Ron Hilditch (born 13 August 1953) 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 and coach. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played club football for the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

with whom he won the 1981 NSWRFL Premiership.

Playing career

Hilditch made his first grade debut for Parramatta in round 6 of the 1975 season against Western Suburbs. In 1976, he played in Parramatta's first ever grand final which was a 13–10 loss to Manly-Warringah. The following year, he played in Parramatta's 1977 Grand Final and Grand Final replay loss against

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

. In 1981, it was third time lucky for Hilditch as he played in Parramatta's first-ever premiership victory, a 20–11 win over Newtown in the grand final. An Australian Kangaroo, Hilditch was selected for three internationals, all against France; once in 1978 and twice in 1981. Hilditch was selected to represent

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 ...

as a front-rower for the only State of Origin game in 1981. Hilditch played in the club's 1982 preliminary final victory over Eastern Suburbs but missed out on selection in the 1982 Grand Final where Parramatta defeated Manly-Warringah.

Coaching career

After three years as captain-coach of

Mudgee Mudgee () is a town in the Central West (New South Wales), Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley north-west of Sydney and is the largest town in the Mid-Western Regional Council Local gov ...

in the

Country Rugby League The Country Rugby League of New South Wales (CRL), formed in 1934 and disbanded in 2019, was the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in areas of New South Wales outside the Sydney, Sydney metropolitan area until it merged with ...

, Hilditch coached the

Illawarra Steelers The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 until 1998. On 13 December 1980, they were the ...

in 1989 and 1990. In 1994, he succeeded Mick Cronin at Parramatta but his three years as coach of the club were not particularly successful, with only a 30% win rate. Hilditch was replaced by Brian Smith in 1997. Hilditch was inducted into the Parramatta Eels Hall of Fame in 2006. Hilditch was a member of the Parramatta Eels Board of Directors.

References

External links

Parramatta Eels Honour Roll
1953 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Illawarra Steelers coaches New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Parramatta Eels coaches Parramatta Eels players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league props City New South Wales rugby league team players 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1950s-stub