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Kevin Junee (born August 1 1943) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played as a halfback in the 1960s and 1970s.
An Australian international and New South Wales interstate representative back, he played his club football in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership for Sydney teams Eastern Suburbs and Manly-Warringah.
Junee is of Russian and Greek descent. He grew up in Paddington, Sydney and attended Paddington Public School. He attended technical college and trained as a fitter and turner. Junee has been married to Frances since 1967. They have two daughters (Natalie and Tiffanny) and one son (Darren). His eldest two children, Natalie and Darren are both school teachers. Darren is also an Australian dual code rugby league and rugby union player Darren Junee who also played rugby league for the Sydney City Roosters (Easts Leagues Club) between 1995 and 1998. His youngest, Tiffanny - a former rugby union journalist - is a sessional lecturer with the Media and Communications Department at the University of Sydney, Australia. Junee's Easts teammate, Mark Mark Harris along with his wife Maureen, are godparents to his daughter, Tiffanny.
Junee played all his junior rugby league in the Eastern Suburbs area for both the Paddington Colts and Bondi United junior clubs. Junee then made the Eastern Suburbs top grade in 1964 - the bleakest period in the club's history, winning just 2 matches that year and just 3 more in the following two. However this didn't stop Junee from breaking into the representative scene. In 1965, the speedy halfback was chosen for New South Wales and at the end of the 1967 NSWRFL season was selected for the 1967–68 Kangaroo Tour, becoming Kangaroo No. 422, though he did not play in a test match on the tour. [3] In the 1970 NSWRFL season Junee was awarded the Rothmans Medal – rugby league's leading player award presented annually to the year's best player. [4] Premiership success was one of the few things that eluded Junee throughout his career. The closest he came was in 1972 when he was a member of the Eastern Suburbs side that was defeated by Manly in that year's Grand Final 19–14.
At the end of the 1973 season, Junee left Easts to join Manly in 1974 after a player swap brought his former halfback rival at Easts (and a 1973 premiership winner with Manly), Johnny Mayes back to the club. That year, Eastern Suburbs won their first premiership since 1945 and won again in 1975, losing only three games all season. To rub salt into these wounds, Mayes had just won a premiership with Manly in 1973 and was part of these two premiership winning sides. While playing for the Sea Eagles during the 1974 NSWRFL season Junee topped the season's try-scoring list with 23 tries, a club record at the time and still second all-time season for the club (as of 2017), only beaten by Phil Blake who crossed for 27 in 1983. Junee scored only 6 tries for Manly in 1975.
Junee returned to Easts for his final season in 1976 (Manly won the 1976 premiership), displacing Mayes at halfback before the emergence of an up-and-coming Kevin Hastings. Junee, who played 159 matches for Eastern Suburbs, has been made a life member of the club. [5]
Junee founded a chain of sports stores with business partner Tony Rule in the late 60's / early 70's called Kevin Junee's Run For Your Life sports stores. The original store was located in Bondi Junction. Additional stores opened up in Angel Arcade in Sydney's CBD; Kingsford, Liverpool, Bankstown and Roselands. [6]
The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was known as the New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL) until 1984. From 1908 to 1994, the NSWRL ran Sydney's, then New South Wales', and eventually Australia's top-level rugby league club competition. The organisation is responsible for administering the New South Wales rugby league team.
John Arthur Gibson OAM was an Australian rugby league coach, player, and commentator. He is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the sport's history. Nicknamed 'Supercoach', he was highly regarded not only for his coaching record but also for his thirst for innovation, as he introduced new coaching and training methods into the sport in the 1970s, and 1980s, when first-grade rugby league was then still played and coached on a semi-professional basis.
The Sydney Roosters have a history that stretches back from the birth of rugby league football in Australia in 1908 to the present day. It is the only remaining club to have played every season of top-tier football in Australia's history.
Dennis Ward was an Australian professional rugby league footballer. He was a halfback who played first grade in the NSWRFL Premiership for Canterbury-Bankstown and Manly-Warringah from 1965 to 1972, winning the 1972 Grand Final with Manly. He also played for City Firsts, New South Wales and Australia in representative football.
William Mullins is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played during the 1960s and 1970s in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership, the major rugby league competition in Australia at the time.
Johnny Mayes is an Australian former rugby league halfback who represented Australia in the 1975 World Cup. He also played in three consecutive premiership-winning teams from 1973 to 1975, the first for Manly-Warringah and the latter two for Eastern Suburbs. His feat of playing in three consecutive premiership sides for different clubs is comparable only with Glenn Lazarus in the early 1990s for Canberra and the Brisbane Broncos, who played in four premiership sides between 1989 and 1993 and with Cooper Cronk who won three premierships with the Melbourne Storm and the Sydney Roosters from 2017 to 2019.
Wally O'Connell OAM was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, and coached in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He was a five-eighth for the Australian national team. He played in ten Tests between 1948 and 1951 as captain on one occasion. Wally's younger brother Barry also played first grade football for Easts and Manly.
Ronald William Saddler was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s. A New South Wales and Australian international representative three-quarter back, he played in Sydney's NSWRFL Premiership for the Eastern Suburbs club.
The Sydney Roosters Juniors are officially known as the Eastern Suburbs District Junior Rugby League. It is an affiliation of junior clubs in the Eastern Suburbs area, covering the Woollahra and Waverley local government areas (LGAs), the northern parts of the Randwick LGA and the City of Sydney LGA, in Sydney, Australia.
The 1980 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 73rd season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve clubs, including six of 1908's foundation teams and another six from around Sydney competed for the J.J. Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Canterbury-Bankstown and Eastern Suburbs clubs. NSWRFL clubs also competed in the 1980 Tooth Cup and players from NSWRFL clubs were selected to represent the New South Wales team.
The 1970 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 63rd season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six foundation clubs and another six admitted post 1908, competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season which culminated in a grand final match for the WD & HO Wills Cup between the Manly-Warringah and South Sydney clubs.
The 1981 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 74th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve clubs, including six of 1908's foundation teams and another six from around Sydney competed for the J J Giltinan Shield and Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Parramatta and Newtown clubs. NSWRFL clubs also competed in the 1981 Tooth Cup and players from NSWRFL clubs were selected to represent the New South Wales team.
The 1972 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 65th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from across Sydney, competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a grand final match between the Manly-Warringah and Eastern Suburbs clubs.
The 1976 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 69th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from around Sydney, competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield and WD & HO Wills Cup during the season, which culminated in a grand final between the Manly-Warringah and Parramatta clubs. NSWRFL teams also competed for the 1976 Amco Cup.
The 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the fortieth season of Sydney’s top-level rugby league competition, Australia’s first. For the first time, the number of clubs in the league reached double digits due to the admission of Manly-Warringah and Parramatta to the first grade competition. The season culminated in a grand final between the Balmain and Canterbury-Bankstown clubs.
Mike Anthony Eden is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s. The slightly built Eden played for Manly-Warringah, Eastern Suburbs, Parramatta and the Gold Coast in the NSWRL premiership. Originally appearing in the halves, he later played at fullback.
Russel Gartner, also known by the nickname of "Frog eyes", is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. An international representative three-quarter, He played for Manly, Balmain and Easts in the NSWRFL premiership.
The 1972 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles season was the 26th in the club's history since their entry into the then New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership in 1947. After 5 previous Grand Final losses, the Sea Eagles broke through for their first premiership win.
Charles "Peter" Moscatt was an Australian rugby league footballer of the 1960s and 1970s. He played for Eastern Suburbs in the New South Wales Rugby League competition. Post-football he was an ardent and active local government councillor in the Waverley municipality in Sydney.