Eddie Burns (16 January 1916 – 30 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 and coach of the mid 20th century. A New South Wales representative prop-forward, he played for the

Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown is a customary region of Sydney, Australia, in Inner South-Western Sydney. The region is located to the north of the St George region (from which it is separated by Wolli Creek) and to the south of the Inner West region ...

club of 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 ...

, later becoming their coach.

Playing career

While still a teenager, Burns played in the Canterbury-Bankstown club's first ever season in 1935 and was sent off in his first match. He played for 16 seasons in First Grade from 1935 to 1950. Eddie Burns played 212 first grade games and scored 196 career points in his long career. He won two premierships with

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

and

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

. In 1948, Burns was selected to represent

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 ...

playing 2 games. He retired in 1950 as the Canterbury club's top ever try-scorer, with 60, a record not bettered until Chris Anderson in 1978. Burns is the 16th player to represent Canterbury-Bankstown.

Coaching career

Burns's career as coach of

was subject to a two-year interruption when

Clive Churchill Clive Bernard Churchill Order of Australia, AM (21 January 1927 – 9 August 1985) was an Australians, Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach in the mid-20th century. An Australian Kangaroos, Australian international and Ne ...

was selected as the club's coach. He coached the club between 1960 and 1962 and again in 1965. He coached New South Wales City Firsts in 1963 and the

New South Wales rugby league team The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Also known as the Blues due to their sky blue jerseys, the team competes in the an ...

in 1964. Burns co-managed the 1969 Australian touring team to New Zealand, along with Jack Lynch of Ipswich, Queensland.

Accolades

In 1985, Burns was selected in Canterbury's 'Greatest Team Ever'. In 2004 he was selected in the 70 Year Canterbury-Bankstown team of champions. In 2015, he was the first player to be inducted into the Canterbury-Bankstown hall of fame.

References

External links

"Burns declares his Fitness for League Grand Final" ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', Friday, 19 September 1947 (p. 12)
1916 births 2004 deaths Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs coaches Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players New South Wales rugby league team players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league props 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1910s-stub