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

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consist ...

at the

Empire Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

and in

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 ...

as a

Wallaby A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized 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 taxonomic family as kangaroos and some ...

, and played 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 ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

Early life

Barker was born in Sydney 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 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 ...

at Bourke Street Public School 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 was 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. The main venue was ...

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,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

- 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 , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

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), competiti ...

, 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 Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Australian rugby union players Rugby union centres Staff of Newington College Australia international rugby union players Rugby union players from Sydney