Ron Coote
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ronald Joseph Coote | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 25 October 1944 Kingsford, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Lock, Second-row | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Jack Coote | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ronald Joseph Coote AM (born 1944) is an Australian former rugby league footballer. His club career was played with South Sydney and the Eastern Suburbs Roosters, with both of whom he won premierships, and he played 23 times for Australia. He is considered one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century,[3] and was inducted as the 14th Immortal in 2024. The Ron Coote Cup, contested annually by South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Sydney Roosters is named in his honour - his entire club career having been played at these two clubs.[4]
Born in Kingsford, New South Wales in 1944 Coote was a South Sydney junior and the son of 1930s Easts forward Jack Coote. He was a tall, rangy lock with an upright running style. He was famous for his outstanding cover defence and low, "round-the-legs" tackling technique. He was bestowed the name "Prince of Locks" acknowledging him as the second greatest Australian lock ever, behind the "King of Locks" Johnny Raper.
Club and representative career
He played 151 games for South Sydney from 1964 to 1971 and 108 games for Eastern Suburbs from 1972 to 1978. With both clubs enjoying success during his tenure, Coote's Grand Final record is phenomenal. He played in nine Grand Finals in 11 seasons from 1965 to 1975. He won four premierships at Souths and consecutive premierships at Easts in season 1974 and season 1975. An arm injury forced him into retirement in 1978.[5]
He represented Australia in 23 Tests and World Cup games between 1967 and 1975 and was captain for 3 games in the 1970 World Cup.