Jerry Brien 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. He played for Western Suburbs,

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 ...

and for 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 ...

. He also coached 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 and Western Suburbs.

Playing career

In 1925, Brien was chosen to play 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 ...

although he was only playing for the Western Suburbs reserve grade team, and had played just a handful of first grade games since his debut in 1923. Brien represented NSW again in 1928, and was selected to represent

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 second test against England, but an injury suffered playing for Wests stopped him from making his international debut. After six seasons with Western Suburbs, Brien joined

for 4 games in 1929.

Coaching career

After his retirement as a player, Brien began coaching, including stints with South Grafton in 1932 & Cowra in 1933. In 1937, Brien returned to coach Western Suburbs for the eight games of the shortened season where they finished second last. In 1939, he took over as coach at

for a season, and returned to be at the helm when they won their second premiership in 1942. By 1947, Brien was NSW coach and one of their selectors. Later, he became an Australian selector, but was dropped as a NSW selector in March 1951, making him ineligible to fill the national role.

References

1904 births 1981 deaths Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs coaches City New South Wales rugby league team players New South Wales rugby league team coaches New South Wales rugby league team players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Newcastle, New South Wales St. George Dragons players Western Suburbs Magpies coaches Western Suburbs Magpies players 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1900s-stub