Jerry Brien was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He played for Western Suburbs,

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

and for the New South Wales Rugby League team. He also coached the Canterbury-Bankstown club and Western Suburbs.

Playing career

In 1925, Brien was chosen to play for New South Wales 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 Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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 Canterbury-Bankstown 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

1900 births 1962 deaths Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs coaches City New South Wales rugby league team players Date of birth missing Date of death missing New South Wales rugby league team coaches New South Wales rugby league team players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Sydney St. George Dragons players Western Suburbs Magpies coaches Western Suburbs Magpies players {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1900s-stub