Kevin Junee is an Australian former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who played as a in the 1960s and 1970s. An Australian international and New South Wales interstate representative back, he played his club football in the

New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sou ...

for Sydney teams

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

and Manly-Warringah.

Family

Kevin is the father of Australian dual code

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player Darren Junee who also played rugby league for the Eastern Suburbs club between 1995 and 1998.

Career

Junee played all his junior football with

, breaking into the top grade in 1964 - the bleakest period in the club's history, winning just 2 matches that year and just 3 more in the following two. However this didn't stop Junee from breaking into the representative scene. In 1965, the speedy halfback was chosen for New South Wales and at the end of the

1967 NSWRFL season The 1967 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 60th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. The introduction of the Cronulla-Sutherland and Penrith clubs saw a total of twelve ...

was selected for the 1967–68 Kangaroo Tour, becoming Kangaroo No. 422, though he did not play in a test match on the tour. In the

1970 NSWRFL season The 1970 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 63rd season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six foundation clubs and another six admitted post 1908, competed ...

Junee was awarded the

Rothmans Medal The Rothmans Medal was the premier individual award in the New South Wales Rugby League and Brisbane Rugby League competitions, and later in the Australian Rugby League, which was given to the player voted by referees as the best and fairest ...

– rugby league's leading player award presented annually to the year's best player. Premiership success was one of the few things that eluded Junee throughout his career. The closest he came was in 1972 when he was a member of the Eastern Suburbs side that was defeated by Manly in that year's Grand Final 19–14. At the end of the 1973 season, Junee left Easts to join Manly in 1974 after a player swap brought his former halfback rival at Easts (and a 1973 premiership winner with Manly),

Johnny Mayes Johnny Mayes (born 29 April 1947) is an Australian former rugby league halfback who represented Australia in the 1975 World Cup. He also played in three consecutive premiership-winning teams from 1973 to 1975, the first for Manly-Warringah an ...

back to the club. That year, Eastern Suburbs won their first premiership since 1945 and won again in 1975, losing only three games all season. To rub salt into these wounds, Mayes had just won a premiership with Manly in 1973 and was part of these two premiership winning sides. While playing for the Sea Eagles during the

1974 NSWRFL season The 1974 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 67th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from across Sydne ...

Junee topped the season's try-scoring list with 23 tries, a club record at the time and still second all-time season for the club (as of

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

), only beaten by

Phil Blake Phil Blake (born 24 November 1963) is a former rugby league footballer and a professional rugby union coach. Originally a , Blake developed into a utility player and played first grade matches in all the backline positions, as well as at and ...

who crossed for 27 in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

. Junee scored only 6 tries for Manly in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. Junee returned to Easts for his final season in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

(Manly won the 1976 premiership), displacing Mayes at halfback before the emergence of an up-and-coming

Kevin Hastings Kevin "Horrie" Hastings (born 5 January 1957) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and during the 1970s and 1980s. Hastings played for the Eastern Suburbs in the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL), ...

. Junee, who played 159 matches for Eastern Suburbs, has been made a life member of the club.

Post Playing

Junee went on to run a sports store in Bondi Junction for many years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Junee, Kevin Australian rugby league players Sydney Roosters players Sydney Roosters captains Australia national rugby league team players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Living people Rugby league halfbacks Year of birth missing (living people) Rugby league players from Sydney