Robert Alfred Bugden (born 25 February 1936) is an Australian former professional

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 112 ...

footballer. He was a with the

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until ...

in the first half of their 11-year consecutive premiership winning run from 1956 to 1966. He was also a representative in the Australian national team in 1959 and 1960, making two test appearances.

Early years

Bugden grew up in northern New South Wales and attended Murwillimbah High School where he played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

. He moved to Sydney aged 15 as a cadet with the

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, b ...

and was posted to Wollongong where he played under-18

for Nowra-Shellharbour. Back in Sydney a year later he played with the Sutherland Woronora junior league side and a St George fourth grade

side. He was a champion beach sprinter with the Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club, winning three national beach flags titles.

St George Dragons career

He played with the

St George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until ...

' Presidents Cup side in 1954 aged 18 and late that season appeared in reserve grade. He made his first grade debut still aged 18 in the Dragon's premiership semi-final victory over North Sydney in 1954 and two weeks later appeared and scored a try in the final against Newtown which St George lost 27-3. His first full year in first grade was in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yiji ...

, learning the ropes against the powerful

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, New South Wales, Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are ...

champion outfit to whom his side again bowed out in the premiership final with Bugden again scoring a try. He was the Dragons' first choice half-back for the first six of their consecutive premiership victories from 1956–61 and played 135 club games (133 1st grade), scoring 56 tries for the club. After St George signed George Evans in 1961 as a potential halfback, Bugden sought an open transfer and was allowed to leave at the end of the season. He followed his Dragons' coach and captain

Ken Kearney Kenneth Howard "Killer" Kearney (3 May 192418 August 2006) was an Australian rugby footballer – a dual-code international player – and a rugby league coach. He represented the Wallabies in seven Tests, and the Kangaroos in thirty-one Test ...

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

where he played a further four seasons, often as vice-captain.

Representative career

Budgen made his state representative debut in

1960 It is also known as the " Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * J ...

and again represented for

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

from the Parramatta club in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

. In Bugden's representative career he was vying against the incumbent national half-back, Queenslander

Barry Muir Barry Muir (18 September 1937 – 2 September 2022) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach. An Australian and Queensland representative , he played in twenty-two Tests between 1959 and 1964, as captain on two occasions. ...

, who was generally preferred by selectors. At the latter end of Bugden's career

Arthur Summons Arthur James Summons (13 December 1935 – 16 May 2020) was an Australian representative rugby union and rugby league player, a dual-code rugby international fly-half or five-eighth. He captained the Australian national rugby league team in fiv ...

was the test half. Budgen was picked for the 1959

Kangaroo tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australian national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours to ...

and played in five tour matches but no tests. He was selected in the 1960 World Cup squad and although he did not play in any tournament matches, made two tour match appearances for Australia after the World Cup. Bugden made his Test debut in the 1960 domestic series against France for the 2nd Test in Brisbane. He scored three tries on debut in Australia's 56-10 routing of France and backed up for the 3rd Test where he again crossed for a try.

Post playing

Post football, Budgen worked in the club and hotel industry before real estate sales.

References

Sources

* Writer, Larry (1995) ''Never Before, Never Again'', Pan MacMillan, Sydney * Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'' Australian Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney {{DEFAULTSORT:Bugden, Bob 1936 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Parramatta Eels players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Murwillumbah St. George Dragons players