Lee Pomfret (born 8 December 1957) is an Australian former 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 1970s and 1980s. Pomfret was a foundation player for

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

playing in the club's first game.

Background

Pomfret was born in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

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 ...

and played his junior rugby league for the Peakhurst Hawks.

Playing career

Pomfret made his first grade debut for St George in Round 1 1977 against Penrith at

Kogarah Oval Jubilee Stadium (also known as Kogarah Oval) is a multi-purpose stadium in Carlton, a suburb in Sydney, Australia. The stadium is mainly used for rugby league and the A-League, and is one of the home grounds of the National Rugby League (NRL) ...

. St George went on to win the premiership in 1977 but Pomfret was not a member of the grand final winning team. In 1980, Pomfret joined Canterbury-Bankstown and made 10 appearances in his first year at the club. Pomfret played in 2 finals games but was not selected in the grand final team which defeated Eastern Suburbs to win their first premiership in 38 years. In 1982, Pomfret joined newly admitted Illawarra and played in the club's first ever game which was against Penrith at

WIN Stadium Wollongong Showground, known as WIN Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Wollongong, Australia. The stadium was officially opened in 1911. From 1982 until 1998 it played host to every home match for the Illawa ...

and ended in a 17–7 loss. Pomfret looked set to cement his first grade place at fullback with I’warra in 1982 but in a match against Wests he was left with a broken nose and fractured cheekbone after an altercation with opposing forward Bob Cooper. Pomfret played with Illawarra up until the end of the 1983 season before retiring.

References

1957 births Living people Australian rugby league players Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Illawarra Steelers players Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Canterbury-Bankstown Rugby league wingers St. George Dragons players 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1950s-stub