Robert W. "Bob" Batty (18 January 1939 – 9 June 2004) 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, 1960s and 1970s. A prolific goal kicking (though he started his career on the ), Batty played his entire career with the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League sea ...

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 Sout ...

Career

A product of

Murwillumbah Murwillumbah ( ) is a town in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Tweed Shire, on the Tweed River. Sitting on the south eastern foothills of the McPherson Range in the Tweed Volcano valley, Murwillumbah is 848&nbs ...

in far north-eastern

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 ...

, Batty came to the Sea Eagles in 1958 and made his first grade debut for the club on 3 May

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

against Newtown at

Brookvale Oval Brookvale Oval, currently known as 4 Pines Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Brookvale, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Northern Beaches Council and is primarily used by the M ...

. He kicked two goals on the day, though Manly were beaten 15-11. Playing behind representative fullback and club captain

Ron Willey Ronald William Willey (1929−2004) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He was a representative for the Australian national side. Post-playing, Willey had a long and successful first grade and State representative coaching car ...

, Batty played mostly in Reserve Grade for Manly, winning the Reserves premiership in 1960 before getting his chance when Willey moved to

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 ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

. With Willey's departure, Batty moved permanently into the fullback role and also took on the goal kicking duties for the first grade side. He would be a fixture in the Manly side until his retirement after a trial game before the 1972 season, making way for 18 year old goal kicking fullback

Graham Eadie Graham "Wombat" Eadie (born 25 November 1953), is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He has been named amongst Australia's finest of the 20th century. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australia ...

to take over the role. After making his debut against Newtown at Brookvale in 1959, Batty's last regular premiership game for Manly-Warringah was also against Newtown at Brookvale Oval in the final round of the 1971 season. As he did on debut, he kicked two goals on the day though this time around Manly would win the game 25-5. He would then appear in two Finals games, the last being a 15-12 loss to

St George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...

in the 1971 Preliminary Final at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

. A reliable last line of defence for Manly-Warringah, Batty played in the club's losing Grand Final to powerhouse club South Sydney in

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

. Manly-Warringah would again face Souths in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, with again South Sydney emerging victorious. Batty became the first Manly-Warringah player to play over 200 games and score over 1,000 points for the club. He finished his career with a then club record 205 games and 1,158 points (40 tries, 502 goals and 19 field goals). As of the end of 2024, Batty's point scoring tally for Manly still sees him sitting fourth on the club's all-time list behind

Jamie Lyon Jamie Lyon (born 24 January 1982), also known by the nickname of "Killer", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin represe ...

, and

Reuben Garrick Reuben Garrick (born 30 June 1997) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League. He has played at representative level for the Prime Minister's XIII and f ...

. Batty also played 52 reserve grade games for Manly, scoring 23 tries and 45 goals. He was the 127th player to play first grade for Manly-Warringah and was made a life member of the club in 1973.

Death

Bob Batty died on 9 June 2004 at the age of 65 after collapsing while working at

Bunnings Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian hardware and garden centre chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings was founded in Per ...

in the Sydney suburb of

Terrey Hills Terrey Hills is a suburb of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 25 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. It is part of the Forest District and ...

.League Unlimited - RIP Bob Batty
/ref> In his honor, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

(Reserve Grade) Best and Fairest award is named the "NSW Cup Bob Batty Best and Fairest".

References

External links

;Books * {{DEFAULTSORT:Batty, Bob 1939 births 2004 deaths Australian rugby league players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Murwillumbah 20th-century Australian sportsmen