Norman John "Johnny" Hawke (1925 – 10 January 1992) 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 who played in the 1940s, and 1950s. An Australian international and New South Wales interstate representative back, he played club football in the ACT as well as 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 ...

for St. George Dragons,Johnny Hawke
at ''yesterdayshero.com.au'' whom he captained and won a premiership with in 1949.

Background

Hawke was born in

Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the Queanbeyan-Pale ...

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 ...

in 1925. At an early age, he displayed enormous sporting talent. Like many young sportsmen of the time, he played

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

on Saturday and

on Sunday.

Rugby league career

Early years

In 1940 at the age of 15, Hawke played first grade for the Queanbeyan Blues rugby league team and Queanbeyan Tigers Australian football team. After leaving school, he started work at Commonwealth Government Printing Office. He transferred to the Eastlake Football Club as many of the Printing Office staff played for that club. He won Eastlake's best and fairest award in 1945 and in 1946 he captained the team. Eastlake lost the 1946 Grand Final after being undefeated during the year. Hawke played for the Queanbeyan Blues in 1946 but transferred to play in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

in 1947. In 1948, he received several inducements to leave but remained playing in the local competition for 6 pounds per week. During 1948, Hawke was selected for Monaro,

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and

. He used up all his leave entitlements from the Printing Office and as a result did not have any leave left to play in the final selection game, New South Wales versus

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. Even though his leave application was rejected, he went and played in the game but the consequence was that the Printing Office dismissed him on his return to work. Hawke was selected for the 1948-49 Kangaroo tour and left Canberra in August 1948 with a gift of just over 10 pounds from the Canberra Rugby League. He played four Tests against Great Britain and France. During the tour, as five-eighth and centre, he scored 11 tries and played 23 out of the 37 games.

St. George

Upon the tour's return, he signed with the St. George Dragons for the 1949 NSWRFL season and was appointed captain at the age of 24. In the 1949 semi-final against South Sydney, he suffered a broken upper jaw and cracked teeth after a heavy tackle by Jack Rayner. He remained on the field and set up the winning try to winger Ron Roberts. Three weeks later, he led the Saints to premiership victory and played a leading role in the 19-12

Grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

win over South Sydney. Mid-season 1949, he had made the Kangaroo tour to New Zealand and another Test appearance. In 1950, he was in the running for the Ashes series captaincy but injured his knee in the visiting Great Britain national rugby league team's tour match against

at the SCG which drew a record crowd of over 70,419 and made no further rep appearances that year. He made a career total of six state representative appearances for New South Wales and captained the side. Hawke captained-coached St. George in the premiership seasons of 1951 and 1952, and in 1951 made his final test appearance against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. In 1952, he suffered a slipped disc that led to him being in plaster from neck to thighs. Injury led to his career at St. George being curtailed at the end of the 1952 NSWRFL season.

Later years

Hawke left St. George to take a captain-coach role at Kyogle, New South Wales and the team won the premiership in his first year as coach. He left Kyogle to coach at Woy Woy. Hawke returned to Canberra in 1956. Hawke died of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

on 10 January 1992 at the age of 66. He was married to Joan for 46 years. After his death, he was inducted into the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

Sports Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawke, Johnny 1925 births 1992 deaths Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Australian rules footballers from the Australian Capital Territory City New South Wales rugby league team players Country New South Wales rugby league team players Neurological disease deaths in the Australian Capital Territory Deaths from Parkinson's disease Eastlake Football Club players New South Wales rugby league team players Queanbeyan Football Club players Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Queanbeyan St. George Dragons captains St. George Dragons coaches St. George Dragons players Queanbeyan Blues players 20th-century Australian sportsmen