Arthur Beetson

Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson OAM (21 January 1945 – 1 December 2011) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He represented Australia, New South Wales and Queensland all between 1964 and 1981. His main position was at prop. Beetson became the first Indigenous Australian to captain Australia in any sport and is frequently cited as the best post-war forward in Australian rugby league history. He also had an extensive coaching career, spanning the 1970s to the 1990s, coaching Australia, Queensland, Eastern Suburbs, Redcliffe Dolphins and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.

Arthur Beetson
Beetson in 2008
Personal information
Full nameArthur Henry Beetson
Born(1945-01-21)21 January 1945
Roma, Queensland, Australia
Died1 December 2011(2011-12-01) (aged 66)
Paradise Point, Queensland, Australia
Playing information
Height188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight16 st 8 lb (105 kg)
PositionProp, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1964–65 Redcliffe Dolphins 40 13 0 0 52
1966–70 Balmain Tigers 74 6 0 1 20
1968 Hull Kingston Rovers 12 1 0 0 3
1971–78 Eastern Suburbs 131 17 0 0 51
1979–80 Parramatta Eels 16 1 0 0 3
1981 Redcliffe Dolphins 16 0 0 0 0
Total 289 38 0 1 129
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1966–77 New South Wales 18 3 0 0 9
1980–81 Queensland 3 0 0 0 0
1981 South Queensland 1 0 0 0 0
1966–77 Australia 29 1 0 0 3
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
1977–78 Eastern Suburbs 45 29 1 17 64
1981–82 Redcliffe Dolphins 38 22 0 16 58
1985–88 Eastern Suburbs 97 42 9 48 43
1992–93 Cronulla Sharks 44 17 0 27 39
1994 Eastern Suburbs 6 2 0 4 33
Total 230 112 10 112 49
Representative
Years Team Gms W D L W%
1981–82 Brisbane 5 2 0 3 40
1981 South Queensland 1 1 0 0 100
1981–84 Queensland 10 7 0 3 70
1983 Australia 2 1 0 1 50
1989–90 Queensland 6 4 0 2 67
Source:

He is also remembered as man of great humility who cared deeply about his people and culture. The Arthur Beetson Foundation was so named to honour Beetson, and the Arthur Beetson Medal is awarded to rugby league players who show both outstanding skills and similar personal qualities to Beetson.

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