Vince Karalius
| Personal information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Vincent Peter Patrick Karalius | |||||
| Nickname | The Wild Bull of the Pampas Vinty | |||||
| Born |
15 October 1932 Widnes, Lancashire, England |
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| Died | 13 December 2008 (aged 76) Isle of Man |
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| Playing information | ||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | |||||
| Weight | 14 st 0 lb (89 kg) | |||||
| Position | Centre, Second-row, Loose forward | |||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 1952–62 | St Helens | 252 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 126 |
| 1962–66 | Widnes | 128 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Total | 380 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 138 | |
| Representative | ||||||
| Years | Team | Pld | T | G | FG | P |
| 1956–63 | Lancashire | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 1958–63 | Great Britain | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Coaching information | ||||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Gms | W | D | L | W% |
| 1972–75 | Widnes | |||||
| 1976–79 | Wigan | |||||
| 1983–84 | Widnes | |||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Vincent Peter Patrick Karalius (15 October 1932 – 13 December 2008) was an English rugby league player and coach. He played as a loose forward and was part of the Great Britain squad which won the 1960 World Cup. He forged a fearsome reputation as a strong runner of the ball and a devastating tackler. He was also highly regarded as a brilliant passer of the ball, often doing so with one of his large hands.
Vince Karalius was born on 15 October 1932 in Widnes, Lancashire. He was one of eight children born to a Scottish father and an Irish mother; his paternal grandparents were Lithuanian. Three of his brothers, Terry, Denis and Tony, also went on to become rugby league players.
He started playing for West Bank ARLFC in Widnes at the age of 15, before signing professionally for St. Helens in 1951. He made his début against Warrington in April 1952, and his first try was against the now defunct Liverpool City in that same time.
His intimidating presence became a telling feature of his play. Respected for his ferocious attitude on the pitch, he was dubbed 'the Wild Bull of the Pampas' by the Australian press, in reference to the Argentine boxer Luis Ángel Firpo, who had knocked World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Jack Dempsey out of the ring back in 1923.
It took until the 1955–56 season for Karalius to establish himself as a St. Helens' regular, although a significant part of the 31 games he played that season were in the second row. Many were quick to focus on Karalius' mean defensive play, but his value to St. Helens was also evident in attack where he combined rugby nous with delicate handling skills to distribute effectively.
Vince Karalius played Loose forward/Lock in St. Helens' 13-2 victory over Halifax in the 1956 Challenge Cup final during the 1955–56 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 28 April 1956, in front of a crowd of 79,341.
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