John Graves (rugby league)

Johnny Graves

Personal information
Full name	John Neal Graves
Nickname	Whacka
Born	1926
Died	23 July 1983 Paddington, New South Wales
Playing information
Position	Wing
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1946 Maitland 1947–52 South Sydney 77 79 158 0 553 Total 77 79 158 0 553 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1946 Newcastle 1948–51 Australia 7 5 14 0 43
Source: [1]

John (Johnny) Graves (1926–23 Jul 1983) was an Australian rugby league footballer of the late 1940s and early 1950s. An Australian international representative goal-kicking winger, he played his club football for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, with whom he won back-to-back premierships in 1950-51.

Known as "Whacka", Graves commenced his footballing in Newcastle, New South Wales and came to the attention of Sydney talent scouts when he scored two tries in his international debut representing Newcastle against a touring British side in 1946.

Graves joined South Sydney in 1947 and after only four first grade games was selected for New South Wales. He formed a strong backline pairing with Clive Churchill and was victorious in Grand Finals with Souths in 1950 (scoring two tries) and in 1951 (scoring four tries).

He debuted for Australia against New Zealand in the 1st Test of 1948, played in the rest of that series and then toured Great Britain with the 1948 Kangaroos. He played in two Tests and twenty Tour games returning as the side's top scorer with 16 tries and 35 goals for 188 points.

He represented for Australia in seven Test matches (3 Great Britain, 3 New Zealand and 1 France) between 1948 and 1951. He was selected to represent Sydney against France during their 1951 tour of Australasia in a match that ended in a 19-all draw.