Bruce Pickett is an Australian former

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 1970s. He played for Eastern Suburbs and Newtown in 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 ...

competition.

Playing career

A Newtown junior, Pickett made his first grade debut for Newtown in 1973. Under the coaching of Jack Gibson, Newtown finished 4th in 1973. Pickett played in all of Newtown's finals matches as the club fell short of a grand final appearance losing to Cronulla-Sutherland in the preliminary final. In 1974, Pickett departed the club and signed with Easts at the same time that Jack Gibson was announced as their new coach. Pickett missed out on playing in the club's 1974 premiership winning team which defeated Canterbury in the grand final. In 1975, Eastern Suburbs went on to claim the 1975 minor premiership and reach the 1975 NSWRL grand final against

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 ...

. Easts went on to win their second straight premiership defeating St George 38–0 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 ...

with Pickett scoring a try. The match is mainly remembered for the white boots worn by St George player

Graeme Langlands Graeme Frank Langlands, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE, (2 September 1941 – 20 January 2018), also known by the nickname of "Changa", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played from the 19 ...

. The 38–0 scoreline remained as the heaviest defeat in a grand final until Manly defeated Melbourne 40–0 in the 2008 decider. Pickett played with Eastern Suburbs until the end of the 1977 season before re-joining Newtown. In his 2 seasons back at Newtown, the club finished last on the table claiming the wooden spoon in 1978 and in 1979 finished second last above

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

on the table.

References

1952 births Living people Australian rugby league players Newtown Jets players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league wingers Sydney Roosters players 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1950s-stub