to all the world "This was a man" '.[9][10] ReveredSun Herald sports journalist, Tom Goodwin said of Burge : "I believe Frank Burge was the greatest forward the game has ever produced. Indeed, he may have been the greatest league player ever."[11]
In 2004 he was admitted into theAustralian Rugby League Hall of Fame.[12]
In February 2008, Burge was named in the list of Australia's100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by theNRL andARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia.[13][14] Burge went on to be named as an interchange player in Australian rugby league'sTeam of the Century. Announced on 17 April 2008, the team is the panel's majority choice for each of the thirteen starting positions and four interchange players.[15][16]
In 2008 New South Wales announced their rugby league team of the century, naming Burge at prop.[17]
Joining fellow pre-WWII greatsDave Brown andDally Messenger, Burge was inducted as aRugby League Immortal in 2018, along with recent greatsNorm Provan andMal Meninga.[18][19] Uniquely, Burge is the only Immortal who has not won a NRL, NSWRL or BRL Premiership.On 20 July 2022, Burge was named in the St. George Dragons District Rugby League Clubs team of the century as head coach.[20]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jack Walsh 1946 | Coach Western Suburbs 1947 | Succeeded by Jeff Smith 1948 |
| Preceded by Frank Hyde 1943-1944 | Coach North Sydney 1945 | Succeeded by Harry Forbes 1946 |
| Preceded by Bill Kelly 1936-1937 | Coach Newtown 1940 | Succeeded by Percy Williams 1941 |
| Preceded by Arthur Justice 1936 | Coach St George 1937 | Succeeded by Norm Pope 1938 |
| Preceded by Tedda Courtney 1935 | Coach Canterbury-Bankstown 1936 | Succeeded by George Mason 1937 |
| Preceded by Arthur Edwards 1933 | Coach North Sydney 1935 | Succeeded by Jim Craig 1936 |
| Preceded by Arthur Halloway 1930–1931 | Coach Eastern Suburbs 1932 | Succeeded by Arthur Halloway 1933–1938 |
| Preceded by Herb Gilbert 1921–1924 | Coach St George 1927-1930 | Succeeded by Harry Kadwell 1931–1932 |
