Keith Barnes
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William Keith Barnes AM (30 October 1934 – 7 April 2024), also known by the
nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...
of "Golden Boots", was a Welsh-born 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 1950s and 1960s, and
coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...
ed in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He was a for the Australian national team and for the
Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995 to 1996) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain, New South Wales, Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and on ...
. He played in 14 tests between 1959 and 1966, as national captain on 12 occasions. He was known as "Golden Boots" due to his exceptional goal-kicking ability. After his playing days he became a referee and later co-commentated on the
Amco Cup The Amco Cup (subsequently known by various other sponsors' names including the Tooth and Co., Tooth Cup, KB Lager, KB Cup, National Panasonic Cup and Panasonic Cup) was a mid-week rugby league competition held in Australia between 1974 and 198 ...
on
Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...
with
Ray Warren Raymond Warren (born 11 June 1943) is an Australian retired sports commentator, known for his coverage of televised professional rugby league matches on the Nine Network. He is known as the "Voice of Rugby League", and called 99 State of Ori ...
in the 1970s. He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.


Background

Barnes was born in
Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community (Wales), community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which d ...
, Wales on 30 October 1934.


Early years

Barnes was 15 when his family emigrated to Australia in 1950 to
Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...
where Barnes learnt the game at Wollongong High School. He was graded by the Wollongong club at age 19 as a half-back and in 1954 represented for Country and in a Southern Districts side against the touring
Great Britain Lions The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions. For most of the 20th century, the Great Britain team toured overseas, p ...
.


Club career

In 1955 he was signed by Norm "Latchem" Robinson to join the
Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995 to 1996) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain, New South Wales, Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and on ...
and moved to the district and straight into first grade, never playing a single lower grade game in the following 14 seasons. The following year he played in the first of three
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 ...
s against the
St George Dragons The St. George Dragons are an Australian rugby league, rugby league football club from the St George, Sydney, St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales Rugby League, New South Wales competition ...
at the beginning of their long premiership reign. On three occasions
1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...
,
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...
and
1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
Keith Barnes would experience defeat in a premiership decider – the last two as captain. Barnes quickly became known for his deadly accurate goal-kicking and would often kick penalties from the further side of the 50-yard line. He once kicked eleven goals in a club match. In 1966 he overtook
Ron Willey Ronald William Willey (1929−2004) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He was a representative for the Australian national side. Post-playing, Willey had a long and successful first grade and State representative coaching car ...
's record for the most points scored in an
NSWRFL The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission.It was registered on 21 ...
career (1,288); Barnes' eventual total of 1,519 stood as the new career record for seven seasons until it was bettered by Eric Simms in 1973. Barnes' tally of 1,519 points for Balmain placed him (as of 2017) 19th on the all-time list of club pointscorers. In his final playing year with Balmain in 1967, Barnes was captain-coach. He returned briefly for some match appearances in 1968 when the club's playing roster was depleted by injury.


Representative career

Barnes made his debut 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 ...
in 1956. His international debut was in the 1957
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...
. He broke his cheekbone in the opening match of the series but stayed on field to kick five goals. Barnes made his test debut against
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 ...
in Brisbane in the second test of the 1959 trans-Tasman series enjoying the rare distinction of captaining his country in his first Test appearance. He kicked seven goals in that outing and stayed on as fullback, goal kicker and captain for the third test. He was then selected as captain for the 1959 Kangaroo tour and played as
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
in all six Test matches and sixteen minor tour matches, kicking 101 goals on the tour. At the tail-end of the trip he appeared in two promotional games against Italy. In 1960, Barnes led Australia in all three tests of a domestic series against France. He enjoys the record of six career test appearances against France, all as captain, for four wins, 1 draw and a loss. In the Brisbane second test 55–6 victory Barnes kicked a test record of 10 goals. He was then selected as captain-coach of the 1960
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...
squad played in England. He appeared in Australia's second and third matches of the tournament with his representative rival
Brian Carlson Brian Patrick Carlson (12 February 1933 – 14 April 1987) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a & utility back for the Australia national team. He played in 17 Tests and 6 World C ...
doing the goal-kicking. Barnes returned to national honours in the second test of the 1962 domestic series against Great Britain, his final test as captain. Thereafter Australian selectors enjoyed a surfeit of talented young fullbacks to choose from and Ken Thornett and Les Johns were regularly selected until
Graeme Langlands Graeme Frank Langlands, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE, (2 September 1941 – 20 January 2018), also known by the nickname of "Changa", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played from the 19 ...
later became the incumbent. In 1966 however Barnes made two final representative appearances in the first and second tests of the domestic Ashes series. He scored all of Australia's points in the second test victory. Injury saw Les Johns take Barnes' spot for the third and he would not regain it.


Post playing

Barnes retired from competitive rugby league in 1968 having made seventeen appearances for his adopted country and 234 appearances for the Tigers in which he averaged four goals per game. After three unsuccessful Grand Final outings during his time, the Tigers ironically won their first premiership in twenty-one years in Barnes' first year after retirement –
1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...
. Barnes continued an active role in rugby league and in 1976 became Secretary-Manager of the Balmain Leagues Club and in 1984 took up the role of Chief Executive of the football club. Barnes was the first ex-Kangaroo captain to manage the Australian side on the 1990 Kangaroo tour. At the turn of the century Barnes was honoured with selection in the Balmain's 'Team of the Century' and in the
Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...
' 'Team of the Century'

The yearly award for the best back at the
Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...
club is named the Keith Barnes Medal in his honour. In 2007 he was inducted into the
Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame The National Rugby League Hall of Fame was first established as the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2002, before being reestablished in 2018 in its current form. The hall of fame honours the contributions made to the National Rugby League ...
. In February 2008, Barnes was named in the list of Australia's ''100 Greatest Players'' (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the
NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...
and ARL to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. In the
1996 Australia Day Honours The 1996 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 1996 by the Governor General of Australia, Bill Hayden. The Australia ...
, he was appointed a
Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
(AM) in "recognition of service to rugby league as a player and administrator". On 24 October 2000, he was awarded the
Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...
for his rugby league achievements. In 2009 Barnes was honoured with the naming of the Keith Barnes Stand at
Leichhardt Oval Leichhardt Oval is a rugby league and soccer stadium in Lilyfield, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently one of three home grounds for the Wests Tigers National Rugby League (NRL) team, along with Campbelltown Stadium and Western Syd ...
, the Balmain Tigers' home ground. He died on 7 April 2024, at the age of 89.


Representative matches played


Sources

* Whiticker, Alan (2004) ''Captaining the Kangaroos'', New Holland, Sydney * Andrews, Malcolm (2006) ''The ABC of Rugby League'' Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney *


Notes


References


External links


Wests Tigers team of the century
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Keith 1934 births 2024 deaths Australia national rugby league team captains Australia national rugby league team coaches Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league administrators Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league commentators Australian rugby league players Australian rugby league referees Balmain Tigers captains Balmain Tigers coaches Balmain Tigers players City New South Wales rugby league team players Country New South Wales rugby league team players Members of the Order of Australia New South Wales rugby league team players Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Port Talbot Welsh emigrants to Australia 20th-century Australian sportsmen