Douglas Ricketson (8 December 1939 – 18 December 2019) was an Australian 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 who played in the 1960s. He played 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 ...

(NSWRL) competition. He played for the Eastern Suburbs and Penrith clubs and was the father of

Luke Ricketson Luke Ricketson (born 5 February 1973) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. An Australian national rugby league team, Australian and Ireland national rugby league team, Ireland internati ...

Playing career

A , Ricketson was a member of the Eastern Suburbs side that was defeated by

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 1960 Grand Final. He also represented Sydney in a match against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. In 1967, Ricketson played for Penrith in their debut season in the

NSWRFL 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 ...

before a knee injury brought about an end to his career.

Post playing

Formerly an athletics coach at

Waverley College Waverley College is a dual-campus independent Catholic early learning, primary and secondary day school for boys, located on Birrell and Henrietta Street in Waverley, in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, Australia. The school was founded by the C ...

, in Sydney, Ricketson spent many years coaching in country areas including Temora, where his daughter Kylie was born, Forster where his son

Luke Luke may refer to: People and fictional characters * Luke (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Luke (surname), including a list of people with the name * Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luk ...

was born, and South Grafton.

Death

Ricketson died in

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is 26 kilometres south of the Sydney central ...

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 ...

following a long illness on 18 December 2019 at the age of 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ricketson, Doug 1939 births 2019 deaths Australian rugby league players Country New South Wales rugby league team players Penrith Panthers players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from New South Wales Sydney Roosters players 20th-century Australian sportsmen