Ray Branighan (born 5 December 1947) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer, a star and of the 1970s for the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league club based in Redfern, New South Wales, Redfern, a suburb of inner-southern Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and are ...

, the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rug ...

, as well as the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

state and

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal ...

national representative sides.

Background

Ray Branighan was born in Sydney, Australia.

Souths club career

Branighan played 57 games with South Sydney between 1968 and 1971. He played in the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

victorious Rabbitohs Grand Finals scoring tries in both. In 2004 he was named by Souths in their ''South Sydney Dream Team'',South Sydney Dream Team
from the official South Sydney website. consisting of 17 players and a coach representing the club from

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 4 ...

through to

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Manly club career

He was one of a number of 1971 Rabbitohs poached by wealthier clubs in 1972 and along with teammate John O'Neill he moved to Manly. He played 114 games for Manly between 1972 and 1978. He played in the victorious

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

and

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

Grand Finals for Manly (partnering

Bob Fulton Robert Fulton (1 December 1947 – 23 May 2021), also nicknamed "Bozo", was an Australian international rugby league footballer, coach and later commentator. Fulton played, coached, selected for and has commentated on the game with great succe ...

in the centres in both, and kicking 6 goals from 7 attempts in the 19–14 win over

Easts Easts may refer to: * Sydney Roosters, an Australian rugby league football team in the NRL, formerly known as "Eastern Suburbs" or "Easts" for short. * Eastern Suburbs Tigers, an Australian rugby league football club * Eastern Suburbs AFC, a New Zea ...

in 1972). Branighan was a reserve back for Manly in their 16–0 win over

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is located 26 kilometres south of the S ...

in the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – ...

Grand Final replay (Manly had also defeated Cronulla 10–7 in 1973).

Representative career

Branighan represented for Australia in eight Test and nine

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 concept i ...

matches and appeared five times for

. Ray played alongside his brother Arthur Branighan for South Sydney from 1968 to 1970, and his nephew Luke Branighan played with the

St George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until ...

in 2004.

Footnotes

External links

Kangaroos beat Lions at Wilderspool
{{DEFAULTSORT:Branighan, Ray Australian rugby league players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles captains South Sydney Rabbitohs players Australia national rugby league team players Living people Rugby league centres 1947 births Place of birth missing (living people)