John O'Neill
Prop
Player Bio
- Inducted:
- 2008
- Date of Birth:
- 09 May 1943
- Birthplace:
- Griffith, NSW
- Nickname:
- Lurch
- Debut Team:
- Country Seconds
- Date:
- -
- Opposition:
- City Seconds
- Venue:
- Sydney Cricket Ground, NSW
- Representative:
- Country, City, New South Wales, Australia
- Clubs:
- South Sydney Rabbitohs, Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
Career
Milestones
- Premierships: 1967-68, 1970-73)
- Kangaroo Tour: 1973
- Rated No. 77 in Rugby League Week’s Top 100 players: 1992
- Named in NRL Team of the 1970s: 2005
Playing
- First Class Games
- 272
- Points
- 69
- Tries
- 23
Biography
John O'Neill played in nine grand finals, winning premierships with Souths before transforming Manly from bridesmaids to champions. O'Neill, a tough, rugged prop forward from Gunnedah, joined the Rabbitohs in 1965, to become part of a famous forward pack that also included John Sattler, Elwyn Walters, Ron Coote and Bob McCarthy. He became renowned for his barging runs and brick-wall defence.
In the famous 1970 grand final, O'Neill was even more punishing after Sattler suffered a fractured jaw and his performance that day ensured his selection in the 1970 World Cup squad.
In the final of that tournament, O'Neill dished out plenty of punishment in the first half, and was the target for retribution in the second.
Afterwards, he was battered, his shin split to the bone, but all he could talk about was how Billy Smith had played on with a badly gashed leg.
O'Neill was a force in Manly's initial first-grade grand final win, a 19–14 victory over Easts in 1972, and staged a running battle with his opposite number, Englishman Cliff Watson, when the Sea Eagles beat Cronulla 10–7 a year later.
These displays helped earn him a place in the 1973 Kangaroos squad, and he made his Test debut on that tour.
The following season, he was a key player in the Australian team that won the Ashes-deciding third Test.
“I regarded O’Neill as a man of great character and great courage, and I realized he was the sort of forward Manly needed up front.”
Ken Arthuson Manly supremo
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73. John O'Neill - Hall of Fame
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