Clive Churchill

Clive Churchill

Personal information
Full name	Clive Bernard Churchill
Nickname	The Little Master
Born	(1927-01-21)21 January 1927 Newcastle, New South Wales
Died	9 August 1985(1985-08-09) (aged 58) Sydney, New South Wales
Playing information
Height	175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	76 kg (12 st 0 lb)
Position	Fullback
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1946–47 Central Newcastle 1947–58 South Sydney 157 13 77 0 193 1959 Norths (Brisbane) 1961 Moree Total 157 13 77 0 193 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1948–55 NSW City Firsts 8 2 3 1 14 1948–57 New South Wales 27 4 15 3 48 1948–56 Australia 37 0 10 0 20 1951 Sydney Firsts 1 0 0 0 0 1959 Queensland 1 0 0 0 0
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 1958 South Sydney 18 6 0 12 33 1959 Norths (BRL) 1964 Canterbury-Bankstown 18 1 1 16 6 1967–75 South Sydney 211 136 3 72 64 Total 247 143 4 100 58 Representative Years Team Gms W D L W% 1952–63 Australia 29 15 1 13 52 1959 Queensland 3 2 0 1 67
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Clive Bernard Churchill AM (21 January 1927 – 9 August 1985) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach of the mid-20th century. An Australian international and New South Wales and Queensland interstate representative fullback, he played the majority of his club football with and later coached the South Sydney Rabbitohs. He won five premierships with the club as a player and three more as coach. Retiring as the most capped Australian Kangaroos player ever, Churchill is thus considered one of the game's greatest ever players and the prestigious Clive Churchill Medal for man-of-the-match in the NRL grand final bears his name. Churchill's attacking flair as a player is credited with having changed the role of the fullback.

Clive Churchill was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, and was a star schoolboy five-eighth at Marist Brothers, Hamilton where he won five premierships while at school. The brothers at his school banned him from playing with Central Newcastle juniors and as a result he only appeared for them a handful of times.

In 1946 Churchill was graded with Central in the Newcastle Rugby League competition as a fullback. He represented for Country Seconds in 1946 and came to the attention of Sydney talent scouts. He was signed to South Sydney by their patron Dave Spring and moved to Sydney at the start of the 1947 NSWRFL season. Under captain-coach Jack Rayner, South Sydney reached the 1949 NSWRFL season's grand final against St. George and Churchill played at fullback in the Rabbitohs' loss. Souths reached the grand final again the following year, this time against Western Suburbs, and Churchill played fullback in the Rabbitohs' victory.