Vernon Andrew Neville Bakalich (8 July 1929 – 21 November 2015) was a New Zealand

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 ...

player who represented

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 the 1957 World Cup.

Playing career

Bakalich played for

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond. ...

competition and was an

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

representative. He was first selected for the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team () has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the Kiwi (bird), native bird of that name. The team' ...

in 1953 in a test series against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Bakalich played in the 1954 test series against

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 ...

but was not selected for the inaugural World Cup later that year. In 1955 Bakalich returned to the side, touring Great Britain and France. Bakalich scored a then record twenty six tries in 30 games while on tour.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009'', 2009. . He toured Australia in 1956 and was part of the squad for the 1957 World Cup. His last appearance for the Kiwis was against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1958. In total he played in 42 games for New Zealand, including in 13 tests between 1954 and 1957. In his final game for Auckland, in 1958, he scored a length-of-the-field try against the touring Great Britain side.

Legacy

In 2013 he was named on the wing in the Richmond rugby league club's team of the century. He died on 21 November 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakalich, Vern 1929 births 2015 deaths 20th-century New Zealand people Auckland rugby league team players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players Place of birth missing Richmond Bulldogs players Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league wingers