Billy Rayner (22 May 1935 – 18 July 2006) was an Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s.

Career

Originally from

Yass, New South Wales Yass () is a town on the periphery of the Southern Tablelands and South West Slopes of New South Wales, Australia. The name appears to have been derived from an Australian Aboriginal, Aboriginal word, "Yarrh" (or "Yharr"), said to mean 'running ...

, Billy Rayner went on to play 195 games for

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

during a long 11-year career between 1956 and 1966. Rayner's playing career with Parramatta was during a very difficult period in the club's history where they struggled on the field for many years due to having limited resources and a weak playing roster. Rayner collected 6 wooden spoons in his career at Parramatta. He went through a period of 161 successive first grade games without scoring a try, an Australian rugby league record. He also represented both

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on two occasions each in 1960. He is listed on the ''Australian Players Register'' as Kangaroo No. 360. His usual position was as at hooker. He later went on to be a director of the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

's club. In 1967, Rayner was made a life member of the Parramatta club. In 1995 Rayner was awarded life membership of the

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in rugby league in New South Wales, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Co ...

. In 2004, Rayner was inducted into the Parramatta clubs Hall of Fame. He died after a short illness in July 2006, aged 71.Sydney Morning Herald- Death Notice 21 July 2006

References

1935 births 2006 deaths Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Parramatta Eels players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Yass, New South Wales New South Wales rugby league team players 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1930s-stub