Johnno Stuntz

Johnno Stuntz

Stuntz in 1907
Personal information
Full name	John Stuntz
Born	1884 Sydney, Australia
Died	3 May 1917 Bullecourt, France
Playing information
Position	Wing
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1908–09 Eastern Suburbs 6 7 0 0 21 Dec 1909–Apr 10 Warrington 19 13 0 0 39 1911 Western Suburbs 6 1 0 0 3 1913 South Sydney 4 1 0 0 3 Total 35 22 0 0 66 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1909 Australia 0 0 1911 New South Wales 4 2 0 0 6

Johnno Stuntz (1884–1917) was an Australian pioneer rugby league footballer and soldier who served in World War I and died on the Western Front. A national and state representative winger, his club career was played with Eastern Suburbs, Western Suburbs and South Sydney in Australia, as well as one season with English club, Warrington Wolves. He played for New South Wales in the very first rugby match run by the newly created 'New South Wales Rugby Football League' which had just split away from the established New South Wales Rugby Football Union.

One of Australian rugby league's founding players, Stuntz was a member of the 1907 rebel side ("the 1907 Pioneers") that played against the New Zealand 'All Golds' in the series that helped to establish rugby league football in Australia. A fireman by profession, he played 14 matches (all grades) with Easts in the years (1908–10). In Easts' first match - the opening game of club rugby league in Australia, he scored four tries. This tally remains, equally with Jordan Atkins, the most tries scored on debut in Australian premiership history. In the following season Stuntz was selected to represent Australia against a touring New Zealand Maori side. In 2004 the Australian Rugby League granted Stuntz and his teammates retrospective representative status for the international games played against the Maori.