Laurie Fagan (3 May 1941 – 28 September 2020) was a professional

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. Fagan played for Balmain and the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

in the

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in rugby league in New South Wales, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Co ...

(NSWRL) competition.

Playing career

A local junior, Fagan was graded with Balmain in 1958 and was in first grade the following year, replacing Brian Staunton. In 1962 Fagan played 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 ...

against

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 ...

and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. Also, in 1962, he was named ''The Sun Herald'' 'Player of the Year'. Fagan was slowly forced out of Balmain's first grade side after club had signed the Englishman Dave Bolton during 1965. Fagan moved to the new Penrith club in 1967 and was their foundation captain during their debut season, but ultimately lost the captaincy in 1968 to another ex-Balmian team-mate,

Bob Boland Bob Boland (born 7 January 1938) nicknamed "Bolo" is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach who played for the Balmain Tigers and Penrith Panthers. Playing career Boland made his debut for Balmain Tigers in 1957. ...

. Fagan stayed at Penrith until 1970, playing 77 first grade matches before retiring. At a dinner in 2008, Fagan was inducted into 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 ...

Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fagan, Laurie 1941 births 2020 deaths Sportsmen from New South Wales Australian rugby league players Penrith Panthers players Penrith Panthers captains Balmain Tigers players New South Wales rugby league team players Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league halfbacks 20th-century Australian sportsmen