Bob Boland (born 7 January 1938) nicknamed "Bolo" is an Australian former professional

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 and coach who played for the

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995 to 1996) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain, New South Wales, Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and on ...

and

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

Playing career

Boland made his debut for

in 1957. Boland played with the club for 11 seasons and was a member of the Balmain sides who played in the 1964 and 1966 grand final defeats against St George. In 1968, Boland moved out west to join the newly-admitted club

where he played for three seasons before retiring.

Coaching career

After joining Penrith, Boland took on the role as captain-coach, but after retirement became the full-time non-playing coach. Boland held the position until he was terminated by the club at the end of the 1972 season. Boland's time as coach was not as successful as his playing career only winning 35% of games played. In 1976, Boland moved to Nambucca Heads and coached the Nambucca Roosters.

Later life

In 2016, Boland spoke about his playing career saying,
''“I used to go to the movies or out around town and see the old Balmain players – and you look up to them ... when they said hello it gave you a bit of a lift, “When I started to play, I became the person people looked up to". “I used to get the tram to work and if I had a good game, everyone would want to sit next to me. If I had a shit game – I’d be all alone"''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boland, Bob 1938 births Living people Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Balmain Tigers players Penrith Panthers coaches Penrith Panthers captains Penrith Panthers players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league second-rows 20th-century Australian sportsmen