Herbert Samuel Barker (23 June 1929 – 17 May 2006) was an all-around athlete who represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in the

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

at the

Empire Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

and in

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

as a

Wallaby A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized Macropodidae, macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same Taxonomy (biology), taxon ...

, and played for

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 ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

Early life

Barker was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and was one of four children. His father died when he 14 and he was introduced to a wide variety of sports by Ray Rosbrook, the supervisor of the Moore Park sports centre. He played

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 ...

Crown Street Public School The Crown Street Public School is a heritage-listed State school, public primary school located at Crown Street, Sydney, Crown Street, Surry Hills, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by George Allen Mansfield and built from in 1 ...

before playing in a Kentwell Cup winning team for Moore Park.

Sporting career

Barker played basketball in the NSW team from 1946 until 1956. In the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games were the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. A documentary fil ...

he represented Australia as a hammer thrower and won a bronze medal. He won the Australian hammer throw championship in 1956 weighing just over 70 kg. In 1952 he made his first grade debut as a centre with Randwick District Rugby Union Football Club and very soon went into the NSW and Australian sides. He played in internationals against

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

- eight tests in all. He was plagued by injury in 1955 and 1956 and in 1957 he moved to the St George District Rugby League Club. His league career ended in 1959.

Coaching & teaching career

In 1966, Barker became a physical education teacher at

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

and coached

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

, basketball and rugby union. He retired in 1994Newington College Register of Past Students 1863-1998 (Syd, 1999) Abbreviated Staff List pp 1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Herb 1929 births 2006 deaths Australian male hammer throwers Athletes (track and field) at the 1950 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Australian rugby union players Rugby union centres Staff of Newington College Australia international rugby union players Rugby union players from Sydney Medallists at the 1950 British Empire Games Sportsmen from New South Wales Randwick DRUFC players Australian Athletics Championships winners New South Wales rugby union team players 20th-century Australian sportsmen Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics

Early life

Sporting career

Coaching & teaching career

See also

References